Approval Testing (Golden-Master Baselines)

Approval testing (a.k.a. golden-master / snapshot testing) reframes “is this output still correct?” as “does it still match the version a human approved?”. verify_artifact() compares produced content to a stored <name>.approved.<ext> baseline:

• match → the check passes;

• mismatch or missing baseline → the produced bytes are written to <name>.received.<ext> and the check fails, so a reviewer can diff the two and, if the change is intended, promote it with approve_artifact().

It works for any artifact — rendered text, JSON, OCR output, screenshot bytes — so it complements pixel diffing with a review-gated baseline you commit alongside the test. Pure standard library; imports no PySide6. Names are validated against path traversal.

Headless API

from je_auto_control import verify_artifact, approve_artifact

result = verify_artifact("invoice_render", produced_text,
                         approvals_dir="tests/.approvals")
if not result.match:
    # first run is "new", a changed output is "mismatch"; review the
    # .received file, then bless it:
    approve_artifact("invoice_render", approvals_dir="tests/.approvals")

content may be str or bytes (pass extension="png" for binary snapshots). A verified run clears any stale received file. pending_artifacts(dir) lists names still awaiting approval. ApprovalResult carries status (verified / mismatch / new), match, and both file paths.

Executor commands

Command	Effect
AC_verify_artifact	Compare content to the approved baseline.
AC_approve_artifact	Promote the received artifact to the baseline.
AC_pending_artifacts	List artifacts awaiting approval.

The same operations are exposed as MCP tools (ac_verify_artifact / ac_approve_artifact / ac_pending_artifacts) and as Script Builder commands under Testing.