048-the-coockie-factory-new/docs/business-case.md

Business Case: Cookie Clicker Bot

Metadata

Key	Value
ID	BC-001
CrossReference	SA-001
Language	en
Domain	it

Version History

Date	Status	Author	Reviewer	Change	Commit
2026-10-28	Accepted	Jens Tirsvad Nielsen	AI as stand-in for S02	Initial version: Cookie Clicker bot (Udemy day 48)	cadc5ef

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Executive Summary

Course participant S01 needs a Python bot that plays the browser game Cookie Clicker (the "new version" published on GitHub Pages by ozh) without a human. The bot opens the game with Selenium, dismisses the language selection, clicks the big cookie as fast as it can, every 5 seconds buys the most expensive affordable upgrade, and after 5 minutes stops and prints the cookies per second it reached. The result is a small, readable, runnable repository that other Udemy course participants (S02) can compare with their own solutions and that GitHub visitors (S03) can browse for ideas, with the assignment's function names, English, Danish and Bahasa Malaysia wiki pages and a screenshot for every lecture step.

Methodological and Standards Foundation

• Process: the SQA and QC framework mounted at framework/ (plan-first gate, review records, one pull request per milestone).
• Quality model: ISO/IEC 25010:2023 characteristics tag every QC criterion.
• Design: Clean Architecture in a light form (game rules separated from the Selenium adapter), as described by the clean-architecture skill; the program is a command-line bot, so it has no MVVM or MVC presentation layer.
• Code: Python 3.13 or newer, Doxygen comments, pytest for tests, constants in constants.py, project configuration in pyproject.toml.

Problem Statement

The Udemy lecture "Create an Automated Game Playing Bot" (100 Days of Code, day 48) asks the participant to build a Selenium bot for Cookie Clicker. Solutions shared in the course Q&A are often single untested scripts without instructions, which makes them hard to run, compare and learn from. This participant also wants to keep the work as a documented, reviewed repository.

Business Opportunity

A documented and tested solution that runs from a README gives participants a reference to compare their cookies per second, their upgrade strategy and their code with. The wiki explains what each lecture step teaches, in three languages, so Danish and Malay speaking learners can follow too.

Objectives

1. O1: Deliver a bot that opens Cookie Clicker, dismisses the language selection and clicks the cookie continuously.
2. O2: Every 5 seconds the bot buys the most expensive upgrade it can afford, using the price and cookie count read from the page.
3. O3: After 5 minutes the bot stops and prints the cookies per second.
4. O4: Offer a tweakable strategy (check interval, buy one or buy all affordable) so the participant can try to beat the first result (lecture step 5).
5. O5: Provide the repository hygiene for S02 and S03: README from the framework template, run and test instructions, .venv instructions, Doxygen configuration, repository description and topics.
6. O6: Provide wiki pages in English, Danish and Bahasa Malaysia that explain what each lecture step teaches, each with a screenshot.

Scope

In Scope

• Selenium bot for the game at the GitHub Pages address of ozh/cookieclicker, with the assignment's function names.
• Lecture steps 1 to 5: get familiar with the game, click bot, upgrade purchase every 5 seconds, 5 minute stop with cookies per second, strategy tweaks.
• Python project: src/, tests/, docs/, pyproject.toml, constants.py, .gitignore, Doxyfile, README.
• Unit tests with pytest; the parsing and decision logic is tested without a browser.
• One screenshot per lecture step, taken from a headless browser in a Docker container and used in the README and the wiki.
• Wiki in en, da and ms, published to the git host.
• Repository description and topics on git.tirsystem.com.

Out of Scope

• Playing the game beyond the assignment (golden cookies, achievements, saving or loading games).
• Support for other games or for the old Cookie Clicker version.
• A graphical user interface or a web API.
• Distribution as a package on PyPI.
• Running GUI tests on the host desktop (framework rule: container or sandbox only).

Expected Benefits

Tangible Benefits

• A runnable bot that prints a measured cookies per second after 5 minutes.
• A test suite that protects the price parsing and upgrade selection logic.
• Documentation (README, wiki in three languages) that a newcomer can follow without help.

Intangible Benefits

• Learning value for S01 and S02: Selenium, waiting for elements, string parsing and timed loops.
• A worked example of the framework's plan, review and pull request flow on a small project.

Strategic Alignment

The project is a learning exercise inside the 100 Days of Code bootcamp. It supports S01's goal of finishing the course with reviewed, shareable work and the S02 and S03 goal of finding clear, runnable examples.

Success Criteria

#	Criterion	Target	Measure
1	The bot plays unattended for the full duration	A run lasts 300 s, with a deviation of at most 10 s	Elapsed time printed at the end of the run
2	Cookies per second is reported	Exactly one line "cookies/second: N" is printed when the run ends	Output of the run
3	Upgrade rule is correct	The most expensive affordable upgrade is chosen in 100% of the unit test cases	pytest result
4	Tests pass	0 failing tests; at least 80% line coverage of the logic modules	pytest with coverage
5	A newcomer can run the project	README setup, run and test commands work on a clean clone	Walk-through on a clean clone by S01
6	Documentation is complete	Screenshots for 5 of 5 lecture steps in README and in the 3 wiki languages	Count of images per page
7	Repository metadata is set	Description and at least 5 topics present	Repository API response
8	No runtime dependency beyond Selenium	pyproject.toml lists Selenium as the only runtime dependency	pyproject.toml

Risks

Risk	Impact	Mitigation
The game page changes its element IDs or language dialog	The bot fails to start or buy	Keep all selectors in constants.py; document the page version used; fail with a clear message
The game is slow or blocked in the headless container	Screenshots or the 5 minute run are not reproducible	Run in Docker with a pinned Chromium; allow a shorter duration constant for test runs
Web content or network is unavailable during review	A milestone cannot be verified	Unit tests do not need a browser; browser runs are a separate, labelled task
The token for the git host is exposed	Account misuse	Tokens are read from the personal .env outside the repository; never imported, tested or committed
Autonomous mode review is not independent	A defect passes review	Stand-in decisions are marked in each RC-* and open to challenge in the final summary by S01
Translations contain errors	Misleading wiki pages	English is authoritative; da and ms follow it page by page and S01 can correct them

Assumptions

• S01 is the Product Owner, the developer and the reviewer; in autonomous mode the AI acts as stand-in reviewer and records it.
• The people the project is for (S02, S03) cannot be reached for interviews; their needs come from the assignment text and S01.
• Cookie Clicker (ozh version) remains available at its GitHub Pages address during the project.
• Docker is available for the headless browser runs.
• The target repository is the one named by origin unless S01 states otherwise (see the Project Plan, Open Issues).
• The idea is validated by the course assignment itself, so no riskiest-assumption test (RA) is planned.

Constraints

• Python 3.13 or newer, a local .venv, pyproject.toml, pytest, constants in constants.py.
• Folder structure src/, tests/, docs/.
• No runtime dependency unless it is needed.
• Doxygen comments in source and a Doxyfile.
• The wiki exists in English, Danish and Bahasa Malaysia.
• Each pull request is a branch that tracks one step; the framework cannot be edited from this project.
• The PO language is English, the domain is IT.
• Credentials come from a personal .env, which is not part of the project.
• The Business Case sets no deadline; the Project Plan assumes 2026-10-28 to 2026-11-04.

Cost–Benefit Assessment

The assessment is qualitative: this is an unpaid learning project, and no revenue exists to quantify.

Costs	Benefits
Effort of S01 for reviewing the plan and the final summary	A reusable, tested bot and a three language learning wiki
AI work and compute for planning, code, screenshots and translation	A repository that S02 and S03 can read and run
Maintenance if the game page changes	Practice of the framework flow on a small scope

Stakeholders

Stakeholder ID (SA)	Interest in this project
S01	Product Owner, developer and reviewer; wants a finished, reviewed course assignment
S02	Udemy course participants; want readable, runnable code with the assignment's function names and README instructions
S03	GitHub viewers; want a clear description, topics and README, and no runtime dependencies

Recommendation

Proceed: the scope is small, the risks have mitigations, and the narrowest first release meets all objectives.

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