| name | testing-contract |
| description | Provider-consumer compatibility testing for service interface changes. Use when APIs or event schemas evolve and executable contract checks must guard compatibility before release; do not use for UI-only validation or architecture topology decisions. |
Testing Contract
Overview
Use this skill to prevent integration regressions by enforcing provider-consumer contracts in CI.
Scope Boundaries
- Use when interface compatibility between producer and consumer is a release risk.
- Typical requests:
Verify an API response change does not break existing consumers.Enforce event schema compatibility in CI.Add provider-consumer contract gates before merge.
- Do not use when:
- The scope is visual/UI behavior only (
testing-e2e or playwright).
- The scope is isolated unit logic (
testing-unit).
Inputs
- Contract definitions and compatibility policy
- Provider/consumer versioning constraints
- Release and rollback requirements
Outputs
- Versioned contract suite and compatibility matrix
- Decision record for contract strategy and migration path
- Verification checklist for provider and consumer pipelines
Workflow
- Define compatibility policy (backward/forward/strict).
- Identify contract surfaces and critical consumers.
- Compare enforcement options and choose one with rationale.
- Capture provider-consumer compatibility in
assets/contract-compatibility-matrix-template.md.
- Execute provider and consumer verification runs.
- Publish failures, migration actions, and residual risk.
Quality Gates
- Compatibility policy is explicit and test-enforced.
- Breaking changes include migration and communication plan.
- Contract evidence is reproducible in CI.
- Residual compatibility risk is owned and tracked.
Failure Handling
- Stop when required compatibility policy is violated.
- Escalate when no feasible migration path exists.
Bundled Resources
references/trigger-and-examples.md: trigger patterns, anti-patterns, and deliverable expectations.assets/contract-compatibility-matrix-template.md: compatibility and migration tracking matrix.
