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Strengthen usethis-cli-user-test skill to forbid deviating from the happy path#1732

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nathanjmcdougall merged 2 commits intomainfrom
copilot/fix-user-path-testing-issue
Apr 1, 2026
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Strengthen usethis-cli-user-test skill to forbid deviating from the happy path#1732
nathanjmcdougall merged 2 commits intomainfrom
copilot/fix-user-path-testing-issue

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Copilot AI commented Apr 1, 2026

In #1601, the agent found a failure during user testing but instead of fixing the code, it constructed an alternative scenario with convenient preconditions that bypassed the failure. The skill lacked explicit anti-pattern guidance to prevent this.

  • New "Critical rule: never deviate from the happy path" section — four explicit rules: follow the exact steps, fix the code not the test, never manually construct hypothetical scenarios, re-run from a clean slate after every fix
  • Updated Procedure — added step requiring re-run of the full happy path from scratch after any fix
  • Updated "Write tests for discovered issues" — testing is only complete when the unmodified happy path passes end-to-end
  • Version bump 1.0 → 1.1

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Firewall rules blocked me from connecting to one or more addresses (expand for details)

I tried to connect to the following addresses, but was blocked by firewall rules:

  • https://api.github.com/graphql
    • Triggering command: /usr/bin/gh gh pr list --head copilot/fix-user-path-testing-issue --json number,title (http block)

If you need me to access, download, or install something from one of these locations, you can either:

Add a "Critical rule: never deviate from the happy path" section that
explicitly forbids constructing alternative scenarios to pass user
testing. Update the procedure to require re-running the full happy path
from scratch after fixing any issues discovered during testing.

Resolves #1724

Agent-Logs-Url: https://github.com/usethis-python/usethis-python/sessions/a1c468e0-fafb-4974-9d5d-e598a4d91fc9

Co-authored-by: nathanjmcdougall <18602289+nathanjmcdougall@users.noreply.github.com>
Copilot AI changed the title [WIP] Fix agent config for user experience testing of CLI Strengthen usethis-cli-user-test skill to forbid deviating from the happy path Apr 1, 2026
Copilot AI requested a review from nathanjmcdougall April 1, 2026 12:44
@nathanjmcdougall nathanjmcdougall marked this pull request as ready for review April 1, 2026 12:51
@nathanjmcdougall nathanjmcdougall merged commit 7881ee2 into main Apr 1, 2026
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@nathanjmcdougall nathanjmcdougall deleted the copilot/fix-user-path-testing-issue branch April 1, 2026 12:52
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Agent config for user experience testing the CLI should emphasize the need to follow the exact user path

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