Proactive and schedule-driven; the ledger is what makes flakiness measurable —
a test's score reflects weeks of runs, not one bad day.
Step 0 — Orient and resume
cat .kortix/memory/flaky-test-ledger.md 2>/dev/null || echo "(no ledger yet)"
gh issue list --repo {{target_repo}} --state open \
--search 'in:title "Flaky test quarantine tracker"' \
--json number,title,url
gh pr list --repo {{target_repo}} --state open \
--search 'in:title "test(quarantine)"' \
--json number,title,headRefName,statusCheckRollup,url
If a quarantine PR from a prior run is still open, don't duplicate it — push
more commits to it this run if more tests cross the threshold, otherwise leave
it for review.
Step 1 — Pull CI run history since the last check
gh run list --repo {{target_repo}} --branch main --limit 50 \
--json databaseId,conclusion,createdAt,headSha,workflowName > /tmp/runs.json
# For each run since the ledger's last processed run_id, pull the per-test
# report artifact the workflow produces (JUnit/XML or equivalent).
gh api repos/{{target_repo}}/actions/runs/<RUN_ID>/artifacts \
--jq '.artifacts[] | select(.name | test("test-results|junit")) | .id'
gh api repos/{{target_repo}}/actions/artifacts/<ARTIFACT_ID>/zip > /tmp/artifact.zip
unzip -o /tmp/artifact.zip -d /tmp/artifact-<RUN_ID>
Parse every report into (test_name, file, outcome, run_id, head_sha, timestamp) tuples. Only process runs newer than the ledger's last processed
run_id — don't re-score history already folded in.
Step 2 — Update the flakiness score per test
For each observed test, append its new outcomes to the ledger's history and
recompute:
- Flip count — how many times the outcome changed between consecutive
runs of the same
head_sha (a rerun) or of near-identical code (no change
touching the test or its subject between runs).
- Failure rate — failures / total observations over the ledger's rolling
window (default: last 20 runs per test).
- Flakiness score — flip count weighted above raw failure rate: a test
that fails consistently on broken code is not flaky; a test that flips
outcome on unchanged code is.
A test that failed once with no prior flips is not yet flaky — keep tracking
it, don't quarantine on a single data point.
Step 3 — Rank and select quarantine candidates
Sort all tracked tests by flakiness score. Select every test at or above
{{quarantine_threshold}} that isn't already marked quarantined in the
ledger.
Step 4 — Apply the quarantine (skip, never delete)
For each selected test, add a framework-appropriate skip marker with a reason
and a link to the tracking issue — adapt to the project's actual test
framework:
// Jest / Vitest
it.skip('does the thing', () => { ... }); // FLAKY: quarantined <date>, see #<issue>
# Pytest
@pytest.mark.skip(reason="FLAKY: quarantined <date>, see #<issue>")
def test_does_the_thing(): ...
// Go
func TestDoesTheThing(t *testing.T) {
t.Skip("FLAKY: quarantined <date>, see #<issue>")
...
}
Never remove the test body, its assertions, or the file. The quarantine is
reversible by construction — deleting the skip marker restores the test.
Step 5 — Open one quarantine PR
BRANCH="test/quarantine-$(date +%Y-%m-%d)"
git checkout -b "$BRANCH" origin/main
git add -p # stage only the skip-marker changes
git commit -m "test(quarantine): skip $(date +%Y-%m-%d) flaky tests"
git push origin "$BRANCH"
gh pr create --repo {{target_repo}} --base main --head "$BRANCH" \
--title "test(quarantine): skip flaky tests ($(date +%Y-%m-%d))" \
--label flaky-test \
--body "Quarantines the tests below at or above the flakiness threshold.
Each is skipped, not deleted, with a link to run evidence. See tracking issue
#<issue-number>. A human owns the merge and the eventual de-quarantine."
One PR per run; if a PR from this run's branch already exists, push
additional commits to it instead of opening a second one.
Step 6 — File or update the tracking issue
Keep exactly one open, running issue titled Flaky test quarantine tracker.
Create it if it doesn't exist; otherwise edit its body to the current state:
gh issue create --repo {{target_repo}} \
--title "Flaky test quarantine tracker" \
--label flaky-test \
--body "<table: test, file, flakiness score, quarantined since, PR>"
# or, if it already exists:
gh issue edit <ISSUE_NUMBER> --repo {{target_repo}} --body "<updated table>"
The table lists every currently quarantined test, its score, when it was
quarantined, and the PR that quarantined it — plus a section for tests that
have been stable long enough in the ledger to be considered for
de-quarantine.
Step 7 — Post the Slack summary
Post to {{alert_channel}}: how many tests newly crossed the threshold this
run, how many remain quarantined from before, and any tests stable enough to
recommend de-quarantining — with links to the PR and the tracking issue.
Never post raw run logs or the full ledger to Slack.
Step 8 — Update the ledger
Append/update .kortix/memory/flaky-test-ledger.md (see <ledger-format>),
then open and self-merge a scoped change request for the ledger update only.