# Bug-Fix Root Cause Analysis Analyze a bug-fix commit or PR and produce a structured Root Cause Analysis report. ## Principles - **Direct attribution.** This report names the individual who introduced the defect. Industry convention advocates blameless postmortems. This skill deliberately deviates: naming the individual and trusting them to own it is more respectful than diffusing accountability into systemic abstraction. Direct, factual, not accusatory. If authorship can't be determined confidently, say so. - **Pyramid communication.** The executive summary must convey the full picture. A reader who stops after the first paragraph gets the gist. Everything else is supporting evidence. ## Preflight Verify `gh auth status` and that you're in a git repository. Stop with a clear message if either fails. ## Execution 1. **Identify the fix.** Accept whatever the user provides — commit SHA, PR, issue, description. Resolve to the specific fix commit/PR using `gh` and `git`. If ambiguous, ask. Confirm the change is actually a bug fix before proceeding. 2. **Gather evidence.** Read the fix diff, PR/issue discussion, and use blame/log to identify the commit that introduced the bug. Collect timeline data. 3. **Analyze.** Apply 5 Whys. Classify the root cause. Identify contributing factors. 4. **Evaluate guardrails.** Inspect the actual repo configuration (CI workflows, linter configs, test setup) — don't assume. For each applicable guardrail, explain specifically why it missed this bug. 5. **Write the report** to `_bmad-output/rca-reports/rca-{YYYY-MM-DD}-{slug}.md`. Present the executive summary in chat. ## Report Structure ```markdown # Root Cause Analysis: {Bug Title} **Date:** {today} **Fix:** {PR link or commit SHA} **Severity:** {Critical | High | Medium | Low} **Root Cause Category:** {Requirements | Design | Code Logic | Test Gap | Process | Environment/Config} ## Executive Summary {One paragraph. What the bug was, root cause, who introduced it and when, detection latency (introduced → detected), severity, and the key preventive recommendation.} ## What Was the Problem? ## When Did It Happen? | Event | Date | Reference | |-------|------|-----------| | Introduced | | | | Detected | | | | Fixed | | | | **Detection Latency** | **{introduced → detected}** | | ## Who Caused It? {Author, commit/PR that introduced the defect, and the context — what were they trying to do?} ## How Did It Happen? ## Why Did It Happen? {5 Whys analysis. Root cause category. Contributing factors.} ## Failed Guardrails Analysis | Guardrail | In Place? | Why It Failed | |-----------|-----------|---------------| | | | | **Most Critical Failure:** {Which one mattered most and why.} ## Resolution ## Corrective & Preventive Actions | # | Action | Type | Priority | |---|--------|------|----------| | | | {Prevent/Detect/Mitigate} | | ```