Prioritize behavior-driven validation

[eddiearc]

Summary

• choose validation outside-in from user-visible behavior and integration risk
• prioritize Agent evals and real or explicitly mocked workflows for externally affected behavior
• reserve unit/module tests for meaningful behavior, branching, state, errors, and safety invariants
• avoid dedicated unit tests for renames, copy, trivial helpers, and low-complexity implementation details
• treat cyclomatic complexity as a signal rather than a numeric gate

Validation

• five-scenario independent evaluator: all selections matched the registered rubric
• task-plan suite: 17 passed
• framework full checks: 80 passed plus context/publication gates
• disposable init workflow propagated all three guidance surfaces and validated the empty board
• no new unit tests or checker fields added