A test asserting fewer than ten queries, written in 2023, failing in July because a legitimate feature added an eleventh.
// what it was
self::assertLessThan(10, count(DB::getQueryLog()));
// what broke it: a feature flag lookup, correctly
// added, on a request that now does 11 queries.
// what it became
self::assertLessThan(
15,
count(DB::getQueryLog()),
'this endpoint must not scale with the number of orders',
);
A bound that fails on a legitimate change is a bound that is too tight, and raising it feels like weakening the test — which it is, and the alternative is a test that is updated without being read. The message is what preserves the intent: the assertion is about scaling with data, not about a specific number, and a reviewer raising it to fifty should have to argue with that sentence.