Test intent

The underlying purpose or behaviour that a test case is designed to verify, as distinct from the technical implementation of the test itself. A test may be syntactically valid and pass execution, but if its assertions no longer check the correct observable outcome, the intent has been lost. Preserving test intent is especially important when using self-healing tools or refactoring automation code, as changes to selectors or assertions can cause a test to pass while no longer verifying what it was originally written to confirm.