# What is acceptance testing, and what are acceptance criteria? > Acceptance testing checks a result against written acceptance criteria: not just "the run succeeded" but "the invoice total is right and can go out". Source: https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/glossary/acceptance-testing · Updated 2026-10-21 · Free from Stepthrough (https://learn.ynteractive.com) [n8n and automation](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/glossary#topic-n8n-and-automation) · [AI glossary](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/glossary) Quick answer Acceptance testing checks whether finished work does what the business actually needs, measured against acceptance criteria written in advance. A workflow can run without errors and still fail acceptance, because "it ran" and "the invoice total is right" are different questions. Last updated October 21, 2026 [Take the free module →](https://learn.ynteractive.com/courses/n8n-jump-start/22)Module 22 of the free [n8n Jump Start](https://learn.ynteractive.com/courses/n8n-jump-start) course, about 11 minutes. No account needed. Updated October 21, 2026 · By [Robert Breen](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/about) ## Why it matters for a small business Automation tools report technical success: every step ran and no error was thrown. That says nothing about whether the output was correct. Acceptance criteria close the gap. They are plain statements agreed before the work starts, such as "the total equals hours times rate" or "a shipped order's window is counted from the ship date". In software teams, user acceptance testing is the last check, done by the people who will use the system, before it goes live. For AI workflows the same idea applies to every run that affects money or customers. The criteria can be checked by a tool, but the final sign-off stays with a person who owns the outcome. ## In a real lesson: Truquence: Catch an n8n Run That Says Success but Gets It Wrong In [Truquence: Catch an n8n Run That Says Success but Gets It Wrong](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/truquence-n8n-workflow-success-but-wrong-output), Cedar Row Accounting's invoice run finished with status: success, every node green, while the Total node passed along 12.0 instead of 120.0. You write what Total should output in contract.json and run truquence accept. It returns FAIL, exit code 1, and names Total. The lesson is careful about who accepts. PASS is exit 0, FAIL is exit 1 and UNKNOWN is exit 2, and both FAIL and UNKNOWN block acceptance. Even on PASS, the report's business_acceptance field is always UNKNOWN: Truquence checks the run against your contract, and a person still signs off before the invoice goes out. [Try this lesson free](https://learn.ynteractive.com/modules/truquence-n8n-acceptance) or [read the step-by-step guide](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/truquence-n8n-workflow-success-but-wrong-output). ## Common confusions ### Acceptance testing vs a successful run A green run means each step finished. Acceptance means the output meets the agreed criteria. The Truquence lesson shows a run that had the first and not the second. ### Acceptance criteria vs requirements Requirements describe what to build. Acceptance criteria are the specific, checkable conditions that prove it was built right. ## Tips - Write acceptance criteria before the build, in words the business owner agrees with. - Treat "couldn't tell" as a fail, the way Truquence treats UNKNOWN, for anything involving money. - Name the person who signs off, even when a tool runs the checks. ## Related terms [Regression testing](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/glossary/regression-testing) · [Golden dataset](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/glossary/golden-dataset) · [Ground truth](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/glossary/ground-truth) · [Human in the loop](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/glossary/human-in-the-loop) · [Execution (n8n)](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/glossary/n8n-execution) · [AI evals](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/glossary/ai-evals) ## More n8n and automation terms [Action](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/glossary/action) · [Aggregator (Make)](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/glossary/make-aggregator) · [API](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/glossary/api) · [API key](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/glossary/api-key) ## Where you use it: free lessons - [Truquence: Catch an n8n Run That Says Success but Gets It Wrong](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/truquence-n8n-workflow-success-but-wrong-output) (Truquence, 11 min) - [Kosuke: Let the AI Test Its Own Changes with Automated QA](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/kosuke-automated-qa-test-ai-changes) (Kosuke, 12 min) ## Frequently asked questions **Who should write acceptance criteria?** The person who owns the result, such as the manager who sends the invoices, ideally with whoever builds the workflow. **Is a QA report the same as acceptance?** Not quite. In the Kosuke lesson the QA report checks each item on the Testing Checklist, then you or your developer still review the pull request and merge it. **What is UAT?** User acceptance testing: the people who will use a system try it on real tasks and confirm it meets their needs before launch. [All AI glossary terms, A to Z](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/glossary) · [Free prompt templates](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/prompts)