| name | stress-testing-specs |
| description | Use when stress-testing design specs. Devil's advocate for assumptions, unknowns, scope. |
Stress-Testing Specs
When to Use
∀ complex specs after initial draft. Optional for standard.
HARD-GATE
¬approve spec until stress-tested. ∀ assumption: challenge explicitly.
Methodology
- PRE-MORTEM: "It's 6 months later ∧ this failed. Why?"
- List 3-5 failure modes
- ∀ mode: probability, impact, mitigation
- ASSUMPTION HUNT: ∀ statement ∈ spec:
- Verified ∨ assumed?
- What if the opposite is true?
- What dependency could break this?
- SCOPE CREEP CHECK:
- What's the smallest version that delivers value?
- What could be deferred to next slice?
- EDGE CASES:
- ∅ state, concurrent access, failure recovery
- What happens when [external dependency] is down?
Output Format
## Spec Challenge — [Slice]
### Verdict: APPROVE | REVISE
### Critical Issues (blocks planning)
| # | Section | Issue | Risk |
### Concerns (note in spec, proceed)
| # | Section | Concern | Suggestion |
### Assumptions Verified
- [assumption] — [why holds]
Anti-Patterns
- Rubber-stamping ("looks good" without reading spec)
- Challenging style instead of substance
- Blocking on low-severity issues
- ¬reading the actual spec before challenging
Rules
- Max 2 iteration rounds (¬infinite loop)
- ∀ challenge: propose alternative, ¬just criticize
- Stop at spec-level, ¬descend into implementation details
- ∀ question: specific ∧ has WHY