qa-manual-testing
Manual scripted + exploratory testing: 14 skills (bug-bash-facilitator, crusspic-stmpl-heuristic, decision-table-test-design, exploratory-tours-reference, fcc-cuts-vids-heuristic, hiccupps-f-heuristic, manual-test-debrief, manual-test-script-author, manual-testing-getting-started, sbtm-reference, sfdpot-heuristic, state-transition-test-design, test-execution-checklist, uat-script-author) and 3 agents (charter-coach, session-debrief-coach, test-script-quality-critic). Covers SBTM, Whittaker's seven tours, Bach + Bolton's heuristic catalogues (HICCUPPS-F oracles, SFDPOT variation, FCC CUTS VIDS modelling, CRUSSPIC STMPL quality criteria), UAT, bug bashes, and PROOF debriefs.
Install this plugin
/plugin install qa-manual-testing@testland-qaPart of role bundles: qa-starter, qa-role-manual-tester
qa-manual-testing
Manual scripted + exploratory testing. Covers session-based exploratory testing per Bach + Bach SBTM, tour-based exploration heuristics per Whittaker's seven canonical tours, scripted manual test authoring, UAT scripts in stakeholder format, bug-bash facilitation, and structured PROOF debriefs.
Components
| Type | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Skill | manual-test-script-author | Build-an-X scripted manual test cases - step-table or Gherkin format with self-contained data and per-step expected results. |
| Skill | test-execution-checklist | Build-an-X focused checklists for smoke / first-pass / bug-bash / compliance scenarios. |
| Skill | exploratory-tours-reference | Pure-reference catalog of the seven canonical Whittaker tours: Feature, Money, Landmark, Intellectual, Bad-data, Configuration, Garbage collector. |
| Skill | bug-bash-facilitator | Build-an-X structured multi-tester session: pre-bash kit + cohort charters + real-time triage board + scoring + post-bash cluster debrief. |
| Skill | uat-script-author | Build-an-X UAT scripts in stakeholder-readable business language: pre-conditions + journey steps + expected outcomes + AC verification + sign-off. |
| Skill | manual-test-debrief | Build-an-X session debrief in PROOF format (Past, Results, Outlook, Obstacles, Feelings) + 3-bucket time accounting + cross-session aggregation. |
| Skill | sbtm-reference | Pure-reference catalog of Session-Based Test Management (Bach + Bach): charters, time-boxed sessions, TBS metrics. |
| Skill | hiccupps-f-heuristic | Pure-reference catalog of Bolton's HICCUPPS-F oracle heuristic for deciding whether something is a problem. |
| Skill | sfdpot-heuristic | Pure-reference catalog of Bach's SFDPOT ("San Francisco Depot") product-element coverage heuristic. |
| Skill | fcc-cuts-vids-heuristic | Pure-reference catalog of Bach's FCC CUTS VIDS mnemonic for modelling a system under test. |
| Skill | crusspic-stmpl-heuristic | Pure-reference catalog of Bach's CRUSSPIC STMPL twelve quality-criteria heuristic. |
| Skill | decision-table-test-design | Build-an-X manual test cases from business-rule specs via decision tables: full 2^n matrix, collapse, infeasible-combination analysis, one case per feasible column (ISTQB CTFL 4.2.3). |
| Skill | state-transition-test-design | Build-an-X manual test cases from stateful behavior: state table with invalid transitions, coverage-level choice (all states / 0-switch / 1-switch / all transitions), event-sequence cases (ISTQB CTFL 4.2.4). |
| Agent | charter-coach | Turns a feature + risk areas into a well-formed SBTM exploratory charter (mission, areas, HICCUPPS-F oracles, SFDPOT elements, tours). |
| Agent | session-debrief-coach | Reviews a completed SBTM session sheet: PROOF completeness, TBS time-split health, and the recommended next charter. |
| Agent | test-script-quality-critic | Adversarial review of authored manual scripts for vague preconditions, bundled steps, missing expected results, and imperative-where-declarative slots. |
| Skill | manual-testing-getting-started | Junior on-ramp: the SBTM charter to session to debrief path and when to use each heuristic. |
Install
/plugin marketplace add testland/qa
/plugin install qa-manual-testing@testland-qaSkills
bug-bash-facilitator
Builds a structured bug-bash session - pre-bash kit (charter, test-data prep, environment setup, sign-up sheet), in-bash structure (role rotation across cohorts, shared backlog board, real-time triage), scoring rubric (severity weighting, novelty bonus), and a post-bash same-day wrap-up authored by the facilitator (not a standalone debrief: for post-session writeups without a live bash, use manual-test-debrief). Use when a team needs a coordinated multi-tester sweep before a release or after a major change - converts an ad-hoc "everyone test for an hour" into a recorded, comparable session with deliverables.
crusspic-stmpl-heuristic
Pure-reference catalog of James Bach's CRUSSPIC STMPL heuristic - twelve quality criteria a tester can evaluate a system against. CRUSSPIC: Capability, Reliability, Usability, Security, Scalability, Performance, Installability, Compatibility. STMPL: Supportability, Testability, Maintainability, Portability, Localizability. Use as the quality-criteria checklist for evaluating a product holistically; complementary to ISO/IEC 25010 quality model.
decision-table-test-design
Derives human-readable manual test cases from a business-rule spec via a decision table: identify conditions and actions, build the full 2^n-column matrix, collapse columns with irrelevant entries, strike infeasible combinations, then emit one test case per remaining column (each feasible column is one coverage item per ISTQB CTFL v4.0 section 4.2.3). Deep single-technique walkthrough, unlike test-case-ideation-from-story in qa-process (broad multi-lens case matrix from a story); output is manual step/expected cases, unlike boundary-value-generator in qa-test-data (parameterized test code); covers derivation, not case field structure like test-case-anatomy-reference in qa-test-management. Use when a spec's outcome depends on interacting conditions (pricing, eligibility, discounts, routing rules) rather than the boundaries of a single input.
exploratory-tours-reference
Pure-reference catalog of exploratory testing tours - heuristics that frame an exploratory session around a theme. The seven canonical tours from Whittaker''''s *Exploratory Software Testing* (2009): Feature tour, Money tour, Landmark tour, Intellectual tour, Bad-data tour, Configuration tour, Garbage collector''''s tour. Each tour has a mission, a typical signal it surfaces, and an example application. Use as the heuristics menu the charter author and tester pick from when designing a session.
fcc-cuts-vids-heuristic
Pure-reference catalog of James Bach's FCC CUTS VIDS heuristic - a 10-letter mnemonic for the dimensions a tester catalogs when *modelling* a system. FCC: Format, Constraints, Connections. CUTS: Coverage, Users, Tasks, Sequences. VIDS: Variables, Inputs, Data, Storage. Use as the system-modelling checklist that complements SFDPOT (what to vary) and HICCUPPS-F (what to compare against).
hiccupps-f-heuristic
Pure-reference catalog of Michael Bolton's HICCUPPS-F oracle heuristic - eight (plus one) reference points for deciding whether something is a problem. Each letter is a kind of oracle the tester consults: History, Image, Comparable products, Claims, Users' desires, Product (internal consistency), Purpose, Standards / statutes, plus Familiar problems. Use as the heuristic vocabulary an exploratory session draws on when asking 'should this behaviour be a bug?'
manual-test-debrief
Session debrief template + tour-coverage tracker - captures the SBTM PROOF format (Past, Results, Outlook, Obstacles, Feelings) plus three-bucket time accounting (test design / setup / bug investigation), the tours applied + areas covered + areas skipped, and the per-session quality-of-attention signal. Output is the artifact a charter delivers into; the team aggregates debriefs across sessions to track what's been explored vs what's still uncharted. Use after every exploratory session - without the debrief, the session's findings disappear.
manual-test-script-author
Builds stakeholder-readable scripted manual test cases from a feature spec - emits either a step-table format (preconditions / steps / expected result / actual / pass-fail / notes) for spreadsheet review or a Gherkin Given/When/Then format for BDD-aware teams. Each script is self-contained (no implicit team knowledge), single-scenario (one happy + N edge per script), and includes the data setup the tester needs without being a developer. Use when a feature can't be (or shouldn't be) fully automated and a human tester needs an executable script - UAT, regression baselines, certification testing, exploratory follow-up scripts.
manual-testing-getting-started
Orients a new tester to the qa-manual-testing plugin: explains the two testing modes (session-based exploratory and scripted manual), maps the recommended starting path through the plugin's agents and skills, and names the four heuristic references with guidance on when to reach for each. Use when a junior or new manual or exploratory tester does not know where to start in this plugin and needs a single entry-point that connects the pieces.
sbtm-reference
Pure-reference catalog of Session-Based Test Management (SBTM) - Bach + Bach's framework for managing exploratory testing as time-boxed sessions. Defines the session (60-90 min focused exploration), the charter (mission statement), the session sheet structure (TBS / OPP / setup / test design + execution / charter / bug / issues / sessions), the dashboard view (% session time, bug-finding rate, charter throughput), and the PROOF debrief. Use as the canonical SBTM vocabulary that exploratory-charter-author + manual-test-debrief consume.
sfdpot-heuristic
Pure-reference catalog of James Bach's SFDPOT heuristic - 'San Francisco Depot' - a 'you are here' framework that catalogues what a tester can vary in a system to find bugs. Six dimensions: Structure, Function, Data, Platform, Operations, Time. Use as a what-to-vary checklist during an exploratory session, complementing HICCUPPS-F (which catalogues what to compare against).
state-transition-test-design
Derives human-readable manual test cases from stateful behavior: identify states, events, transitions, and guard conditions, draw the state table including invalid (empty-cell) transitions, choose a coverage level (all states, valid transitions / 0-switch, transition pairs / 1-switch per Chow, all transitions including invalid ones), then derive one test case per coverage item as an event sequence with per-step expected states (ISTQB CTFL v4.0 section 4.2.4). Deep single-technique walkthrough, unlike test-case-ideation-from-story in qa-process (broad multi-lens case matrix); output is manual step/expected cases, unlike boundary-value-generator in qa-test-data (parameterized test code); covers derivation, not case field structure like test-case-anatomy-reference in qa-test-management. Use for lifecycle entities (accounts, orders, subscriptions), workflows, and UI wizards where the response to an event depends on the current state.
test-execution-checklist
Converts a regression suite (or test plan) into an executable manual checklist for cases when automation isn't viable - a release-day smoke checklist, a post-incident verification list, or a periodic compliance check. Outputs a per-TC checkbox list with the minimal preconditions, the action, and a one-line "what to look for" - short enough to fit on one page per major flow. Use when the team needs a focused human-runnable list (not full step-tables), e.g., for production smoke after deploy or for the on-call rotation's quick verification.
uat-script-author
Emits User Acceptance Testing scripts in stakeholder-readable format - pre-conditions / business-language steps / expected business outcome / pass-fail / sign-off. Tailored for non-developer testers (end users, SMEs, solution owners) per the UAT canonical definition. Output is one TC per stakeholder-meaningful scenario with explicit sign-off, suitable for compliance / contract / audit records. Use when a release requires formal UAT before sign-off - typical for B2B contracts, regulated industries, or any delivery where the customer's acceptance is the contractual gate.
Agents
charter-coach
Action-taking agent that converts a feature description and a set of risk areas into a well-formed SBTM exploratory charter - a ready-to-execute mission card with mission statement, scoped areas, applicable HICCUPPS-F oracles, SFDPOT product elements to vary, and 1-3 recommended tours - so a junior or mid-level manual tester can start a session without needing qa-roles installed. Use when a tester has a feature and a risk list but needs a structured charter before starting an exploratory session.
session-debrief-coach
Reviews a completed SBTM session sheet and coaches the tester on debrief quality: checks each PROOF field (Past/Results/Outlook/Obstacles/Feelings) for completeness, flags a thin or absent Feelings entry, detects when the TBS time split signals an environment problem (setup% > 30%), and recommends the next charter from the Outlook section. Use when a tester has filled in a session sheet and wants structured feedback before filing it - the reviewer half of the manual-testing loop that manual-test-debrief starts.
test-script-quality-critic
Adversarial critic for authored manual test scripts in this plugin's format (step-table or Gherkin, as produced by `manual-test-script-author` / `uat-script-author`). Inspects each script for vague preconditions, bundled multi-scenario steps, missing or ambiguous expected results, non-self-contained test data, and imperative UI mechanics where a declarative step belongs - the five anti-patterns documented in `manual-test-script-author`. Emits a per-script PASS or BLOCK verdict with flagged lines. Read-only. Use when a scripted manual test has been authored and needs a gate review before hand-off to testers or addition to the regression baseline. Distinct from `test-case-quality-auditor` (qa-process), which audits tracker exports and case matrices; this agent reviews authored execution scripts - the step-table or Gherkin artefacts the tester actually runs.