Sim 42 — Test Together
"Works on my machine" is not an option. Sim 42 is our unified testing phase: every layer of quality—from unit to performance to accessibility—runs on an automated rail, and failures block the merge until they pass. The same BDD scenarios you helped draft in Lab 42 become living, executable specs here.
1 · Why Sim 42?
| Common Failure Mode | How Sim 42 Prevents It |
|---|---|
| Features behave differently in prod vs. dev | Container-identical pipelines spin up staging envs for every PR. |
| Performance or security surprises appear a week before launch | Load (k6) and OWASP ZAP scans run every merge—fail fast, fix cheap. |
| Stakeholders find bugs after go-live | BDD and Cypress suites click through real user flows on every commit. |
| “Ship at any cost” releases mount tech debt | Quality gates block green builds until coverage, perf, and security budgets pass. |
2 · Six-Layer Test Pyramid
| Layer | Tooling | Frequency | Goal |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Static Analysis | ESLint • Bandit • CodeQL | On every PR | Kill obvious smells & CVEs early |
| 2. Unit Tests | Jest (JS) • PyTest (Python) | On every PR | Prove functions behave, fast |
| 3. Service / Apex Tests | Django TestCase • Apex Tests | On every PR | Verify domain rules & bulk safety |
| 4. Behaviour-Driven (BDD) | Cucumber • Behave | On every PR | Ensure user stories meet intent |
| 5. UI / End-to-End | Cypress with real browser | Nightly & per tag | Catch regressions in real clicks |
| 6. Non-Functional | k6 load • OWASP ZAP • axe-core | Nightly & before prod | Hit perf, security & accessibility budgets |
3 · Quality Gates (Merge Blockers)
| Category | Threshold |
|---|---|
| Line-coverage | ≥ 85 % overall, ≥ 70 % per file |
| p95 API latency | ≤ 300 ms in k6 |
| Security | 0 critical or high CVEs; ZAP pass |
| Accessibility | WCAG 2.1 AA on primary flows |
| BDD scenarios | 100 % pass rate |
Pipelines halt on the first red flag—no manual overrides without written CTO sign-off.
4 · Cadence & Events
| Cadence | Event | Participants | Outputs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Per PR | Automated test suite | Dev, Reviewer, QA bot | Green check or actionable fail |
| Daily | Defect Triage (15 min) | Dev lead, QA, PM | P0/P1 bugs pulled into sprint |
| End of Sprint | Sim 42 Review | Full squad, stakeholders | Coverage & perf dashboard, demo |
| Pre-Release | Release Gate Review | PM, QA lead, Client rep | Go/No-Go decision |
5 · Test-Data & Environment Strategy
Ephemeral Envs
Every PR spins up its own isolated stack (Fly.io or Scratch-Org for SF).
Synthetic Data Factory
Faker + GDPR/PII rules seeds realistic, non-sensitive data.
Golden Dataset
Immutable snapshot to compare run-to-run performance.
6 · Metrics We Track
| Metric | Target | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Escaped Defect Rate | < 2 % of stories | Bugs found post-release |
| MTTR (Mean Time to Restore) | < 2 h (P1) | Ops responsiveness |
| Test Flake Rate | < 1 % | Pipeline stability |
| Accessibility Violations | 0 critical | Inclusive design goal |
All metrics display on a public-for-client Grafana board.
7 · Gate Criteria to Exit Sim 42
- All quality gates green (see §3).
- BDD traceability matrix signed by Product Owner.
- Performance budgets met or risk accepted in writing.
- Security pen-test report signed off.
- Rollback plan validated.
Only then do we tag v1.0-prod and hand to Base 42 for live ops.
8 · Mini Case
FinTech KYC Engine — 2.3 k unit tests, 280 BDD scenarios, 45 Cypress journeys. Zero critical issues in first 60 days, p99 API latency held at 260 ms with 500 RPS load. Escaped defect rate after go-live: 1.1 %—half industry average.
9 · FAQs
10 · Call to Action
Want to see a live test dashboard?
Book a Sim 42 walk-through call—get temp access to a staging env and watch the pipeline in real time.
Schedule Demo