AI-Assisted Testing Demo Script¶

Duration: ~15 minutes When: 19:15 in the agenda

Setup¶

Have Claude Code (or Copilot) open in a Codespace terminal
Have the project README open for context

Demo Flow¶

1. Natural Language to Test (3 min)¶

Say: "Let me show you how AI can help write tests. I'll describe what I want in plain English."

Prompt to give Claude Code:

Write a Robot Framework test that verifies products on SauceDemo can be sorted by name Z-to-A. The test should log in as standard_user, select the Z-A sort option, and verify the first product name starts with a letter later in the alphabet than the last product.

Expected output: A complete .robot file with Settings, Variables, Test Cases, and Keywords sections.

2. Review the Generated Test (3 min)¶

Say: "Now let's review what the AI generated. Does it look correct?"

Walk through: - Does it import the right resources? - Are the selectors correct for SauceDemo? - Does the sorting assertion make sense? - Are there any issues?

Key teaching moment: AI gets the structure right but may use wrong selectors or flawed assertions. The tester must validate.

3. Run the Test (2 min)¶

uv run robot tests/student_exercises/ai_generated_sort_test.robot

If it passes: "Great, but we still need to verify it's actually testing what we intended."

If it fails: "This is normal! Let's debug and fix it together."

4. Refine (3 min)¶

If the test had issues, refine the prompt:

The sort dropdown on SauceDemo uses the CSS selector .product_sort_container and the Z-A option has value za. After sorting, verify the first .inventory_item_name text is "Test.allTheThings() T-Shirt (Red)" which is alphabetically last.

5. Compare with Hand-Written (2 min)¶

Say: "Now compare this AI-generated test with the hand-written product sort test in our test suite."

Open tests/03_product_tests/product_catalog.robot and show the Sort Products By Price Low To High test.

Key points: - The hand-written test uses resource file keywords (better abstraction) - The AI test might use raw selectors (less maintainable) - AI is great for boilerplate, humans are needed for test strategy

6. Wrap Up (2 min)¶

Key takeaways: - AI saves time on repetitive code - AI doesn't replace test design thinking - Always run the test — don't trust unexecuted code - Use AI for the "how", you decide the "what"

Backup Demo (if AI tools unavailable)¶

If Claude Code / Copilot aren't available:

Show a pre-generated test file
Walk through how it was created
Run it live
Still do the comparison with hand-written tests

Pre-Generated Test (backup)¶

Save this as tests/student_exercises/ai_demo_sort_test.robot before the workshop:

*** Settings ***
Documentation     AI-generated test: Verify Z-A product sorting on SauceDemo.
Library           Browser
Resource          ../../resources/common.resource
Resource          ../../resources/login_page.resource
Resource          ../../resources/products_page.resource

Suite Setup       Open SauceDemo
Suite Teardown    Close SauceDemo

*** Test Cases ***
Products Should Sort By Name Z To A
    [Documentation]    Verify that selecting Z-A sort orders products correctly.
    [Tags]    student    exercise    ai-generated
    Login With Credentials    ${VALID_USER}    ${VALID_PASSWORD}
    Login Should Succeed
    Sort Products By    Name (Z to A)
    ${first_product}=    Get Text    css=.inventory_item_name >> nth=0
    Should Be Equal    ${first_product}    Test.allTheThings() T-Shirt (Red)