{
  "schemaVersion": 1,
  "title": "Traceroster AI job-search tools test protocol",
  "status": "hands-on-deferred-source-research-complete",
  "sourceResearch": {
    "status": "complete",
    "reviewedAt": "2026-09-01",
    "method": "Reviewed first-party product and help documentation. No product accounts were opened, no workflows were exercised, and vendor outcome claims were excluded from the comparison.",
    "sources": [
      {
        "product": "LoopCV",
        "category": "automated submission",
        "url": "https://www.loopcv.pro/pricing/"
      },
      {
        "product": "AIApply",
        "category": "automated submission with Auto, Hybrid, and Review controls",
        "url": "https://support.aiapply.co/en/articles/14216708-how-does-auto-apply-work"
      },
      {
        "product": "Jobright",
        "category": "job matching and fit explanation",
        "url": "https://jobright.ai/ai-job-match"
      },
      {
        "product": "Teal",
        "category": "job tracking, resume support, and keyword matching",
        "url": "https://help.tealhq.com/en/articles/12060992-using-the-job-matcher"
      },
      {
        "product": "Traceroster",
        "category": "recruiter-led candidate discovery",
        "url": "https://traceroster.com/ai-job-search"
      }
    ]
  },
  "created": "2026-09-01",
  "publisherDisclosure": "Traceroster publishes this protocol and is one of the products that may be evaluated. Results must separate observed behavior from publisher claims and disclose that conflict.",
  "privacyRule": "Use only the synthetic candidate below. Never upload a real candidate resume, account history, contact details, or application data.",
  "syntheticCandidate": {
    "name": "Alex Morgan",
    "location": "Toronto, Canada",
    "targetRole": "Senior backend engineer",
    "experience": "Seven years building TypeScript and Python services, including payments APIs and event-driven systems.",
    "preferences": [
      "Remote within North American time zones",
      "Product company with fewer than 500 employees",
      "No relocation"
    ]
  },
  "selectionRule": "Select four to six tools that represent different jobs-to-be-done: discovery, job matching, resume tailoring, application assistance, and pipeline tracking. Record the plan used and label every unexercised product research-only.",
  "tasks": [
    {
      "id": "account-and-inputs",
      "question": "What data is required before the product provides value?",
      "evidence": ["required fields", "resume requirement", "account requirement", "privacy/deletion documentation"]
    },
    {
      "id": "role-discovery",
      "question": "Can the tool represent the target role, location, company-size, and remote constraints without silently dropping them?",
      "evidence": ["entered preferences", "result explanation", "visible constraint mismatch"]
    },
    {
      "id": "result-quality",
      "question": "Do the first ten results match the declared role and constraints?",
      "evidence": ["result URLs or redacted screenshots", "pass/fail reason per result", "duplicate and stale-result notes"]
    },
    {
      "id": "manual-review",
      "question": "What must the candidate verify or rewrite before acting?",
      "evidence": ["generated text", "unsupported claims", "missing context", "manual corrections"]
    },
    {
      "id": "automation-boundary",
      "question": "What action can the tool take and what requires explicit confirmation?",
      "evidence": ["preview step", "application or outreach boundary", "recovery or cancellation path"]
    },
    {
      "id": "data-exit",
      "question": "Can the synthetic profile and account be deleted, and what retention language applies?",
      "evidence": ["deletion control", "confirmation", "official retention wording"]
    }
  ],
  "reportingRules": [
    "Record browser, device, plan, date, and country.",
    "Run each task once; do not convert one run or elapsed time into a performance statistic.",
    "Report failures and manual-review burden alongside successful outputs.",
    "Verify pricing, privacy, deletion, and automation claims against official sources on the test date.",
    "Do not claim interview, application, or hiring outcomes.",
    "A named human reviewer must approve the evidence record before publication."
  ],
  "review": {
    "assignedReviewer": "Syed Ayaan Ali",
    "reviewer": null,
    "reviewedAt": null,
    "approved": false,
    "instructions": "Syed Ayaan Ali reviews the completed evidence record after legitimate testing. Assignment does not imply that testing or review has occurred."
  }
}