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Lab 2 - Context: the recorded walkthrough

Recorded with Claude Code 2.1.281, from the lab's instructions. Results are shortened; your agent's answers will differ in wording.

Step 1 - The "before"​

Prompt:

Write a Robot Framework test for criterion WEB-002_AC-5 of this repository and save it as results/lab-02/before.robot. Do not run it, and do not change any other file.

The agent runs grep -rn "WEB-002" --include=* . 2>/dev/null | grep -v "^./.git/" | head -50; ls; ls results 2>/dev/null

tests/ui/catalogue.robot:13:Test Tags           WEB-002    ui
tests/ui/catalogue.robot:17:WEB-002_AC-1 Every Card Offers Add To Cart
tests/ui/catalogue.robot:26:WEB-002_AC-1 Card Prices Are The Product Prices
tests/ui/catalogue.robot:39:WEB-002_AC-2 Categories Filter Group
tests/ui/catalogue.robot:46:WEB-002_AC-4 Rating Filter
tests/ui/catalogue.robot:52:WEB-002_AC-7 Audio Filter Shows Only Audio
tests/ui/catalogue.robot:64:WEB-002_AC-10 Reset Filters
tests/ui/catalogue.robot:76:WEB-002_AC-12 Handpicked Highlights
openspec/changes/archive/2026-09-24-baseline-suite/specs/workshop/test-conventions/spec.md:50:Every test SHALL carry its story ID as a tag (for example `WEB-002`) or `smoke`, and its layer, `ui` or `a
docs/conventions.md:14:When one criterion needs several tests, they share the prefix: `WEB-002_AC-1 Every Card Offers Add To Cart` and
docs/conventions.md:15:`WEB-002_AC-1 Card Prices Are The Product Prices`. A test that verifies no criterion carries the `smoke` tag instead.
docs/conventions.md:71:| the story ID, for example `WEB-002` | every test that verifies a criterion |
... (65 more lines)

The agent runs cat openspec/specs/shop/catalogue/spec.md; echo ----; cat tests/ui/catalogue.robot; echo ----; ls -R tests resources | head -60; echo ----; ls labs; ls labs/* | head -40

# shop/catalogue Specification

## Purpose
Describes the products page, `/products`, as a shopper experiences it: the product grid, its filters, the collection previews and the highlights.

## Requirements

### Requirement: Full product grid (WEB-002_AC-1)
When a shopper opens `/products` and the page finishes loading, the page SHALL display all 12 seeded products in a grid. Each product card SHALL show the product's name, its image, its price - the pro

#### Scenario: Opening the products page
- **WHEN** a shopper opens `/products`
... (237 more lines)

The agent runs cat labs/lab-02-context/INSTRUCTIONS.md; echo ----; cat docs/conventions.md; echo ----; cat robot.toml; echo ----; ls -la results results/* 

# Lab 2 - Context

Write the [context file](../../GLOSSARY.md#context-file) every agent reads, `AGENTS.md`, and see what it changes. You
need nothing but a text editor for the writing. The agent comes in before and after.

| | |
|---|---|
| Module | 2 - Context Engineering |
| Time | 25 minutes |
| Shop preset | `clean` |
| You need | Lab 0 done: the suite runs, and your agent starts in the repository |
| You start from | `main`, where `AGENTS.md` is deliberately short |
... (195 more lines)

The agent runs cat resources/catalogue.resource; echo ----; cat resources/shop.resource; echo ----; cat resources/legacy.resource; echo ----; cat openspec/specs/shop/interpretation-rules/spec.md

*** Settings ***
Documentation       The products page, /products, through the shop's stable contract:
...                 roles, accessible names, visible text and labels.

Library             Browser
Library             Collections
Library             String
Resource            shop.resource


*** Variables ***
# The innermost section headed "All products": the product grid, without the
... (232 more lines)

The agent runs ls shop; cat shop/compose.yaml; grep -rn -i "in-stock\|in stock\|instock" --exclude-dir=.git . | grep -v "^./results/" | head -30

__init__.py
__main__.py
__pycache__
compose.yaml
config.py
preflight.py
variables.py
# The demo shop, from its published image (spec: workshop/shop-access).
#
#   start       docker compose -f shop/compose.yaml up -d
#   fresh seed  docker compose -f shop/compose.yaml up -d --force-recreate
#   stop        docker compose -f shop/compose.yaml down
... (16 more lines)

Agent:

I've got the spec for WEB-002_AC-5 and the repo's conventions. Next I'll check the running shop's markup (read-only) so the checkbox locator matches the page.

The agent runs curl -s -m 5 http://localhost:9090/products | grep -o -i '.\{400\}in-stock.\{300\}' | head -5

(Bash completed with no output)

The agent runs curl -s -m 5 -o <scratch> -w '%{http_code} %{size_download}\n' http://localhost:9090/products; grep -o -i '.\{300\}stock.\{300\}' <scratch> | head -5

200 55735

The agent runs cd <scratch> && grep -o -i '.\{200\}\(stars\|checkbox\|availability\).\{200\}' products.html | head -8; grep -c . products.html

1487
Shell cwd was reset to <repo>

The agent runs cd <scratch> && grep -o 'src="[^"]*\.js[^"]*"' products.html | head -20

src="/static/app.js?v=ee3c3f9e45a296f9"
Shell cwd was reset to <repo>

The agent runs curl -s -m 5 'http://localhost:9090/static/app.js?v=ee3c3f9e45a296f9' -o <scratch> grep -o -i '.\{300\}\(in-stock\|in stock\|instock\|4 stars\).\{300\}' <scratch> | head -8

(Bash completed with no output)

The agent runs cd <scratch> && wc -c app.js; grep -o -i '.\{150\}\(stock\|rating\|Apply filters\).\{150\}' app.js | head -8; grep -o -i '.\{150\}\(Apply filters\|Categories\|All products\).\{150\}' products.html | head -5

48578 app.js
Shell cwd was reset to <repo>

Agent:

The server HTML doesn't contain the filter text as expected, so I'm doing one more quick check of the markup before writing the file.

The agent runs cd <scratch> && grep -n -i 'apply\|stock\|stars\|type="checkbox"' products.html | head -20

266:            <input type="checkbox" name="category" value="Audio" >
272:            <input type="checkbox" name="category" value="Displays" >
278:            <input type="checkbox" name="category" value="Furniture" >
284:            <input type="checkbox" name="category" value="Health" >
290:            <input type="checkbox" name="category" value="Home Office" >
296:            <input type="checkbox" name="category" value="Imaging" >
302:            <input type="checkbox" name="category" value="Outdoors" >
308:            <input type="checkbox" name="category" value="Productivity" >
314:            <input type="checkbox" name="category" value="Travel" >
345:          <input type="checkbox" name="rating" value="4" >
346:          <span>4 stars &amp; up</span>
353:          <input type="checkbox" name="availability" value="in_stock" >
... (9 more lines)

The agent reads <scratch>

The agent runs sed -n '336,361p' <scratch>

          </div>
          <input type="hidden" name="price_min" value="39.50">
          <input type="hidden" name="price_max" value="899.00">
        </div>
      </fieldset>

      <fieldset class="filter-group">
        <legend>Rating</legend>
        <label class="filter-checkbox">
          <input type="checkbox" name="rating" value="4" >
          <span>4 stars &amp; up</span>
        </label>
... (14 more lines)

The agent writes <repo>/results/lab-02/before.robot

File created successfully at: <repo>/results/lab-02/before.robot (file state is

The agent runs rm -f <scratch> <scratch> cd <repo> && git status --short --ignored results/lab-02; git status --short

!! results/

Agent:

I saved the test to results/lab-02/before.robot. I didn't run it. git status shows no other file changed, and results/ is ignored by git.

*** Test Cases ***
WEB-002_AC-5 Availability Filter
    [Documentation]    An availability filter offers an unchecked "Show in-stock only" checkbox.
    Go To Catalogue
    Checkbox Should Be Unchecked    Show in-stock only
  • Source: openspec/specs/shop/catalogue/spec.md says the products page shows a "Show in-stock only" checkbox that starts unchecked. The test checks exactly that.
  • Style: it follows docs/conventions.md and matches WEB-002_AC-4 Rating Filter in tests/ui/catalogue.robot. The name starts with the criterion ID, the tags are WEB-002 and ui, and the setup and teardown are the same.
  • Locators: the test file has none. It only calls keywords that already exist in resources/catalogue.resource, which finds the checkbox by its label inside the filter sidebar.
  • Label text: I read the markup of the running shop's /products page without changing anything. The checkbox's label reads exactly "Show in-stock only", so looking it up by label also matches the text a shopper sees.

This matters for the lab: I read docs/conventions.md, the specs and the existing suite before writing, even though AGENTS.md doesn't point to them yet. So this "before" probably already looks like what a good AGENTS.md should produce, and the difference in step 7 may be smaller than the lab expects.

Step 3 - Write AGENTS.md​

In the lab you write AGENTS.md yourself, in an editor. For the reference solution, the rehearsal lets the agent draft it from the same checklist.

Prompt:

Rewrite AGENTS.md following the checklist in step 3 of labs/lab-02-context/INSTRUCTIONS.md: a short section each for environment, system under test, conventions (a link to docs/conventions.md, not a copy), specifications and boundaries. Leave out secrets, anything from .env, lists of files, tests or keywords, and prose. Keep it to about 40 lines. Do not change CLAUDE.md.

The agent reads <repo>/labs/lab-02-context/INSTRUCTIONS.md

The agent runs git ls-files | grep -v '^labs/' | head -100 && echo --- && ls docs specs openspec 2>/dev/null

Exit code 2
.agents/skills/.openspec-target
.agents/skills/openspec-apply-change/SKILL.md
.agents/skills/openspec-archive-change/SKILL.md
.agents/skills/openspec-explore/SKILL.md
.agents/skills/openspec-propose/SKILL.md
.agents/skills/openspec-sync-specs/SKILL.md
.agents/skills/openspec-update-change/SKILL.md
.claude/commands/opsx/apply.md
.claude/commands/opsx/archive.md
.claude/commands/opsx/explore.md
.claude/commands/opsx/propose.md
... (100 more lines)

The agent runs git ls-files | grep -v '^labs/\|^\.\(agents\|claude\|github\)/\|^openspec/changes/archive' | sed -n '1,400p' | grep -v '^docs/\|^agents/\|^hooks/\|^mcp/' ; echo ---; ls labs labs/lab-02-context; echo ---; ls openspec/specs openspec/specs/*

.env.example
.gitignore
.python-version
AGENTS.md
CLAUDE.md
GLOSSARY.md
LICENSE
README.md
SETUP.md
openspec/changes/ci-and-site/.openspec.yaml
openspec/changes/ci-and-site/proposal.md
openspec/changes/workshop-labs/.openspec.yaml
... (85 more lines)

The agent reads <repo>/docs/conventions.md

The agent reads <repo>/labs/lab-02-context/checklist.md

The agent reads <repo>/robot.toml

The agent reads <repo>/openspec/specs/workshop/agent-context/spec.md

The agent reads <repo>/openspec/changes/workshop-labs/specs/workshop/agent-context/spec.md

The agent runs grep -n -i -A3 'lab.02\|lab 2\|AGENTS' tools/check_labs.py | head -80; echo ---; grep -n -i -B2 -A12 'lab 2\|AGENTS.md' openspec/changes/workshop-labs/specs/workshop/labs/spec.md openspec/changes/workshop-labs/specs/workshop/solutions/spec.md | head -120

23:    "lab-02-context": ("2", 25, "clean"),
24-    "lab-03-skills": ("3", 25, "clean"),
25-    "lab-04-robotcode": ("4", 25, "clean"),
26-    "lab-05-prompt-to-green": ("5", 30, "clean"),
---
openspec/changes/workshop-labs/specs/workshop/labs/spec.md-21-#### Scenario: Checking time budgets
openspec/changes/workshop-labs/specs/workshop/labs/spec.md-22-- **WHEN** the lab time budgets are compared with the timetable
openspec/changes/workshop-labs/specs/workshop/labs/spec.md:23:- **THEN** Lab 2 and Lab 3 have 25 minutes, Lab 4 25, Lab 5 30, Lab 6 25, Lab 7 20, Lab 8 12 and Lab 9 15, and Lab 0 fills its 30-minute m
openspec/changes/workshop-labs/specs/workshop/labs/spec.md-24-
openspec/changes/workshop-labs/specs/workshop/labs/spec.md-25-### Requirement: Done is checkable
openspec/changes/workshop-labs/specs/workshop/labs/spec.md-26-Every `checklist.md` SHALL list what "done" looks like as items a participant can check without a facilitator: a file that exists, a comma
openspec/changes/workshop-labs/specs/workshop/labs/spec.md-27-
... (23 more lines)

The agent runs ls transcripts 2>&1; sed -n '1,60p' shop/__main__.py; echo ---; cat shop/compose.yaml; echo ---; sed -n '1,80p' pyproject.toml; echo ---; grep -o '^[A-Z_]*=' .env.example

ls: cannot access 'transcripts': No such file or directory
"""The shop helper: ``uv run python -m shop <command>`` (spec: workshop/shop-access).

    status          version, space, and the presets that hold in the space
    presets         the preset names the shop offers
    preset NAME     apply a preset in the current space
    reset           reset the current space: its flags, cart and runtime orders
    wait            wait until the shop answers its health check

Every request carries the space from SHOP_SPACE. Output never names individual
planted-bug flags, and ``presets`` prints no descriptions: the shop's own
descriptions say which behaviours some presets break, which is what the
... (112 more lines)

Agent:

Checked the lab checklist, conventions, robot.toml and specs. Now I'll confirm a couple of facts before writing the file.

The agent runs sed -n '1,25p' openspec/specs/shop/interpretation-rules/spec.md; echo ---; grep -n '^#\|Criterion\|AC-' openspec/specs/shop/catalogue/spec.md | head -15; echo ---; uv run --no-sync robotcode --help 2>&1 | grep -n -i 'profile' | head -5

# shop/interpretation-rules Specification

## Purpose
Defines how every requirement under `shop/*` is read and checked, so that a test written from these specs passes or fails for the same reasons as the shop's own acceptance checks.

## Requirements

### Requirement: Clean state
Every requirement under `shop/*` SHALL hold in a freshly reset workshop space, in which the seeded catalogue of 12 products is unchanged and the cart is empty unless a requirement says otherwise.

#### Scenario: After a reset
- **WHEN** a participant resets their space and then checks any `shop/*` requirement
... (35 more lines)

The agent writes <repo>/AGENTS.md

The file <repo>/AGENTS.md has been updated successfully. (file state is current

The agent runs wc -l AGENTS.md && git status --short && cat CLAUDE.md

38 AGENTS.md
 M AGENTS.md
@AGENTS.md

Agent:

I rewrote AGENTS.md using the step 3 checklist. It's 38 lines, and CLAUDE.md still contains only @AGENTS.md. Nothing else changed, and I haven't committed anything.

It has five sections:

  • Environment: how to install and check the setup, how to run the whole suite and a single test (-t "<test name>"), that -p shared selects the shared instance, and that output goes to results/.
  • System under test: what the shop is, how to start it locally on localhost:9090, that the shared instance is set up in .env, and that python -m shop status shows its state.
  • Conventions: one line that points to docs/conventions.md, with none of its content copied.
  • Specifications: openspec/specs/shop/ has one requirement per criterion and is the reference for expected behaviour. openspec/specs/workshop/ describes the repository, not the shop.
  • Boundaries: never edit resources/legacy.resource; never apply presets or reset the shop, whether from a test or on the agent's own initiative; never read .env; never install tools the repository doesn't pin (no pip, no rfbrowser init); and never edit shop specs to match what the shop actually does.

Things you might want to check:

  • -p shared placement: the old file said to "add -p shared" to uv run robotcode robot. But -p is an option of robotcode itself, not of robot, so it has to come first: uv run robotcode -p shared robot. That's how the new file shows it, and it matches the comment in robot.toml.
  • No setting names: I left out SHOP_URL and SHOP_SPACE because you said to leave out anything from .env. The file only says the shared instance is configured there.
  • Two boundaries I added: "not on your own initiative" for presets and resets, and "don't edit shop specs." Neither is in the lab's example list; remove them if they go further than you want.

I stopped at step 3. Step 4, moving one section into docs/agent-environment.md, isn't done.

Step 4 - Move one section into its own file​

Prompt:

Move the Environment section of AGENTS.md into docs/agent-environment.md, and leave one line in AGENTS.md: "Before installing anything or running tests, read docs/agent-environment.md."

The agent writes <repo>/docs/agent-environment.md

File created successfully at: <repo>/docs/agent-environment.md (file state is cu

The agent edits <repo>/AGENTS.md

The file <repo>/AGENTS.md has been updated successfully. (file state is current

The agent runs sed -n '1,8p' AGENTS.md && wc -l AGENTS.md docs/agent-environment.md && git status --short && cat CLAUDE.md

# AGENTS.md

Participant repository of the workshop "Agentic Engineering with Robot Framework": a Robot Framework suite that
tests the demo shop.

Before installing anything or running tests, read docs/agent-environment.md.

## System under test
  31 AGENTS.md
   8 docs/agent-environment.md
  39 total
 M AGENTS.md
... (2 more lines)

Agent:

I moved the Environment section into docs/agent-environment.md. It has an # Environment heading and the same six bullets, unchanged.

In AGENTS.md, the section (heading included) is now just your line, right under the intro: "Before installing anything or running tests, read docs/agent-environment.md." That brings AGENTS.md down to 31 lines. CLAUDE.md still contains only @AGENTS.md, and I haven't committed anything.

The line is plain text rather than a Markdown link, as you worded it. That's fine for agents, which read the path either way. If you'd like it clickable when viewed on GitHub, I can change it to docs/agent-environment.md, matching the conventions line.

Next in the lab is step 5: start a new session and check that /memory lists AGENTS.md through CLAUDE.md.

The participant runs wc -l AGENTS.md && cat AGENTS.md:

31 AGENTS.md
# AGENTS.md

Participant repository of the workshop "Agentic Engineering with Robot Framework": a Robot Framework suite that
tests the demo shop.

Before installing anything or running tests, read docs/agent-environment.md.

## System under test

- The demo shop: a web shop with a UI and an API, run from a published image pinned in `shop/compose.yaml`.
- Local (default): `docker compose -f shop/compose.yaml up -d`, then `http://localhost:9090`.
... (20 more lines)

Step 5 - Check that the agent loads it​

/memory is interactive; the rehearsal shows the entry point instead.

The participant runs cat CLAUDE.md:

@AGENTS.md

Step 6 - The "after"​

Prompt:

Write a Robot Framework test for criterion WEB-002_AC-5 of this repository and save it as results/lab-02/after.robot. Do not run it, and do not change any other file.

Agent:

I'll start with the documents the repo tells me to read first.

The agent reads <repo>/docs/agent-environment.md

The agent reads <repo>/docs/conventions.md

The agent runs grep -rn "WEB-002" openspec/specs/shop/ | head -50; ls results results/lab-02 2>/dev/null; git ls-files | grep -v '^\.' | head -200

openspec/specs/shop/catalogue/spec.md:8:### Requirement: Full product grid (WEB-002_AC-1)
openspec/specs/shop/catalogue/spec.md:15:### Requirement: Category filter group (WEB-002_AC-2)
openspec/specs/shop/catalogue/spec.md:22:### Requirement: Price range filter (WEB-002_AC-3)
openspec/specs/shop/catalogue/spec.md:29:### Requirement: Rating filter (WEB-002_AC-4)
openspec/specs/shop/catalogue/spec.md:36:### Requirement: Availability filter (WEB-002_AC-5)
openspec/specs/shop/catalogue/spec.md:43:### Requirement: Apply filters (WEB-002_AC-6)
openspec/specs/shop/catalogue/spec.md:50:### Requirement: Category filter application (WEB-002_AC-7)
openspec/specs/shop/catalogue/spec.md:57:### Requirement: Price range filter application (WEB-002_AC-8)
openspec/specs/shop/catalogue/spec.md:64:### Requirement: Combined filters (WEB-002_AC-9)
openspec/specs/shop/catalogue/spec.md:71:### Requirement: Reset filters (WEB-002_AC-10)
openspec/specs/shop/catalogue/spec.md:78:### Requirement: Collections to explore (WEB-002_AC-11)
openspec/specs/shop/catalogue/spec.md:85:### Requirement: Handpicked highlights (WEB-002_AC-12)
... (149 more lines)

The agent reads <repo>/openspec/specs/shop/catalogue/spec.md

The agent reads <repo>/openspec/specs/shop/interpretation-rules/spec.md

The agent reads <repo>/resources/catalogue.resource

The agent reads <repo>/tests/ui/catalogue.robot

The agent reads <repo>/results/lab-02/before.robot

The agent reads <repo>/labs/lab-02-context/INSTRUCTIONS.md

Agent:

The spec is clear: a "Show in-stock only" checkbox, unchecked by default. Next I'll check the shared resources, the run config and the locator hook, so the test only uses keywords that already exist.

The agent reads <repo>/resources/shop.resource

The agent reads <repo>/robot.toml

The agent reads <repo>/hooks/no_inline_locators.py

The agent reads <repo>/openspec/specs/workshop/test-conventions/spec.md

The agent writes <repo>/results/lab-02/after.robot

File created successfully at: <repo>/results/lab-02/after.robot (file state is c

The agent runs uv run --no-sync python hooks/no_inline_locators.py results/lab-02/after.robot; echo "exit=$?"; diff results/lab-02/before.robot results/lab-02/after.robot && echo identical; git status --short

exit=0
identical
 M AGENTS.md
?? docs/agent-environment.md

Agent:

I wrote the test to results/lab-02/after.robot. I didn't run it, and I changed no other file (git status shows the same two changes as before, and results/ is ignored by git).

WEB-002_AC-5 Availability Filter
    [Documentation]    An availability filter offers an unchecked "Show in-stock only" checkbox.
    Go To Catalogue
    Checkbox Should Be Unchecked    Show in-stock only

How it follows the repo's rules:

  • Spec: it checks what openspec/specs/shop/catalogue/spec.md says for WEB-002_AC-5: a "Show in-stock only" checkbox that is unchecked by default. The label is copied exactly from the spec.
  • Locators: the test file has none. The repo's locator checker (hooks/no_inline_locators.py) passes on it. It reuses the existing keywords Go To Catalogue and Checkbox Should Be Unchecked from resources/catalogue.resource. That keyword finds the checkbox by its label inside the filter sidebar, which the spec's rules allow for a form field. The match ignores case and accepts the phrase inside a longer label.
  • Name, tags and isolation: the name starts with WEB-002_AC-5, the tags are WEB-002 and ui, and each test gets its own browser context through Start Shop Test. There are no presets or resets.

For step 7 of the lab: after.robot is identical to the existing before.robot. With the keyword already in the resources and the spec this clear, there was only one sensible test to write. So in this run, the new AGENTS.md didn't change the result; it changed what I checked before writing it.

The spec also says the checkbox is "shown", but the test doesn't check that it's visible. The only way would be a new keyword in resources/, and that would have meant changing another file.

Step 7 - Compare​

The participant runs diff results/lab-02/before.robot results/lab-02/after.robot:

(no output)

Stretch - A nested AGENTS.md for the API tests​

Prompt:

Create tests/api/AGENTS.md with only what API tests need: they use resources/api.resource and its session shop, and they are tagged api. Keep it under 10 lines.

The agent runs ls tests tests/api 2>&1; find . -name AGENTS.md -not -path './node_modules/*' -not -path './.venv/*'; cat resources/api.resource

tests:
api
ui

tests/api:
smoke.robot
./AGENTS.md
*** Settings ***
Documentation       The shop's API, in the configured workshop space.

Library             Collections
Library             RequestsLibrary
... (20 more lines)

The agent reads <repo>/tests/api/smoke.robot

The agent writes <repo>/tests/api/AGENTS.md

File created successfully at: <repo>/tests/api/AGENTS.md (file state is current

The agent edits <repo>/tests/api/AGENTS.md

The file <repo>/tests/api/AGENTS.md has been updated successfully. (file state i

Agent:

I created tests/api/AGENTS.md. It's 7 lines:

# AGENTS.md

API tests for the demo shop.

- Import `resources/api.resource` and call `Open Shop API` in `Suite Setup`.
- Send requests through its session `shop`, which sends your space in `X-Workshop-Space`.
- Tag every test `api`, with `Test Tags` in the suite settings.

I based the bullets on resources/api.resource and tests/api/smoke.robot. The session is called shop, it's created by Open Shop API, and the space header is added only when a space is set. Everything else stays in the root AGENTS.md. I haven't committed the file.