git.stella-ops.org/docs/qa/console-ui-qa-strategy.md

Console UI QA Strategy

Goal

• Produce QA work that proves Stella Ops can be operated to release with confidence.
• Focus downstream agents on route truth, tab truth, evidence linkage, and corrective-action handoffs instead of generic visual review.
• Turn runtime findings into concrete test and fix work under src/Web/StellaOps.Web/.

Required Reading

• docs/product/release-with-confidence-product-card.md
• docs/qa/console-ui-traversal-map.md
• docs/qa/feature-checks/FLOW.md
• docs/UI_GUIDE.md
• src/Web/AGENTS.md

Preconditions

1. Start the Web app and required local services before any UI verification.
2. Use authenticated QA sessions. For local-source passes, seed the persisted auth keys used by AuthSessionStore:
   • stellaops.auth.session.full
   • stellaops.auth.session.info
   • stellaops:wasEverAuth
3. Do not rely on window.__stellaopsTestSession as the only bootstrap path. The current live guard contract is storage-based.
4. If running against the live frontdoor instead of the local source server, export STELLAOPS_FRONTDOOR_PASSWORD or STELLAOPS_ADMIN_PASS before starting the run.
5. Do not write transient Playwright output into a watched Angular source path during a live ng serve pass unless rebuild churn is acceptable. Prefer a temp directory or write once after the traversal completes.

What Counts As A Pass

• The route lands on the correct canonical page or canonical child route.
• The page clearly states what surface the operator is on.
• The page preserves release, evidence, policy, or admin context instead of silently collapsing into another workspace.
• Every visible tab lands on a truthful state with distinct route or content identity.
• Empty states tell the operator what is missing and what action to take next.
• Primary CTAs lead to the owning corrective workflow.

What Counts As A Failure

• Redirects that lose authority, tenant, or base-url context.
• Evidence routes that silently become unrelated Ops pages without preserving evidence identity.
• Pages with no stable page identity in the main surface.
• Tabs that render but do not change route or state in a way the operator can understand.
• Placeholder or empty content presented without an explanation of what data or action is missing.
• Broken admin or setup handoffs that prevent the operator from reaching the owning page.

Execution Order

1. Resolve active route and redirect defects first.
2. Verify Release Control and Release Policies next.
3. Verify Security next.
4. Verify Evidence and Ops next.
5. Verify Setup and Admin last.

This order is intentional. A polished admin page does not compensate for ambiguous release, policy, or evidence truth.

Route-Family Checks

Release Control

Entry route	Seek for	Required interactions	Failure signals
/environments/overview	clear environment readiness ownership	load page, verify the main panel is not just nav chrome, check whether topology or readiness content exists	missing top-level page identity or only shell text
/releases	release list anchored to versions or bundles	verify sort and filter chips, empty-state truth, drill into release identity when possible	page title only, no release context in main panel
/releases/deployments	deployment state and approval queue visibility	switch visible state filters, confirm counts and state labels remain coherent	filters that do not change visible state or route
/releases/bundles	digest-first bundle identity and validation context	verify bundle states, digest-oriented copy, and bundle creation handoff if present	tag-first copy or missing digest and evidence context
/releases/promotions	promotion queue and readiness	verify page state and empty-state guidance	generic list shell without promotion meaning
/releases/approvals	approvals segmented by decision state	click all tabs: Pending, Approved, Rejected, Expiring, My Team	tabs render but do not change state or route

Release Policies

Entry route	Seek for	Required interactions	Failure signals
/ops/policy/packs	release policy entry surface	confirm the page has main-panel identity and is not only nav chrome	title exists but no main-panel page identity
/ops/policy/governance	governance ownership	click Governance, VEX & Exceptions, Simulation, Audit; confirm route changes and headings follow	cross-links present but content stays ambiguous
/ops/policy/vex	VEX conflict and exception truth	click local VEX tabs such as Search, Stats, Consensus, Explorer, Conflicts, Exceptions	VEX surface lacks distinct page state or operator action
/ops/policy/simulation	what-if and promotion-gate simulation	click Shadow Mode, Promotion Gate, Test & Validate, Pre-Promotion Review, Effective Policies, Exceptions	simulation tabs do not expose a reviewable scenario or result state

Security

Entry route	Seek for	Required interactions	Failure signals
/security/images	security posture attached to a release or image selection	click Summary, Findings, SBOM, Reachability, VEX, Evidence	tabs break context or the empty state hides what must be selected
/security/risk	risk budget and verdict truth	verify Current Verdict, Side-by-Side Risk Diff, Exception Workflow	metrics or exceptions render as placeholders without explanation
/security/advisory-sources	source freshness and feed ownership	confirm the page has page-level identity and feed-specific actions or state	route title only, no main-panel identity
/triage/artifacts	vulnerability triage work surface	confirm page identity, queue or state controls, and drill-in affordances	route resolves but only shell text is present

Evidence

Entry route	Seek for	Required interactions	Failure signals
/evidence/overview	evidence-specific landing page	confirm whether aliasing to Ops > Audit is intentional and understandable to an operator	silent collapse into Audit with no Evidence identity
/evidence/audit-log	audit-event search and log review	exercise search and pagination controls if available	search and log surface lacks audit identity
/evidence/verify-replay	replay request, replay queue, quick verify	click visible replay controls, confirm mismatch and empty-state copy is truthful	replay surface exists but offers no actionable next step
/evidence/exports	export ownership and workflow	verify page identity and export actions	route title only, no export-specific surface
/evidence/capsules	proof-bundle and capsule ownership	confirm whether this intentionally maps to Audit > Bundles or incorrectly loses capsule identity	route lands in Audit with no capsule language

Ops

Entry route	Seek for	Required interactions	Failure signals
/ops/operations/jobengine	execution control plane	click Runs, Schedules, Workers and verify state changes	tabs render but do not alter the visible slice
/ops/operations/feeds-airgap	feed and offline readiness	verify the page is not mislabeled as generic dashboard content	"About this page" points to the wrong workspace or no feed identity exists
/ops/operations/doctor	diagnostics ownership	confirm service-health and drift checks appear in the main panel	title exists but no diagnostic identity or actions
/ops/operations/audit	audit workspace	click All Events, Timeline, Correlations, Exports, Bundles	tabs do not preserve audit context
/ops/scripts	operator scripts and filtering	exercise visible language and visibility filters	filters do not affect state or are mislabeled

Setup And Admin

Entry route	Seek for	Required interactions	Failure signals
/setup	setup workspace overview	verify each tile links to the owning setup route	setup overview lists areas but handoffs are broken
/setup/integrations	integration ownership	confirm page identity and integration-specific actions	route title only, no integration surface
/setup/trust-signing	trust and signing canonical child route	click Signing Keys, Trusted Issuers, Certificates, Audit	keys child route is fine, but parent trust identity must remain obvious
/setup/identity-providers	identity-provider CRUD surface	verify list and create affordances	page lands but cannot express current state or next step
/setup/tenant-branding	tenant and branding ownership	confirm page identity and editable controls	route title only, no branding-specific surface
/console-admin/*	admin deep links	verify redirects keep the correct origin and page ownership	redirects drop the port or base URL or land on the wrong setup page

Retained Automation Requirements

• Any manual route or tab discovered during QA must become retained Playwright coverage before the feature area is considered stable.
• New or corrected tests must follow the current route contract, not the retired standalone Evidence sidebar expectation.
• Admin-route coverage must explicitly assert the final URL origin so port-dropping redirects are caught.
• Evidence-route coverage must assert whether a route is intentionally aliased or whether it must preserve standalone Evidence identity.

Downstream Sprint Split

• SPRINT_20260421_005_FE_console_route_identity_and_redirect_truth.md
• SPRINT_20260421_006_FE_release_and_security_console_behavioral_qa.md
• SPRINT_20260421_007_FE_evidence_ops_setup_admin_console_behavioral_qa.md

These sprints are intentionally small enough that another agent can verify and fix within src/Web/StellaOps.Web/ without re-deriving the product model.