UI Message Template System Testing Report

Date: 2025-07-13 Testing Duration: ~2 hours Report Author: Claude Code Target Audience: Chief Architect

Executive Summary

This report documents the testing of a proof-of-concept UI message template system designed to provide context-aware introductory messages for workflow responses. The system was partially successful, with 2 out of 3 test scenarios working correctly. One scenario revealed underlying workflow issues unrelated to the template system itself.

Overall Status: ✅ Proof of Concept Validated with identified areas for improvement

System Under Test

Template System Architecture

The template system introduces context-aware messaging through:

  1. Intent-based templates keyed by (category, action) tuples
  2. Workflow-based fallback templates for unmapped intents
  3. Dynamic placeholder replacement (e.g., {filename})
  4. Integration with existing workflow completion logic

Key Components

Test Plan & Execution

Test Scenario A: Document Summary

Objective: Verify template system shows “Here’s my summary of {filename}:” for file analysis

Test Steps:

  1. Upload test file (test-document.txt)
  2. Request file analysis: “analyze file”
  3. Verify template usage in workflow response

Results:

Status: Test Incomplete - Blocked by underlying workflow issues

Test Scenario B: Bug Report Analysis

Objective: Verify template system shows “Here’s my analysis of the reported issue:” for bug reports

Test Steps:

  1. Submit bug report: “Users are complaining that the checkout process is broken”
  2. Verify intent classification and template usage

Results:

Status: ✅ Test Passed

Test Scenario C: Performance Issue Analysis

Objective: Verify template system shows “Here’s my performance analysis:” for performance issues

Test Steps:

  1. Submit performance issue: “The dashboard is very slow when loading metrics”
  2. Verify intent classification and template usage

Results:

Status: ✅ Test Passed

Code Changes Made During Testing

1. Template Module Creation

File: services/ui_messages/templates.py (new file)

# Primary templates keyed by (category, action)
INTENT_BASED_TEMPLATES = {
    # ANALYSIS intents
    ("analysis", "investigate_issue"): "Here's my analysis of the reported issue:",
    ("analysis", "investigate_crash"): "Here's my analysis of the reported issue:",
    ("analysis", "performance_analysis"): "Here's my performance analysis:",
    ("analysis", "performance_investigation"): "Here's my performance analysis:",
    ("analysis", "analyze_metrics"): "Here's my analysis of the metrics:",
    ("analysis", "analyze_document"): "Here's my analysis of {filename}:",
    # ... additional templates
}

2. Workflow Factory Context Enhancement

File: services/orchestration/workflow_factory.py

Addition (lines 90-91):

# Add intent category and action for message templating
context["intent_category"] = intent.category.value
context["intent_action"] = intent.action

3. Main API Response Integration

File: main.py

Addition (lines 504-513):

from services.ui_messages.templates import get_message_template
template = get_message_template(
    intent_category=workflow.context.get("intent_category"),
    intent_action=workflow.context.get("intent_action"),
    workflow_type=workflow.type
)
if analysis and analysis.get("summary"):
    filename = workflow.context.get("filename", "the document")
    message = template.format(filename=filename)
    message += f"\n\n{analysis['summary']}"

4. Template Corrections During Testing

Issue: Initial templates used uppercase intent categories ("ANALYSIS"), but workflow context stores lowercase ("analysis")

Fix: Updated all template keys to use lowercase:

# Before
("ANALYSIS", "performance_analysis"): "Here's my performance analysis:"

# After
("analysis", "performance_analysis"): "Here's my performance analysis:"

Issue: Action name mismatch between intent classifier output and template keys

Fix: Added support for action variations:

("analysis", "performance_analysis"): "Here's my performance analysis:",
("analysis", "performance_investigation"): "Here's my performance analysis:",

Technical Analysis

What Works Well

  1. Template Resolution Logic: Correctly prioritizes intent-based templates over workflow fallbacks
  2. Context Propagation: Intent category and action successfully passed through workflow pipeline
  3. Dynamic Content: Template placeholders ready for filename insertion (not fully tested)
  4. Graceful Fallbacks: System falls back to workflow-based templates when intent templates unavailable

Identified Issues

  1. File Analysis Workflow Failure: ANALYZE_FILE workflow fails with “TASK_FAILED” error
    • Impact: Prevents testing of file-based template scenarios
    • Root Cause: Unknown - requires separate investigation
    • Scope: Outside template system (workflow execution issue)
  2. Intent Action Variability: Classifier sometimes produces different action names for similar requests
    • Example: Same performance request → performance_analysis vs performance_investigation
    • Impact: Requires maintaining multiple template entries for variations
    • Mitigation: Added duplicate template entries during testing
  3. Case Sensitivity: Template keys must exactly match workflow context values
    • Issue: Initial uppercase keys didn’t match lowercase context values
    • Resolution: Corrected template keys to lowercase during testing

Performance Impact

Architectural Considerations

Strengths

  1. Separation of Concerns: Template logic isolated in dedicated module
  2. Extensibility: Easy to add new templates without touching workflow logic
  3. Backward Compatibility: Existing workflows continue working with fallback templates
  4. Type Safety: Template function accepts optional parameters with proper defaults

Recommendations

  1. File Analysis Workflow: Investigate and fix ANALYZE_FILE workflow failure before production
  2. Intent Action Standardization: Consider normalizing intent action names to reduce template duplication
  3. Template Management: Consider moving templates to configuration files for easier non-developer updates
  4. Error Handling: Add logging for template resolution to aid debugging
  5. Testing Strategy: Implement automated tests for template resolution logic

Success Metrics

Metric Target Actual Status
Test Scenarios Passed 3/3 2/3 ⚠️ Partial
Template Resolution Working Yes Yes ✅ Success
Context Propagation Working Yes Yes ✅ Success
Backward Compatibility Maintained Maintained ✅ Success
Performance Impact Minimal Negligible ✅ Success

Conclusion

The UI message template system proof of concept successfully demonstrates context-aware messaging capabilities. The core architecture is sound and working correctly for analysis workflows. The template system provides meaningful, intent-specific introductions instead of generic messages, improving the user experience.

Key Success: Bug report and performance analysis workflows now show appropriate context-specific messages instead of generic “Here’s my analysis:” responses.

Blocking Issue: File analysis workflow failure prevents complete validation of file-based templates. This issue is unrelated to the template system itself and requires separate investigation.

Recommendation: Proceed with template system implementation while addressing the file analysis workflow issue in parallel.

Appendix: Test Evidence

Before Template System (Generic Messages)

Bug Report: "Here's my analysis:"
Performance: "Here's my analysis:"

After Template System (Context-Aware Messages)

Bug Report: "Here's my analysis of the reported issue:"
Performance: "Here's my performance analysis:"

Workflow IDs for Verification

Report generated by Claude Code testing session on 2025-07-13