Living With a Suite

When a test fails, read it before running it again. That reflex is the single difference between a suite that holds a project together and a suite that is background noise.

When you fix a bug, write the test first. Watch it fail, reproducing the bug, then fix it. That way you know the test catches the thing, rather than hoping.

Delete tests that have stopped earning their place. Tests for removed features, duplicates, and ones so coupled to implementation that they break on every refactor without ever catching anything.

A test suite is code, and code you keep out of guilt is a maintenance cost with no benefit. The measure is simple: has this test ever caught something, or could it plausibly?