testing: unguarded inline dotnet-test:* cross-plugin ref; .NET-only enrichment lists presented as the universal path

[kyle-sexton]

Plugin: testing · Categories: hardcoded opinion (1), missing seam guard (2)
Source: work-readiness sweep (read-only audit vs docs/PLUGIN-PHILOSOPHY.md + docs/MIGRATION-PLAYBOOK.md)

Findings

• plugins/testing/skills/write/context/write.md:78 — "(detection layer: dotnet-test:test-anti-patterns + dotnet-test:assertion-quality plugins)" — inline parenthetical, NOT under any "invoke only when installed" guard
• Guarded lists (structurally fine but all-.NET): write.md:138-142, organize.md:61-64, plan/SKILL.md:105-108, run-e2e/context/e2e.md:134-137, diagnose/context/investigate.md:55-58, diagnose/context/loop.md:110-113 — dotnet-test:*, dotnet-diag:*, dotnet-msbuild:*, cloudflare:web-perf, document-skills:webapp-testing

Why it breaks the repo's rules

(1) write.md:78 is a bare unguarded cross-plugin reference — exactly what PLUGIN-PHILOSOPHY's design boundary calls "a defect". (2) Every recommended sibling is .NET-ecosystem-specific, so a plugin billed "across all ecosystems" offers a house-stack-only enrichment path. None of the dotnet-* plugins exist in this marketplace (verified in this sweep — same pattern as #405/#412/#422); cloudflare:* and document-skills:* are external.

Fix direction

Move write.md:78's mention under the existing guarded pattern (or drop it). Frame the .NET-only lists explicitly as ".NET-ecosystem plugins — applicable when your stack is .NET" so non-.NET consumers are not handed a dead list as the universal path; keep them optional/gated.

[kyle-sexton]

This was generated by AI during triage.

Triage → T2 planning complete · confidence: high. Bounded edits; the guard idiom to mirror already exists in-plugin; list labeling is a verifiable factual correction (per-list, not blanket). Labeling status: ready.

Plan — guard the bare cross-plugin ref + scope the .NET enrichment lists

Premise correction (read first)

#430 part 2 says "every recommended sibling is .NET-ecosystem-specific." False for two entries, verified against the installed source:

• cloudflare:web-perf — Core Web Vitals via Chrome DevTools MCP → cross-ecosystem
• document-skills:webapp-testing — Playwright patterns → cross-ecosystem

So the six guarded lists split three ways; the fix must be per-list, not a blanket ".NET" label — blanket-labeling would inject a new factual error into skills/run-e2e/context/e2e.md, whose list is 100% cross-ecosystem.

Behavioral contract

1. No bare, unguarded cross-plugin reference survives in skills/write/context/write.md — every sibling mention sits under the plugin's existing "invoke only when installed" guard.
2. Every guarded enrichment list that is .NET-only is explicitly framed as .NET-ecosystem-conditional, so a non-.NET consumer is never handed a dead list as the universal path.
3. Lists whose entries are already cross-ecosystem stay unlabeled (already correct); mixed lists are labeled per-entry.
4. No change depends on whether the dotnet-* plugins ever ship (see follow-up).

In-plugin guard idioms to mirror (both already used)

• Inline: (when the tdd plugin is installed) — skills/write/context/write.md opening paragraph, guarding /tdd:principles.
• Section heading: ## Marketplace plugin skills (invoke only when installed) — used by organize.md, plan/SKILL.md, run-e2e/context/e2e.md, diagnose/context/investigate.md, diagnose/context/loop.md.

Part 1 — the bare unguarded reference (the defect)

skills/write/context/write.md, checklist "No tautological assertions" item ends with an unguarded parenthetical.

Before: …proves nothing (detection layer: dotnet-test:test-anti-patterns + dotnet-test:assertion-quality plugins)

After (mirrors the file's own inline tdd guard; one guard covers both, same plugin): …proves nothing (when the dotnet-test plugin is installed, dotnet-test:test-anti-patterns and dotnet-test:assertion-quality provide a detection layer)

Alternative (equivalent): drop the parenthetical and fold both skills into write.md's existing "Marketplace plugin skills" section. Inline guard recommended to keep the checklist item self-contained.

Part 2 — frame the .NET-only lists

Add one framing line under each applicable ## Marketplace plugin skills (invoke only when installed) heading:

.NET-ecosystem plugins — applicable when your stack is .NET.

Apply to the four pure-.NET lists:

• skills/write/context/write.md — dotnet-test:code-testing-agent
• skills/write/context/organize.md — dotnet-test:crap-score, dotnet-test:test-anti-patterns
• skills/diagnose/context/investigate.md — dotnet-diag:analyzing-dotnet-performance, dotnet-msbuild:binlog-failure-analysis
• skills/diagnose/context/loop.md — dotnet-test:mtp-hot-reload, dotnet-diag:analyzing-dotnet-performance

Mixed list — skills/plan/SKILL.md (dotnet-test:code-testing-agent + document-skills:webapp-testing): do NOT blanket-label. Append " (when your stack is .NET)" to the dotnet-test bullet; leave document-skills:webapp-testing unlabeled.

Zero-.NET list — skills/run-e2e/context/e2e.md (cloudflare:web-perf + document-skills:webapp-testing): no label — out of scope. Both cross-ecosystem; a .NET label would be incorrect. Leave as-is.

Acceptance criteria

• write.md has no cross-plugin reference outside an "installed" guard.
• The four pure-.NET lists carry the ".NET-ecosystem — applicable when your stack is .NET" framing.
• plan/SKILL.md dotnet-test entry marked .NET-conditional; its document-skills entry untouched.
• run-e2e/context/e2e.md unchanged (no erroneous .NET label).
• No entry/skill name/guard heading deleted; all lists stay optional/gated.
• Valid whether or not the dotnet-* plugins ever ship.

Optional adjacent cleanup (not part of #430)

write.md's own trailing ## Marketplace plugin skills heading lacks the (invoke only when installed) suffix the other five carry (guarded only by prose). Aligning it would make the guard consistent plugin-wide.

Follow-up

Coupled to the #412/#422 dotnet-* existence decision (planned/external vs stale). This plan is deliberately valid independent of that outcome. Don't block #430 on it; revisit list contents (keep vs remove the dotnet-* entries) once that decision lands.