CI/CD Failure Diagnostician

Purpose: Diagnose a failed CI/CD pipeline from raw logs. Takes a GitHub Actions, CircleCI, GitLab CI, or any other CI log output. Returns: failure category, root cause explanation in plain English, exact fix (command, code change, or env var), and whether it looks like a flaky test. Turns 20 minutes of log-reading into 20 seconds.

Invocation

code

/ci-fix <paste-log-output>

Or: /ci-fix then paste the log when prompted.

Failure Categories

Classify the failure into exactly one category:

Category	Indicators
Test failure	`FAIL`, `AssertionError`, `expect(x).toBe(y)`, test name in output
Build error	TypeScript error, compilation failure, syntax error
Lint error	ESLint, Prettier, Ruff, golangci-lint rule violation
Missing env var	`undefined`, `Cannot read properties of undefined (reading 'env')`, `process.env.X is not defined`
Dependency install failure	`npm ERR!`, `pip install failed`, `Cannot find module`
Permission error	`EACCES`, `403 Forbidden`, `permission denied`
Timeout	Job exceeded `N` minutes, `ETIMEDOUT`, hanging process
Out of memory	`ENOMEM`, `JavaScript heap out of memory`, OOM killed
Network error	DNS resolution failed, connection refused, rate limited
Flaky test	Timing assertions, random/date-dependent values, race conditions

Diagnosis Process

Step 1: Find the Failure Point

Scan the log for the FIRST error line — most CI logs dump a long stack trace but the real error is near the top of the first ERROR block.

Common patterns to scan for:

code

✗ FAILED
Error: ...
× ...
FAILED: ...
error[...]: ...
exit code: 1 (immediately after the relevant command)

Step 2: Explain in Plain English

One paragraph: what failed, why it failed, and what the system was trying to do when it failed. No jargon that isn't in the original log.

Step 3: Provide the Fix

The fix must be one of:

A command to run (with the exact command, ready to copy-paste)
A code change (file:line, old code, new code)
An env var to add (variable name + where to add it)
A CI config change (which job/step to modify and how)

Step 4: Flaky Test Detection

Flag as possibly flaky if the failure involves:

setTimeout / sleep / date-based assertions without mocking
Race conditions (async test with no proper await)
External service calls in unit tests
File system state left from a previous test
Random or time-dependent data generation

If flaky: suggest --retry=3 as a short-term bandage + the proper fix (mock the external dependency).

Output Format

code

## CI Failure Diagnosis

**Job:** [job name from log]
**Step:** [step that failed]
**Category:** [one of the 10 categories above]

---

### Root Cause

[Plain-English explanation, 2-4 sentences]

---

### Fix

[Exact command OR code change OR env var to add]

```bash
# Run this locally to reproduce and verify the fix:
[reproduction command]

Flaky Test?

[Yes / No / Possibly — with brief reason]

Prevention

[One-line suggestion to prevent this class of failure in the future]

code


---

## Rules

- Always find the FIRST error line, not the last — stack traces cascade from the origin
- Never say "the issue is complex" — give a specific diagnosis even if uncertain (flag uncertainty)
- If `Missing env var`: specify the exact variable name found in the log, not a guess
- If flaky: never just say "add a retry" — explain the actual race condition or timing issue
- If you cannot determine the cause: output "Inconclusive — please provide more log context" with specific questions about what's missing

## Playground

<!DOCTYPE html><html><head><meta charset='utf-8'><style>*{box-sizing:border-box;margin:0;padding:0}body{background:#0d1117;color:#e6edf3;font-family:monospace;font-size:12px;height:100vh;display:flex;flex-direction:column;overflow:hidden}.header{background:#161b22;border-bottom:1px solid #30363d;padding:8px 14px;font-size:11px;color:#8b949e;display:flex;justify-content:space-between;align-items:center;flex-shrink:0}.title{color:#58a6ff;font-weight:bold;font-size:13px}.panels{display:flex;flex:1;overflow:hidden}.panel{flex:1;overflow:auto;padding:12px;border-right:1px solid #30363d}.panel:last-child{border-right:none}.label{font-size:10px;color:#8b949e;text-transform:uppercase;letter-spacing:.08em;margin-bottom:6px}pre{white-space:pre-wrap;word-break:break-word;line-height:1.5}</style></head><body><div class='header'><span class='title'>CI/CD Failure Diagnostician</span><span>Example · SkillSlap</span></div><div class='panels'><div class='panel'><div class='label'>Input: CI log excerpt</div><pre><span style='color:#8b949e'>FAIL src/auth/session.test.ts</span>
<span style='color:#8b949e'>  ● Session › persists after reload</span>

<span style='color:#8b949e'>    Expected: "active"</span>
<span style='color:#8b949e'>    Received: undefined</span>

<span style='color:#8b949e'>    at Object.expect (session.test.ts:47)</span>

<span style='color:#8b949e'>Tests: 1 failed, 147 passed</span></pre></div><div class='panel'><div class='label'>Output: Diagnosis</div><pre><span style='color:#f85149'>Root cause</span>
<span style='color:#8b949e'>session.test.ts:47 — `status` field is</span>
<span style='color:#8b949e'>`undefined` after reload. The test</span>
<span style='color:#8b949e'>creates a session then reads it before</span>
<span style='color:#8b949e'>the write propagates to the store.</span>

<span style='color:#e3b341'>Likely fix</span>
<span style='color:#8b949e'>1. Add `await session.save()` before</span>
<span style='color:#8b949e'>   the reload assertion.</span>
<span style='color:#8b949e'>2. Or mock the session store so reads</span>
<span style='color:#8b949e'>   are synchronous in tests.</span>

<span style='color:#58a6ff'>Verify</span>
<span style='color:#8b949e'>npx vitest run src/auth/session</span>
<span style='color:#8b949e'>Add: console.log(session) after reload</span></pre></div></div></body></html>

CI/CD Failure Diagnostician

CI/CD Failure Diagnostician

Invocation

Failure Categories

Diagnosis Process

Step 1: Find the Failure Point

Step 2: Explain in Plain English

Step 3: Provide the Fix

Step 4: Flaky Test Detection

Output Format

Flaky Test?

Prevention

Created by

Info

Embed

Export