# Test Plan: Dispatch Content Addition to SDD Skill

## The Iron Law Applied

This is an **edit to an existing skill** → same rule: NO SKILL CHANGE WITHOUT A FAILING TEST FIRST. I must run a baseline showing agents *fail* to produce good dispatches without this addition, then verify the addition fixes those specific failures.

This addition is part **technique** (how to construct a dispatch) and part **discipline** (will agents actually include all 5 elements, or skip some under pressure?). I'll test both dimensions.

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## RED Phase: Baseline (Without the Addition)

**Goal:** Prove the addition solves a real problem. If agents already write good dispatches without it, the addition is unnecessary bloat.

**Method:** Dispatch subagents (fresh context, given the SDD skill *as it exists today*, minus the proposed addition) and ask them to dispatch a worker for a task drawn from a realistic multi-task plan I prepare.

**Sample size:** 6–8 baseline runs. Vary the scenario:
- Task with upstream dependencies (interfaces from prior tasks)
- Task where the brief contains a genuine ambiguity
- Task that is task #1 (no prior interfaces — control for over-applying element 3)

**What I record (verbatim):**
- Which of the 5 elements each dispatch naturally includes/omits
- Specifically: do they point to the brief as *authoritative requirements*, or paraphrase it (corrupting the spec)?
- Do they pass forward interfaces, or assume the worker can infer them?
- Do they resolve ambiguity, or punt it to the worker?

**Baseline must demonstrate failures** in the elements the addition targets. If element N is always present naturally, that line is unnecessary — cut it.

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## GREEN Phase: With the Addition

**Method:** Same scenarios, same prompts, fresh subagents, but with the proposed text in the skill.

**Sample size:** Match baseline — 6–8 runs, same scenario mix, ideally paired (same scenario seen in both arms).

**Controls:**
- **Identical task scenarios** across RED/GREEN (the only variable is the skill text)
- **Fresh context** every run (no cross-contamination)
- **Blind scoring:** I score dispatches without knowing which arm produced them (shuffle + label-strip)
- **Negative control:** the task-#1 scenario checks agents *don't* fabricate "interfaces from earlier tasks" when none exist (guards against the addition causing hallucinated content)

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## Scoring Rubric

Per dispatch, score each of the 5 elements:

| Score | Meaning |
|-------|---------|
| 2 | Present and correct |
| 1 | Present but flawed (e.g., paraphrases brief instead of pointing to it) |
| 0 | Missing |
| N/A | Genuinely doesn't apply (e.g., no upstream interfaces for task #1) |

**Critical-element gate (binary, must pass):**
- Brief introduced as authoritative requirements — NOT paraphrased (paraphrasing corrupts the spec; this is the highest-value element)
- No fabricated interfaces on the no-dependency control

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## Acceptance Criteria

Deploy only if ALL hold:

1. **Real problem confirmed:** Baseline shows ≥1 targeted element failing in a majority of relevant runs. (Otherwise the line is bloat — remove it.)
2. **Improvement shown:** GREEN element scores meaningfully exceed baseline on the elements that failed.
3. **Critical gate:** 100% of GREEN dispatches point to the brief as authoritative (no paraphrasing).
4. **No regression:** GREEN doesn't degrade any element that was fine at baseline, and the no-dependency control shows zero fabricated interfaces.
5. **No new rationalizations:** Reviewing GREEN failures surfaces no new loophole ("brief was short so I summarized it"). Any found → REFACTOR with explicit counter, re-test.

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## REFACTOR Phase

For each GREEN failure: capture the agent's reasoning verbatim, add a targeted counter to the skill (e.g., "Paste the brief *path*, never the brief contents — paraphrasing corrupts requirements"), re-run that scenario until clean.

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## Note on the Description Field

I will **not** let this 5-element workflow leak into the skill's `description`. Per SDO, summarizing the workflow in the description causes agents to follow the summary instead of reading the skill body. Description stays trigger-only ("Use when dispatching workers to execute plan tasks").