When should I still use an arbitrary timeout?

Hard timeouts are only appropriate when you are specifically testing time-dependent logic, such as verifying a debounce interval or a throttle. In those cases, the timeout should always be documented with a comment explaining the specific timing requirement.

Why is condition polling better than using setTimeout or sleep?

Arbitrary timeouts are just guesses that often fail on slower CI machines or under heavy load. Condition polling waits for the actual state change to occur, making tests both faster (they continue immediately upon success) and more reliable.

How does this improve CI/CD performance?

By eliminating 'wait padding' (e.g., waiting 500ms for a 10ms task), your test suite runs as fast as the code allows. It also reduces false negatives in CI, preventing unnecessary build re-runs.

Can this skill be used with any testing framework?

Yes, the patterns provided by this skill are framework-agnostic and can be implemented in Jest, Vitest, Mocha, Playwright, or any other JavaScript/TypeScript testing environment.

Condition-Based Waiting

Name: Condition-Based Waiting
Author: dsifry

bydsifry

•

Security & Testing

Eliminates flaky tests and race conditions by replacing arbitrary timeouts with smart, deterministic condition polling.

About

Condition-Based Waiting is a specialized Claude Code skill designed to stabilize test suites by moving away from brittle, time-based delays. It provides a deterministic approach to testing asynchronous operations by polling for specific state changes, events, or file system updates rather than guessing execution times. This ensures tests remain robust across different environments—from fast local machines to high-load CI/CD pipelines—significantly improving pass rates and reducing unnecessary idle time during test execution.

Key Features

Implements generic polling patterns with customizable timeouts and intervals
Replaces brittle setTimeout and sleep calls with smart polling logic
29 GitHub stars
Guards against common pitfalls like CPU-heavy polling and stale data caching
Includes clear error reporting for timeout failures to speed up debugging
Provides specialized helpers for event detection, state changes, and file system checks

Use Cases

Ensuring file system operations or event emissions are complete before running assertions
Waiting for complex asynchronous state transitions in frontend or backend code
Fixing flaky integration tests that fail intermittently in CI environments

About

Key Features

Implements generic polling patterns with customizable timeouts and intervals
Replaces brittle setTimeout and sleep calls with smart polling logic
29 GitHub stars
Guards against common pitfalls like CPU-heavy polling and stale data caching
Includes clear error reporting for timeout failures to speed up debugging
Provides specialized helpers for event detection, state changes, and file system checks

Use Cases

Ensuring file system operations or event emissions are complete before running assertions
Waiting for complex asynchronous state transitions in frontend or backend code
Fixing flaky integration tests that fail intermittently in CI environments