Fix Issue
Systematic issue resolution with hypothesis-based root cause analysis, similar issue detection, and prevention recommendations.
Quick Start
bash
/ork:fix-issue 123
/ork:fix-issue 456
Opus 4.6: Root cause analysis uses native adaptive thinking. Dynamic token budgets scale with context window for thorough investigation.
Overview
Systematic issue resolution with hypothesis-based root cause analysis. Uses parallel agents to investigate similar issues, form hypotheses, and validate fixes. Includes prevention recommendations and lessons learned capture to break recurring issue cycles.
STEP 0: Verify User Intent with AskUserQuestion
BEFORE creating tasks, clarify fix approach:
python
AskUserQuestion(
questions=[{
"question": "What approach for this fix?",
"header": "Approach",
"options": [
{"label": "Proper fix (Recommended)", "description": "Full RCA, tests, prevention recommendations"},
{"label": "Quick fix", "description": "Minimal fix to resolve the immediate issue"},
{"label": "Investigate first", "description": "Understand the issue before deciding on approach"},
{"label": "Hotfix", "description": "Emergency patch, minimal testing"}
],
"multiSelect": false
}]
)
Based on answer, adjust workflow:
- Proper fix: All 11 phases, parallel agents for RCA
- Quick fix: Skip phases 8-10 (prevention, runbook, lessons)
- Investigate first: Only phases 1-4 (understand, search, hypotheses, analyze)
- Hotfix: Minimal phases, skip similar issue search
STEP 0b: Select Orchestration Mode
Choose Agent Teams (mesh — RCA agents share hypotheses) or Task tool (star — all report to lead):
CLAUDE_CODE_EXPERIMENTAL_AGENT_TEAMS=1
→ Agent Teams mode
- Agent Teams unavailable → Task tool mode (default)
- Otherwise: Complex cross-cutting bugs (backend + frontend + tests involved) → recommend Agent Teams; Focused bugs (single domain) → Task tool
| Aspect | Task Tool | Agent Teams |
|---|
| Hypothesis sharing | Lead relays between agents | Investigators share hypotheses in real-time |
| Conflicting evidence | Lead resolves | Investigators debate directly |
| Cost | ~250K tokens | ~600K tokens |
| Best for | Single-domain bugs | Cross-cutting bugs with multiple hypotheses |
Fallback: If Agent Teams encounters issues, fall back to Task tool for remaining investigation.
Task Management (CC 2.1.16)
python
# Create main fix task
TaskCreate(
subject="Fix issue #{number}",
description="Systematic issue resolution with hypothesis-based RCA",
activeForm="Fixing issue #{number}"
)
# Create subtasks for 11-phase process
phases = ["Understand issue", "Search similar issues", "Form hypotheses",
"Analyze root cause", "Design fix", "Implement fix", "Validate fix",
"Generate prevention", "Create runbook", "Capture lessons", "Commit and PR"]
for phase in phases:
TaskCreate(subject=phase, activeForm=f"{phase}ing")
Workflow Overview
| Phase | Activities | Output |
|---|
| 1. Understand Issue | Read GitHub issue details | Problem statement |
| 2. Similar Issue Detection | Search for related past issues | Related issues list |
| 3. Hypothesis Formation | Form hypotheses with confidence scores | Ranked hypotheses |
| 4. Root Cause Analysis | 5 parallel agents investigate | Confirmed root cause |
| 5. Fix Design | Design approach based on RCA | Fix specification |
| 6. Implementation | Apply fix with tests | Working code |
| 7. Validation | Verify fix resolves issue | Evidence |
| 8. Prevention | How to prevent recurrence | Prevention plan |
| 9. Runbook | Create/update runbook entry | Runbook |
| 10. Lessons Learned | Capture knowledge | Persisted learnings |
| 11. Commit and PR | Create PR with fix | Merged PR |
Phase 1: Understand the Issue
bash
gh issue view $ARGUMENTS --json title,body,labels,assignees,comments
gh pr list --search "issue:$ARGUMENTS"
gh issue view $ARGUMENTS --comments
Start Work ceremony (from
): move issue to in-progress, comment on issue, ensure branch is named
.
Phase 2: Similar Issue Detection
See Similar Issue Search for patterns.
bash
gh issue list --search "[key error message]" --state all
mcp__memory__search_nodes(query="issue [error type] fix")
| Similar Issue | Similarity | Status | Relevant? |
|---|
| #101 | 85% | Closed | Yes |
Determine: Regression? Variant? New issue?
Phase 3: Hypothesis Formation
See Hypothesis-Based RCA for confidence scoring.
markdown
## Hypothesis 1: [Brief name]
**Confidence:** [0-100]%
**Description:** [What might cause the issue]
**Test:** [How to verify]
| Confidence | Meaning |
|---|
| 90-100% | Near certain |
| 70-89% | Highly likely |
| 50-69% | Probable |
| 30-49% | Possible |
| 0-29% | Unlikely |
Phase 4: Root Cause Analysis (5 Agents)
Launch ALL 5 agents in parallel with
and
:
- debug-investigator: Root cause tracing
- debug-investigator: Impact analysis
- backend-system-architect: Backend fix design
- frontend-ui-developer: Frontend fix design
- test-generator: Test requirements
Each agent outputs structured JSON with findings and SUMMARY line.
Phase 4 — Agent Teams Alternative
See references/agent-teams-rca.md for Agent Teams root cause analysis workflow.
Phase 5: Fix Design
markdown
## Fix Design for Issue #$ARGUMENTS
### Root Cause (Confirmed)
[Description]
### Proposed Fix
[Approach]
### Files to Modify
|------|--------|--------|
| [file] | MODIFY | [why] |
### Risks
- [Risk 1]
### Rollback Plan
[How to revert]
Phase 6: Implementation
CRITICAL: Feature Branch Required
NEVER commit directly to main or dev. Always create a feature branch:
bash
# Determine base branch
BASE_BRANCH=$(git remote show origin | grep 'HEAD branch' | cut -d: -f2 | tr -d ' ')
# Create feature branch (MANDATORY)
git checkout $BASE_BRANCH && git pull origin $BASE_BRANCH
git checkout -b issue/$ARGUMENTS-fix
CRITICAL: Regression Test Required
A fix without a test is incomplete. Add test BEFORE implementing fix:
bash
# 1. Write test that reproduces the bug (should FAIL)
# 2. Implement the fix
# 3. Verify test now PASSES
Guidelines:
- Make minimal, focused changes
- Add proper error handling
- Add regression test FIRST (MANDATORY)
- DO NOT over-engineer
- DO NOT commit directly to protected branches
Phase 7: Validation
bash
# Backend
poetry run ruff format --check app/
poetry run pytest tests/unit/ -v --tb=short
# Frontend
npm run lint && npm run typecheck && npm run test
Phase 8: Prevention Recommendations
CRITICAL: Prevention must include at least one of:
- Automated test - CI catches similar issues (PREFERRED)
- Validation rule - Schema/lint rule prevents bad state
- Process check - Review checklist item
See Prevention Patterns for full template.
| Category | Examples | Effectiveness |
|---|
| Automated test | Unit/integration test in CI | HIGH - catches before merge |
| Validation rule | Schema check, lint rule | HIGH - catches on save/commit |
| Architecture | Better error boundaries | MEDIUM |
| Process | Review checklist item | LOW - human-dependent |
Phase 9: Runbook Generation
markdown
# Runbook: [Issue Type]
## Symptoms
- [Observable symptom]
## Diagnosis Steps
1. Check [X] by running: `[command]`
## Resolution Steps
1. [Step 1]
## Prevention
- [How to prevent]
Store in memory for future reference.
Phase 10: Lessons Learned
python
mcp__memory__create_entities(entities=[{
"name": "lessons-issue-$ARGUMENTS",
"entityType": "LessonsLearned",
"observations": [
"root_cause: [brief]",
"key_learning: [most important]",
"prevention: [recommendation]"
]
}])
Phase 11: Commit and PR
bash
git add .
git commit -m "fix(#$ARGUMENTS): [Brief description]
Root cause: [one line]
Prevention: [recommendation]"
git push -u origin issue/$ARGUMENTS-fix
gh pr create --base dev --title "fix(#$ARGUMENTS): [description]"
Key Decisions
| Decision | Choice | Rationale |
|---|
| Feature branch | MANDATORY | Never commit to main/dev directly |
| Regression test | MANDATORY | Fix without test is incomplete |
| Hypothesis confidence | 0-100% scale | Quantifies certainty |
| Similar issue search | Before hypothesis | Leverage past solutions |
| Prevention analysis | Mandatory phase | Break recurring issue cycle |
| Runbook generation | Template-based | Consistent documentation |
CC 2.1.49 Enhancements
See references/cc-enhancements.md for session resume, task metrics, tool guidance, worktree isolation, and adaptive thinking.
Rules Quick Reference
| Rule | Impact | What It Covers |
|---|
| rca-five-whys | HIGH | 5 Whys iterative causal analysis |
| rca-fishbone | MEDIUM | Ishikawa diagram, multi-factor analysis |
| rca-fault-tree | MEDIUM | Fault tree analysis, AND/OR gates, critical systems |
Related Skills
- - Commit issue fixes
- - Debug complex issues
ork:issue-progress-tracking
- Auto-updates from commits
- - Store lessons learned
Version: 2.1.0 (February 2026)