Root Cause Analysis Skill

Find the true source, not symptoms.

Core Principle

Fixing symptoms creates more symptoms. Fix root cause.

5 Whys

Ask "Why?" until you reach the systemic issue.

Trap: Don't stop at "human error." Ask why the mistake was possible.

Cause Categories

Category	Examples
Code	Bug, validation, race condition
Data	Corrupt, unexpected input
Infrastructure	Server, network, disk
Dependencies	Third-party, library version
Configuration	Env vars, feature flags
Process	Missing review, unclear requirements

Timeline Analysis

Time	Event	Notes

Look for: What changed? What correlates?

Fix + Prevent Pattern

1. Immediate: Stop the bleeding
2. Permanent: Fix root cause
3. Prevention: Stop recurrence

Common Patterns

Symptom	Likely Cause
Memory leak	Unclosed resources
Slow performance	N+1 queries, missing indexes
Intermittent failures	Race conditions
Data corruption	Missing validation

Post-Mortem

Summary → Timeline → Root Cause → Action Items (owner + due)

Synapses

See synapses.json for connections.