Guides

Applications to Test

QA real, live products — then study their architecture and code once you unlock the advanced tabs.

  • Hunt defects in real, live products — not contrived exercises
  • File structured bug reports straight from each app's card
  • Unlock read-only architecture and code-graph walkthroughs as you level up

Real products, real defects

Applications to Test is your QA hunting ground: real, live products your program has connected. Open each one, explore it deliberately, and file structured bug reports for what you find. The bar is signal over volume — one well-documented, reproducible bug beats ten vague ones.

Each app card gives you Open & test (launches the live product) and Report a bug (opens the bug form pre-linked to that app). If an app shows URL pending, an admin hasn't added its link yet.

The advanced tabs: Architecture and Code Graph

Apps can also expose two deeper walkthroughs:

  • Architecture — a read-only tour of the app's real database: tables and columns, foreign-key relationships, and the row-level-security policies that are the backend's actual access control. No data, no credentials — just the shape. Try to reverse-engineer why each policy exists.
  • Code Graph — how the repository is actually organised: modules, layers and files.

Two honest prerequisites apply:

1. They're level-gated. Both tabs unlock at a per-app minimum level (typically around Week 3–4), once you understand how the frontend talks to the backend. Until then you'll see a lock screen.

2. They need an admin sync. The walkthroughs are generated from the app's live schema and repository. Until an admin runs that sync, an unlocked tab shows "Architecture sync pending" or "Code graph sync pending" — that's expected, not a bug.

Why this arena matters

Testing someone else's product trains observation; reading its schema trains systems thinking. Pair this arena with Reverse-engineer (spec what you see) and Bug Reports (document what you break) for the full loop.

The journey, step by step

StepWhat you doWhat you get
Pick an appOpen Applications to Test and choose a productEach card shows the app, its category and what it does
Open & testLaunch the live app in a new tab and explore it deliberatelyYou're doing exploratory QA on a real product
File what you findUse Report a bug on the app's cardA structured report, pre-linked to the right app
Study the architectureOpen the Architecture tab once your level unlocks itA read-only walkthrough of tables, relationships and RLS policies
Read the code graphOpen Code Graph once unlockedHow the repo is actually structured — modules, layers, files

Frequently asked

Why are Architecture and Code Graph locked for me?

They're advanced modules, gated by your level (typically unlocking around Week 3–4) — they make much more sense once you understand how a frontend talks to a backend. Keep progressing and they open automatically.

I unlocked the tab but it says "sync pending" — what now?

The walkthrough is generated from the app's real schema or repository, and an admin has to run that sync first. Until they do, the tab shows "Architecture sync pending" or "Code graph sync pending" — check back later or nudge your admin.

Can I see real user data in the Architecture tab?

No. It's a read-only walkthrough of the shape — tables, columns, relationships and row-level-security policies. No data, no credentials.

An app has no Open & test button — why?

Its URL is still pending; an admin adds it from the admin dashboard. You can still read the app's description and prepare.

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