Test Audit

• Authoring gates every new/changed test.
• Audits: remove low-value proof in coherent owner batches; never chase deletion counts.
• Whole-subsystem campaign: read CAMPAIGN.md first.

Authoring gate

Before adding test, answer:

1. Protected observable behavior, invariant, or independent contract?
2. Credible regression that makes it fail?
3. Why existing proof misses it? Each contract: one primary owner at strongest boundary. Another layer needs distinct transport/lifecycle risk. Extend tables/shared fixtures; consolidate repeated setup.

• Keep the change proportional: one good regression beats a suite of shape checks.

• Export, flag, wrapper, injection hook with no production caller needed? Move proof to real boundary instead.

• Regressions must fail pre-fix for intended reason, pass after repair; report unavailable baseline proof.

• One owner regression covers bug; never replay at every crossed layer.

• Behavior-preserving refactors should not break test.

Junk patterns

• Reject self-comparisons, copied inventories, source greps, implementation/call-shape assertions, duplicate contracts, test-only seams, subject-generated expected values, mocks supplying asserted behavior.
• Fixtures must not fabricate owner receipts/order or claim persistence path never writes.
• Negative controls must fail at intended guard; names must match exercised behavior.
• Auditing candidates: use full checklist.

Retention bar

• Keep independent API, SDK, protocol, config, migration, storage, security, platform, default, prompt-byte, generated-language, package, release, architecture, observable-ordering contracts. Static/slow ≠ disposable.
• Source inspection must survive identifier-only refactors and guard independent user-facing contract.
• Baseline failures may be bugs to repair, not tests to delete.

Audit and validation

• Before audit edit: read candidate evidence and workflow; inspect full owners/callers/history; record remaining proof before deletion.
• Delete obsolete production seams with tests; never optimize for deletion counts.
• Run the owner's test suite plus its siblings after each batch; re-run any check the deleted tests fed. Behavior-preserving refactors must stay green.
• Report causes, retained contracts, proof/cost, production versus test LOC, follow-ups. Commit/push/land only with task authority.