equivalent-mutantlisted
Install: claude install-skill MrBinnacle/skills
# Mutation Equivalent-In-Current-Architecture
## Problem
Mutation testing surfaces surviving mutants. The default disposition is to
write a killing test (close the gap). But some surviving mutants are
**structurally unreachable** by any falsifiable test in the current code
architecture — usually because they're on a guard or branch that's never the
FIRST guard/branch to fire on the relevant input domain.
Naive response: write a test using a disjunction (`assert reason in ("A", "B")`)
that "passes" against both current code and the mutation. This is double-slop:
1. The mutation isn't killed (the test passes under the mutation).
2. The test itself is the canonical ai-slop "tautological assertion / disjunction
that passes either way" pattern that mutation testing exists to surface.
Honest response: declare the mutant **EQUIVALENT-IN-CURRENT-ARCHITECTURE**,
document the architectural constraint that blocks independent killability, and
defer the architectural refactor (if desired) to a v-next punch list. The
mutant remains uncovered in the report but the disposition is honest about why.
## Context / Trigger Conditions
- A mutation-testing tool reports a surviving mutant.
- Initial reading of the mutant suggests it's a genuine coverage gap.
- On closer inspection, the mutated code path can only be reached via inputs
that ALSO trigger an earlier guard which short-circuits before reaching the
mutated line.
- The earlier guard ALSO has a mutation on it (or a separate tes