TEST-INFRA: [ci-pipeline-design] Investigate conditional test execution to reduce CI run times #1752

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opened 2026-04-02 23:41:52 +00:00 by freemo · 1 comment
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Metadata

  • Branch: task/ci-conditional-test-execution
  • Commit Message: chore(ci): investigate and prototype conditional test execution for faster CI runs
  • Milestone: v3.2.0
  • Parent Epic: #1678

Background and Context

The current CI pipeline runs the entire test suite on every commit. As the project grows and the number of tests increases, this leads to long CI run times. For small changes that only affect a specific part of the codebase, running the full test suite is inefficient and slows developer feedback loops.

Expected Behavior

A conditional test execution strategy is investigated, evaluated, and prototyped so that the CI pipeline can selectively run only the tests relevant to a given change — reducing wall-clock CI time and providing faster feedback to developers.

Acceptance Criteria

  • At least three conditional test execution strategies are researched and documented with trade-off analysis.
  • A recommended strategy is selected and justified based on implementation complexity, accuracy, and performance.
  • A proof-of-concept implementation demonstrates the feasibility of the recommended strategy.
  • Findings are documented in docs/development/ci-cd.md.

Supporting Information

  • Related Epic: #1678 (CI Execution Time Optimization — Timeouts, Concurrency, and Coverage Artifact Sharing)
  • Relevant tools to evaluate: dependency graph analysis, pytest-cov coverage data, pytest-watch, custom file-change detection scripts.

Subtasks

  • Research strategy 1: dependency graph analysis — determine which tests are affected by changed modules
  • Research strategy 2: coverage-data-driven selection — use .coverage data to map changed lines to covering tests
  • Research strategy 3: file-watcher / custom script approach (e.g., pytest-watch or a bespoke CI script)
  • Evaluate trade-offs of each strategy (implementation complexity, accuracy, false-negative risk, performance)
  • Select and document a recommended strategy with justification
  • Implement a proof-of-concept for the recommended strategy
  • Document findings and recommendation in docs/development/ci-cd.md
  • Run nox (all default sessions), fix any errors
  • Verify coverage >= 97% via nox -s coverage_report

Definition of Done

This issue is complete when:

  • All subtasks above are completed and checked off.
  • A thorough investigation of at least three conditional test execution strategies has been completed and documented.
  • A proof-of-concept implementation is available and demonstrated.
  • Findings and the recommended approach are documented in docs/development/ci-cd.md.
  • A Git commit is created where the first line of the commit message matches the Commit Message in Metadata exactly, followed by a blank line, then additional lines providing relevant implementation details.
  • The commit is pushed to the remote on the branch matching the Branch in Metadata exactly.
  • The commit is submitted as a pull request to master, reviewed, and merged before this issue is marked done.
  • All nox stages pass.
  • Coverage >= 97%

Automated by CleverAgents Bot
Supervisor: Test Infrastructure | Agent: ca-new-issue-creator

## Metadata - **Branch**: `task/ci-conditional-test-execution` - **Commit Message**: `chore(ci): investigate and prototype conditional test execution for faster CI runs` - **Milestone**: v3.2.0 - **Parent Epic**: #1678 ## Background and Context The current CI pipeline runs the entire test suite on every commit. As the project grows and the number of tests increases, this leads to long CI run times. For small changes that only affect a specific part of the codebase, running the full test suite is inefficient and slows developer feedback loops. ## Expected Behavior A conditional test execution strategy is investigated, evaluated, and prototyped so that the CI pipeline can selectively run only the tests relevant to a given change — reducing wall-clock CI time and providing faster feedback to developers. ## Acceptance Criteria - [ ] At least three conditional test execution strategies are researched and documented with trade-off analysis. - [ ] A recommended strategy is selected and justified based on implementation complexity, accuracy, and performance. - [ ] A proof-of-concept implementation demonstrates the feasibility of the recommended strategy. - [ ] Findings are documented in `docs/development/ci-cd.md`. ## Supporting Information - Related Epic: #1678 (CI Execution Time Optimization — Timeouts, Concurrency, and Coverage Artifact Sharing) - Relevant tools to evaluate: dependency graph analysis, `pytest-cov` coverage data, `pytest-watch`, custom file-change detection scripts. ## Subtasks - [ ] Research strategy 1: dependency graph analysis — determine which tests are affected by changed modules - [ ] Research strategy 2: coverage-data-driven selection — use `.coverage` data to map changed lines to covering tests - [ ] Research strategy 3: file-watcher / custom script approach (e.g., `pytest-watch` or a bespoke CI script) - [ ] Evaluate trade-offs of each strategy (implementation complexity, accuracy, false-negative risk, performance) - [ ] Select and document a recommended strategy with justification - [ ] Implement a proof-of-concept for the recommended strategy - [ ] Document findings and recommendation in `docs/development/ci-cd.md` - [ ] Run `nox` (all default sessions), fix any errors - [ ] Verify coverage >= 97% via `nox -s coverage_report` ## Definition of Done This issue is complete when: - [ ] All subtasks above are completed and checked off. - [ ] A thorough investigation of at least three conditional test execution strategies has been completed and documented. - [ ] A proof-of-concept implementation is available and demonstrated. - [ ] Findings and the recommended approach are documented in `docs/development/ci-cd.md`. - [ ] A Git commit is created where the **first line** of the commit message matches the Commit Message in Metadata exactly, followed by a blank line, then additional lines providing relevant implementation details. - [ ] The commit is pushed to the remote on the branch matching the **Branch** in Metadata exactly. - [ ] The commit is submitted as a **pull request** to `master`, reviewed, and **merged** before this issue is marked done. - [ ] All nox stages pass. - [ ] Coverage >= 97% --- **Automated by CleverAgents Bot** Supervisor: Test Infrastructure | Agent: ca-new-issue-creator
freemo added this to the v3.2.0 milestone 2026-04-02 23:42:29 +00:00
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Owner

Issue triaged by project owner:

  • State: Verified
  • MoSCoW: MoSCoW/Could Have — CI/test infrastructure improvement.

Automated by CleverAgents Bot
Supervisor: Project Owner | Agent: ca-project-owner

Issue triaged by project owner: - **State**: Verified - **MoSCoW**: MoSCoW/Could Have — CI/test infrastructure improvement. --- **Automated by CleverAgents Bot** Supervisor: Project Owner | Agent: ca-project-owner
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Reference
cleveragents/cleveragents-core#1752
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