writing-shaft-tests

Writing SHAFT Tests

Overview

Write SHAFT tests from official guide evidence and current repo patterns. Prefer SHAFT facades, fluent actions, SHAFT assertions, and the smallest maintainable test shape that proves the behavior.

Required Workflow

1. Inspect the project first: runner, existing page/API objects, package layout, properties, and test style.
2. Call shaft-mcp:shaft_guide_search before writing SHAFT code. Cite the returned guide URLs in the final answer.
3. For repo-aware GUI or codegen work, call shaft-mcp:shaft_coding_partner_plan with the repository path, user intent, current source path, selected text, and evidence paths before creating new classes.
4. For broad or unclear automation requests, call shaft-mcp:test_automation_scenarios with the closest area (web, playwright, api, mobile, cli, db, capture, doctor, or ci).
5. Reuse the plan's existing page objects, tests, locators, and actions before adding missing code.
6. If actions or locators are missing, record the complete flow, then insert only the missing fields/methods into the planned source anchors.
7. Write code using SHAFT syntax only; do not invent APIs from memory.
8. Run shaft-mcp:test_code_guardrails_check on generated Java before finalizing.
9. Preview the insertion with shaft-mcp:shaft_coding_partner_diff, apply it under explicit approval in IntelliJ, then verify with shaft-mcp:verify_run_focused using the plan's focused command. See verifying-and-applying-shaft-changes.

SHAFT Defaults

Hard Rules

• Do not use Thread.sleep; use SHAFT waits, actions, assertions, or condition-based waiting from the guide.
• Do not use raw driver.findElement, Selenium PageFactory, @FindBy, implicit waits, headed setup, or TestNG/JUnit assertions in generated tests.
• Generate GUI assertions and checkpoint follow-ups through SHAFT assertion builders such as driver.element().assertThat(...), driver.browser().assertThat(), or driver.verifyThat(...).
• Do not generate SHAFT.GUI.Locator.xpath(...); use Smart Locators, ARIA locators, the SHAFT locator builder, or By.xpath(...) only as a last fallback.
• Do not paste Playwright TypeScript output into Java projects; reuse the behavior, locators, and evidence while writing SHAFT syntax.
• Use native Playwright locators only as a last fallback in SHAFT Playwright-specific code.
• Do not hard-code secrets, credentials, tokens, target URLs, or environment-specific paths.
• Do not infer a target URL from a site/product name. Ask for the exact URL when it is missing.
• Keep browser sessions fresh per test and always quit/clean up following the repo's test framework style.
• Keep reusable page/API/mobile objects outside test classes only when they are actually reused.
• Do not create duplicate page objects, generic generated test classes, or locator fields when the coding partner plan found a reusable target.

Example Shape

private final By email = SHAFT.GUI.Locator.inputField("Email");
private final By password = SHAFT.GUI.Locator.inputField("Password");
private final By signIn = SHAFT.GUI.Locator.clickableField("Sign in");

@Test
public void userCanSignIn() {
    driver.browser().navigateToURL(baseUrl);

    driver.element()
            .type(email, username)
            .and().type(password, passwordValue)
            .and().click(signIn);

    driver.assertThat().browser().url().contains("/dashboard");
}

Tool Catalog

Every shaft-mcp tool name and description is cached in ../references/shaft-mcp-tools.md. Read it to pick exact tool names instead of listing tools at runtime, and load only the schemas you need — on clients that defer tool schemas, batch the load in one lookup. When a shaft-cli launcher is installed, prefer running the same tools as shell commands per ../references/shaft-cli-commands.md (shaft-cli call <tool>), falling back to shaft-mcp:<tool> MCP calls otherwise.

Official Guide Routes

Use shaft-mcp:shaft_guide_search first, then fall back to these public pages when MCP is unavailable:

• Web testing: https://shafthq.github.io/docs/testing/web
• API testing: https://shafthq.github.io/docs/testing/api
• Mobile testing: https://shafthq.github.io/docs/testing/mobile
• Element validations: https://shafthq.github.io/docs/reference/actions/GUI/Element_Validations
• Validation overview: https://shafthq.github.io/docs/reference/actions/Validations/Overview
• MCP: https://shafthq.github.io/docs/agentic/mcp

Common Mistakes