manual_slop/conductor/tracks/live_gui_testing_20260223/spec.md

Specification: Live GUI Testing Infrastructure

Overview

Update the testing suite to ensure all tests (especially GUI-related and integration tests) communicate with a live running instance of gui.py started with the --enable-test-hooks argument. This ensures that tests can verify the actual application state and metrics via the built-in API hooks.

Functional Requirements

• Server-Based Testing: All tests must be updated to interact with the application through its REST API hooks rather than mocking internal components where live verification is possible.
• Automated GUI Management: Implement a robust mechanism (preferably a pytest fixture) to start gui.py --enable-test-hooks before test execution and ensure it is cleanly terminated after tests complete.
• Hook Client Integration: Ensure api_hook_client.py is the primary interface for tests to communicate with the running GUI.
• Documentation Alignment: Update conductor/workflow.md to reflect the requirement for live testing and API hook verification.

Non-Functional Requirements

• Reliability: The process of starting and stopping the GUI must be stable and not leave orphaned processes.
• Speed: The setup/teardown of the live GUI should be optimized to minimize test suite overhead.
• Observability: Tests should log communication with the API hooks for easier debugging.

Acceptance Criteria

• All tests in the tests/ directory pass when executed against a live gui.py instance.
• New track creation (e.g., via /conductor:newTrack) generates plans that include specific API hook verification tasks.
• conductor/workflow.md accurately describes the live testing protocol.
• Real-time UI metrics (FPS, CPU, etc.) are successfully retrieved and verified in at least one performance test.

Out of Scope

• Rewriting the entire GUI framework.
• Implementing new API hooks not required for existing test verification.