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Make a start
One step at a time.
2 steps
Start with the synthetic worked example or other non-sensitive inputs. Run one prompt at a time in your chosen AI tool. Replace any bracketed placeholders with the requested material, check each reply, and supply the source or earlier outputs that step needs. Paste them again if the tool lacks that context.
Start with the synthetic example, then adapt each prompt to your task.
01
Try the complete example
Open a new chat in a text AI assistant you already have permission to use. Copy the whole prompt below, including SAMPLE INPUT, and send it. No file upload is needed. Expect a complete state/action matrix, six proposed checks and two blocked questions for the supplied fictional interface. Read the Input beside the reply; the Output is a worked illustration, not text to paste. Count 18 matrix pairs: three states multiplied by six actions. Exactly six pairs are specified; the other twelve remain questions. Trace each of T1–T6 to R1–R6 and the visible messages. Confirm in Empty stays disabled; an unspecified action is not automatically disabled. T7 and T8 remain blocked and NOT RUN. Saved is only a supplied screen label, not evidence of upload or disk storage. If something differs, quote the wrong part and the exact source rule. Ask for a complete corrected replacement, then check it yourself. If a rule needed to finish is missing, keep that part unresolved and ask the owner. Save the checked draft separately; do not overwrite the input.
Your starting prompt
Design tests from the specification below. Return the complete 18-pair matrix and eight cards requested, with rule references and explicit unknowns. A proposed check is a description of what to try later, not an observation.
SAMPLE INPUT
ORIGINAL SYNTHETIC SPECIFICATION
This is an imaginary file-preview interface. No real app, file or test session is supplied. A state means the condition the screen is in. A transition means the next condition after one action.
S1. Initial state: Empty. Its visible message is "No file chosen".
S2. Preview shows the selected fictional filename and the message "Check this file".
S3. Saved shows that filename and the message "Saved in this example". This label alone makes no promise about disk storage, upload or persistence.
S4. Action labels for the matrix are Choose file, Remove, Confirm, New file, Cancel, Reset.
R1. Empty + Choose file -> Preview. Use fictional name paper-demo.txt; no real file selection occurs in this writing exercise.
R2. Preview + Remove -> Empty; clear the displayed filename.
R3. Preview + Confirm -> Saved; preserve the displayed filename.
R4. Saved + New file -> Preview. Use fictional replacement name second-demo.txt.
R5. Preview + Cancel -> Empty; clear the displayed filename.
R6. Confirm is disabled in Empty; activating it must not leave Empty or display a filename.
R7. For every state/action pair not covered by R1–R6, the behavior and control availability are unspecified. Unspecified does not mean disabled, ignored or an error. Reset and page reload have no supplied behavior. No network, real storage or persistence contract is supplied.
REQUEST
Make one matrix with all 3 states × 6 named actions, marking each pair either specified (with rule and expected next state) or a question. Make six proposed manual test cards for R1–R6 and two blocked cards for Reset and reload. Give starting condition, action, expected state and visible result where known. Every card must say NOT RUN. Do not build or open an app, fabricate a real file, decide missing behavior or claim the tests passed.
Return the full requested written result. Keep every proposed test marked not run. Do not invent application behavior, observations or successful execution. Do not connect to any service or run commands.
02
Use your own input
Open a new chat. Replace every bracketed field below with your complete input, then paste the whole prompt. Change related names, source IDs, counts, limits and checks together; sample values do not carry over. Use original, synthetic or authorized non-sensitive material. Do not include credentials, personal identifiers or private customer records. Multiply your number of named states by your number of named actions. Account for every pair exactly once, then trace each expected result to one of your supplied rules. A status such as Saved proves only what your contract explicitly promises. If something differs, quote the wrong part and the exact source rule. Ask for a complete corrected replacement, then check it yourself. If a rule needed to finish is missing, keep that part unresolved and ask the owner. Save the checked draft separately; do not overwrite the input.
Your starting prompt
Create a complete state/action matrix from my written interface specification and proposed manual cards for every specified transition or blocked action. Explain state, action and next state in plain language. For each unknown pair, ask a concrete question instead of choosing behavior. Show starting condition, action, expected state, visible result and source rule for each proposed card. Keep every card NOT RUN; separate reset/reload questions if those rules are missing. Do not build or access an app.
MY INPUT
Named states and the initial state: [replace with complete non-sensitive details, or explicitly state unknown]
Complete action list and approved transitions: [replace with complete non-sensitive details, or explicitly state unknown]
Exact visible messages and filename/data rules: [replace with complete non-sensitive details, or explicitly state unknown]
Explicit disabled actions: [replace with complete non-sensitive details, or explicitly state unknown]
Missing behavior and reset/reload/persistence boundaries: [replace with complete non-sensitive details, or explicitly state unknown]
Requested test format; no execution is authorized: [replace with complete non-sensitive details, or explicitly state unknown]
Use only MY INPUT for facts and rules. Ask for essential missing details instead of inventing them. Do not import sample values. Return the complete written result and questions that remain. Do not open or connect to an application, run a test, send, publish, upload, or change another service.
Optional: improve the result
Add a reset rule without rewriting the baseline
This optional extension uses only the original synthetic sample. Return to the sample chat, or paste the complete Input and your checked sample answer into a new chat first. Keep the original edition for comparison. No result of this extension has been observed. For personal inputs, replace the source and all dependent rules and checks together.
Advanced prompt
Using the original sample and checked matrix, make a separate revised edition with this new fictional rule: Reset is available in all three states and returns to Empty, clears the filename, and shows "No file chosen". Change only the three Reset rows, replace the blocked Reset card with three proposed state-specific cards, and recalculate specified/unknown coverage. Keep reload unresolved and all cards NOT RUN. Show the original and revised coverage counts; do not claim implementation or execution.
Show, then try
See the shape of the result.
This input is synthetic. The output is a written illustration of the intended result, not a verified AI-tool run.
01 / The starting point
Synthetic input
ORIGINAL SYNTHETIC SPECIFICATION
This is an imaginary file-preview interface. No real app, file or test session is supplied. A state means the condition the screen is in. A transition means the next condition after one action.
S1. Initial state: Empty. Its visible message is "No file chosen".
S2. Preview shows the selected fictional filename and the message "Check this file".
S3. Saved shows that filename and the message "Saved in this example". This label alone makes no promise about disk storage, upload or persistence.
S4. Action labels for the matrix are Choose file, Remove, Confirm, New file, Cancel, Reset.
R1. Empty + Choose file -> Preview. Use fictional name paper-demo.txt; no real file selection occurs in this writing exercise.
R2. Preview + Remove -> Empty; clear the displayed filename.
R3. Preview + Confirm -> Saved; preserve the displayed filename.
R4. Saved + New file -> Preview. Use fictional replacement name second-demo.txt.
R5. Preview + Cancel -> Empty; clear the displayed filename.
R6. Confirm is disabled in Empty; activating it must not leave Empty or display a filename.
R7. For every state/action pair not covered by R1–R6, the behavior and control availability are unspecified. Unspecified does not mean disabled, ignored or an error. Reset and page reload have no supplied behavior. No network, real storage or persistence contract is supplied.
REQUEST
Make one matrix with all 3 states × 6 named actions, marking each pair either specified (with rule and expected next state) or a question. Make six proposed manual test cards for R1–R6 and two blocked cards for Reset and reload. Give starting condition, action, expected state and visible result where known. Every card must say NOT RUN. Do not build or open an app, fabricate a real file, decide missing behavior or claim the tests passed.
Copies text only. For image or file tasks, use the source files named in the steps too.
Illustrative answer authored for this guide; not a recorded AI response.
State/action matrix (18 pairs; no test was run)
Start | Action | Disposition | Expected next state / basis
Empty | Choose file | specified | Preview, R1
Empty | Remove | question | not specified, R7
Empty | Confirm | specified blocked action | Empty, R6
Empty | New file | question | not specified, R7
Empty | Cancel | question | not specified, R7
Empty | Reset | question | not specified, R7
Preview | Choose file | question | not specified, R7
Preview | Remove | specified | Empty, R2
Preview | Confirm | specified | Saved, R3
Preview | New file | question | not specified, R7
Preview | Cancel | specified | Empty, R5
Preview | Reset | question | not specified, R7
Saved | Choose file | question | not specified, R7
Saved | Remove | question | not specified, R7
Saved | Confirm | question | not specified, R7
Saved | New file | specified | Preview, R4
Saved | Cancel | question | not specified, R7
Saved | Reset | question | not specified, R7
Proposed manual cards. Use an actual authorized implementation only after one exists; the fictional filenames below are proposed setup data.
T1 — NOT RUN. Start: Empty with "No file chosen". Action: Choose file with paper-demo.txt. Expect: Preview, paper-demo.txt, "Check this file". Basis: R1, S1–S2.
T2 — NOT RUN. Start: Preview showing paper-demo.txt, reached through T1's setup. Action: Remove. Expect: Empty, "No file chosen", filename cleared. Basis: R2, S1.
T3 — NOT RUN. Start: Preview showing paper-demo.txt. Action: Confirm once. Expect: Saved, paper-demo.txt retained, "Saved in this example". Basis: R3, S3. This visible message alone does not prove saving to disk.
T4 — NOT RUN. Start: Saved showing paper-demo.txt, reached through T1 then T3's setup. Action: New file with second-demo.txt. Expect: Preview, second-demo.txt, "Check this file". Basis: R4, S2.
T5 — NOT RUN. Start: Preview showing paper-demo.txt. Action: Cancel. Expect: Empty, "No file chosen", filename cleared. Basis: R5, S1.
T6 — NOT RUN. Start: initial Empty. Action: inspect the Confirm control and attempt ordinary activation only if the eventual test setup permits it; do not force a disabled control through developer tools. Expect: Confirm disabled; Empty unchanged with "No file chosen" and no filename. Basis: R6, S1. Mouse/keyboard implementation details still need the actual interface.
T7 — BLOCKED / NOT RUN. Reset: its availability and effects in all three states are missing. Ask the owner for each required starting state, next state, filename rule and visible message before writing a pass condition.
T8 — BLOCKED / NOT RUN. Reload: no state-restoration, file-retention or persistence behavior is specified. Ask the owner what reload must do before writing a pass condition.
Coverage: six specified state/action pairs, twelve unspecified pairs. T1–T6 cover each specified pair once. Reset accounts for three of the twelve unanswered pairs; T7 does not supply those answers. Reload is outside the six-action matrix and is tracked separately in T8. Other unspecified pairs also need owner decisions; neither test cards nor missing controls prove their behavior. No observed result, pass rate or completed test is recorded.
These checks use the worked example and its particular facts. With your own material, check your actual names, numbers, sources and rules; do not reuse the sample’s values as the answer.
Unsaved checks stay in this tab and reset when you reload. If you choose Save guide, its current example checkmarks are kept in this browser when storage is available.
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A few things to watch for.
Filling a blank rule with an assumed no-op creates a test for invented behavior.
A complete matrix can still be unexecuted. Keep proposed expected results separate from observations.