detect-duplicate-test-cases

Detect Duplicate Test Cases

Detect duplicate test cases in the user's project. Recommend cleanup actions.

Workflow

1. Collect Test Cases

• Find all manual and automated test cases in the repository.
  • Manual: markdown files inside /tests/, .feature files (Gherkin).
  • Automated: *.spec.ts, *.test.js, *.cy.js, etc.
• Parse each test to extract: title, steps, expected results, tags, and suite location.

2. Analyze Duplicates

Normalize test content before comparison:

• Convert titles to lowercase.
• Remove punctuation and formatting differences.
• Normalize step wording where possible.
• Ignore framework syntax (describe, Scenario, it, etc.) when analyzing intent.
• Treat parameterized values (emails, IDs, usernames) as variable data.

Compare tests using multiple similarity signals:

• Title similarity.
• Step similarity.
• Expected result similarity.
• Preconditions or setup.
• Shared tags or metadata.
• Test location or suite context.

Score each pair using the scoring rules in ./references/DUPLICATE_INSTRUCTIONS.md. Classify each pair into a detection level (defined in the same reference):

• Level 1: exact duplicates.
• Level 2: semantic duplicates.
• Level 3: overlapping / subset tests.
• Level 4: redundant variations.

Build duplicate groups where multiple tests represent the same testing intent. Each group includes:

• All related tests.
• Similarity score.
• Detection level.
• Proposed canonical test.

3. Generate Report

Follow the report template in ./references/DUPLICATE_INSTRUCTIONS.md. Include:

• Summary statistics (total scanned, duplicates found by category).
• Each duplicate group with test details and locations.
• Similarity percentage.
• Recommendation for each group (keep/merge/remove).
• Suggested actions.

4. Execute Actions

Apply actions only after the user approves the recommendations.

• Merge: combine duplicate or highly similar tests into one canonical test.
  • Preserve the original test structure used by the framework (e.g., Gherkin, Markdown, Jest, Cypress).
  • Retain the primary test ID from the canonical test.
  • Merge tags, labels, and metadata from all source tests (deduplicate where possible).
  • Preserve important assertions, steps, and expected results.
  • Add references to the original test files or IDs that were merged.
• Remove: delete duplicate or redundant test files or test entries.
  • Ensure the canonical or replacement test already exists.
  • Add a reference in the canonical test noting which tests were removed.
  • Do not remove tests that contain unique steps, tags, or coverage.
• Keep: keep both tests but document their relationship.
  • Add cross-reference notes between related tests.
  • Indicate the reason both tests remain (e.g., different environments, data sets, or coverage).

Preservation Rules

When merging or rewriting tests, preserve:

• Test IDs: keep the canonical ID and reference any merged IDs.
• Tags / labels: retain and merge all relevant tags.
• Framework structure: keep the original format (e.g., Scenario, describe/it, Markdown sections).
• File organization: maintain the existing test directory conventions.
• Traceability metadata: keep links to requirements, issues, or tickets if present.

Never break framework syntax or remove traceability metadata when rewriting tests.