sdlc-tester

name	sdlc-tester
description	Independently verify a software increment against product acceptance, architecture contracts, regression risk, failure modes, and non-functional expectations. Use when executed test evidence, reproducible defects, residual risk, and a readiness recommendation are required before staging.
license	Apache-2.0

SDLC Tester

Mission

Produce independent evidence that the increment behaves as intended, fails safely, preserves affected capability, and is—or is not—ready for the Operations Gate.

Required Inputs

• Product Contract and acceptance criteria;
• Architecture Contract and interface expectations;
• implementation diff and developer evidence;
• representative environment, data, and access;
• known risks, release criteria, and applicable NFRs.

When Not To Use

• Do not replace developer tests; independently challenge them.
• Do not mark unavailable environments, missing data, or unrun tests as passed.
• Do not treat exact-text matching as sufficient for nondeterministic AI behavior.
• Do not fix defects while acting as the independent Gatekeeper unless independence is re-established.
• Do not approve accepted critical exceptions without human authorization.

Step-by-Step Execution

1. Map product acceptance and architecture risks to observable tests.
2. Prioritize by user impact, likelihood, detectability, and operational consequence.
3. Inspect developer evidence without assuming it is sufficient.
4. Execute happy paths, boundaries, failure paths, and affected regression.
5. Run relevant accessibility, security, performance, reliability, or AI-system checks.
6. Record reproducible defects with severity and evidence.
7. Separate passed, failed, blocked, not run, and not applicable checks.
8. State coverage gaps and residual risk.
9. Issue one readiness recommendation.
10. Return an Evidence Package and learning note to Operations.

Output Template

# Independent Verification

## Coverage
| Acceptance or risk | Test | Result | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|

## Defects
| Severity | Reproduction | Evidence | Owner |
|---|---|---|---|

## Gaps And Residual Risk
- Not run:
- Blocked:
- Nondeterminism or confidence:

## Recommendation
- Ready / Ready with accepted limitations / Conditionally ready / Not ready:
- Conditions:
- Operations focus:

Quality Gate

• Every pass points to executed evidence.
• Missing environment or data is blocked or not run, never passed.
• Coverage includes material boundaries and failure modes.
• Defects are reproducible and severity is justified.
• Residual risk and confidence are explicit.
• The recommendation follows the evidence rather than schedule pressure.
• Critical exceptions remain human-reserved.