Cycle: v3/smoke_tests; Mode: one-shot; Record/index: this file, plans index; builds on fast_default_tests_outliers (PR #15, unmerged); supersedes the parked fast_default_tests Step 1 as the route to fast per-task runs Debug mode: enabled Effort study: railspike-effort / v3/smoke_tests; host ledger. Standing P2 enrollment. Extended estimates: enabled (no alternatives or stages exist, so only the cycle estimate applies) Debug report: log

Cycle estimate: 0.35

Status: rebased onto main after PRs #15 and #16 merged; next permitted action: maintainer review; merge only on request.

Original request

2026-11-04, maintainer, in sequence: "From now on, let me handle running the full test suite, period. I can do it periodically instead of us waiting for it every task we do." Then: "When we do a task, we should only run a subset of the test suite, period. Maybe we should compile this set of smoke tests?" Claude proposed a curated smoke set and asked whether plain ./v3 test should become the smoke run and who picks the list. The maintainer replied: "I think you're up to just building it. Period. Yes, do follow agents.md. And update the process in the repo."

Authorization

Explicit one-shot ("just building it"), with the two open questions left to Claude. Bounded outcome: a curated smoke set, a runner that runs it by default and combines it with named tests, and the per-task test process written into the repository. Exclusions: parallel runner, changes to the tests themselves, merge or deploy.

Decisions taken under that authority: plain ./v3 test becomes the smoke run, and --all is the maintainer's periodic full run. Claude picked the list from the timings of the 2026-11-04 full run. The interim tier from PR #15, which left three slow classes out of the default run, is replaced, because the smoke set leaves out far more.

Outcome and work type

Application work: test runner, the smoke list, a runner test, and contributor/agent process docs. Work item thread-20261104120908-c9ac769efeedadcff72749a35d9a23cb (claimed; takes effect once this workspace's signing identity is approved).

Approach and risks

tests/smoke.txt lists class or Class::method names in plain text, one per line with # comments, following the existing named subsets such as ./v3 agent-reply test-local. The runner adds those names to the filters when there are no arguments or --smoke is given. Risks: the list goes stale (mitigated: the runner exits 1 on an entry that no longer exists); the set grows slow (mitigated: CONTRIBUTING says to keep it near one minute and swap slow tests out); a default run prunes history (only a full --all run prunes).

Concepts touched

None in the concept inventory.

Verification and recovery plan

php tests/run.php TestRunnerBehaviorTest with new cases for the default, --smoke plus names, names alone, and a missing entry; one timed smoke run. Recovery: revert the runner hunk; --all and named runs keep working.

Starting revisions and branch

feat/fast-default-tests-outliers at 9459c7479c54f28a6d38c060a4a5293d9d6fb48c (PR #15, itself based on main at 8dac3f9); branch feat/smoke-tests. PR targets #15's branch, so its diff shows only this cycle.

Dated execution history

• 2026-11-04 — Smoke set: 38 classes chosen across canonical parsing, read-model rebuild, routing and pages (including the broad LocalAppSmokeTest), rendering, signed writes, approval and access, activity, messages, offline, CLI, and the runner's own tests. The slow classes (WriteApiSmokeTest, PlatformDocsStaticTest, CheckoutsCommandTest and other multi-second classes) stay out; area tests run with --smoke Name.

• 2026-11-04 — Process written into the repository: an AGENTS.md section "Tests" (per task, run the smoke set plus touched tests; do not run or wait for --all; say the full suite was not run), a CONTRIBUTING.md "Tests" section with the command table and the rules for maintaining the list, and updated README.md, docs/reference/v3_cli.md and ./v3 help. The vendored Railspike rule that a focused pass is not a full-suite pass is left as is; it fits the new process.

Study history

• Intake: missing (the request followed directly from the discussion, and the timing data was already inspected). Execution entry: 0.35, scope v1, single exposed Claude rater. Closeout retrospective: 0.35. Not hours or measured labor; maintainer acceptance pending.

Outcome

./v3 test now runs the smoke set: 428 tests in 46 s on the 2-core workspace. ./v3 test --smoke FooTest adds the tests for a change, and ./v3 test --all runs everything.

Verification

• php tests/run.php TestRunnerBehaviorTest: 7/7 passed, including the new smoke cases.

• php tests/run.php (smoke set): 428 run, 424 passed, 4 failed, 46 s. The 4 failures are LocalAppSmokeTest (3) and ReadModelBuilderTimingTest (1), which fail on main and are fixed in PR #16; this branch does not contain that fix. With #16 merged, the smoke set should be green; that combination has not been run.

• After rebasing onto main (with #16): php tests/run.php 427 run, 427 passed, 0 failed, 44 s. One fewer test than before because #16 removed a stale LocalAppSmokeTest test.

• Full suite: not run (the maintainer runs it).

Commit, merge and publication status

First opened as PR #17 against feat/fast-default-tests-outliers. GitHub closed it unmerged when that branch was deleted after #15 merged. Rebased onto main (after #15 and #16), with the ledger conflict resolved by keeping both entries, and reopened as a new PR against main. Not merged or deployed.

2026-11-04 addition, authorized by the maintainer ("please go ahead"): the parked fast_default_tests Step 1 is marked superseded, with a closing note and a ledger line.

— Claude · 2026-11-04 UTC · Model: claude-opus-5-5