OpenCLI AutoFix — Automatic Adapter Self-Repair

When an opencli command fails because a website changed its DOM, API, or response schema, automatically diagnose, fix the adapter, and retry — don't just report the error.

Safety Boundaries

Before starting any repair, check these hard stops:

AUTH_REQUIRED (exit code 77) — STOP. Do not modify code. Tell the user to log into the site in Chrome.
BROWSER_CONNECT (exit code 69) — STOP. Do not modify code. Tell the user to run opencli doctor.
CAPTCHA / rate limiting — STOP. Not an adapter issue.

Scope constraint:

Only modify the file at RepairContext.adapter.sourcePath — this is the authoritative adapter location (may be clis/<site>/ in repo or ~/.opencli/clis/<site>/ for npm installs)
Never modify src/, extension/, tests/, package.json, or tsconfig.json

Retry budget: Max 3 repair rounds per failure. If 3 rounds of diagnose → fix → retry don't resolve it, stop and report what was tried.

Prerequisites

opencli doctor    # Verify extension + daemon connectivity

When to Use This Skill

Use when opencli <site> <command> fails with repairable errors:

SELECTOR — element not found (DOM changed)
EMPTY_RESULT — no data returned (API response changed)
API_ERROR / NETWORK — endpoint moved or broke
PAGE_CHANGED — page structure no longer matches
COMMAND_EXEC — runtime error in adapter logic
TIMEOUT — page loads differently, adapter waits for wrong thing

Step 1: Collect Diagnostic Context

Run the failing command with diagnostic mode enabled:

OPENCLI_DIAGNOSTIC=1 opencli <site> <command> [args...] 2>diagnostic.json

This outputs a RepairContext JSON between ___OPENCLI_DIAGNOSTIC___ markers in stderr:

{
  "error": {
    "code": "SELECTOR",
    "message": "Could not find element: .old-selector",
    "hint": "The page UI may have changed."
  },
  "adapter": {
    "site": "example",
    "command": "example/search",
    "sourcePath": "/path/to/clis/example/search.ts",
    "source": "// full adapter source code"
  },
  "page": {
    "url": "https://example.com/search",
    "snapshot": "// DOM snapshot with [N] indices",
    "networkRequests": [],
    "consoleErrors": []
  },
  "timestamp": "2025-01-01T00:00:00.000Z"
}

Parse it:

# Extract JSON between markers from stderr output
cat diagnostic.json | sed -n '/___OPENCLI_DIAGNOSTIC___/{n;p;}'

Step 2: Analyze the Failure

Read the diagnostic context and the adapter source. Classify the root cause:

Error Code	Likely Cause	Repair Strategy
SELECTOR	DOM restructured, class/id renamed	Explore current DOM → find new selector
EMPTY_RESULT	API response schema changed, or data moved	Check network → find new response path
API_ERROR	Endpoint URL changed, new params required	Discover new API via network intercept
AUTH_REQUIRED	Login flow changed, cookies expired	STOP — tell user to log in, do not modify code
TIMEOUT	Page loads differently, spinner/lazy-load	Add/update wait conditions
PAGE_CHANGED	Major redesign	May need full adapter rewrite

Key questions to answer:

What is the adapter trying to do? (Read the source field)
What did the page look like when it failed? (Read the snapshot field)
What network requests happened? (Read networkRequests)
What's the gap between what the adapter expects and what the page provides?

Step 3: Explore the Current Website

Use opencli operate to inspect the live website. Never use the broken adapter — it will just fail again.

DOM changed (SELECTOR errors)

# Open the page and inspect current DOM
opencli operate open https://example.com/target-page && opencli operate state

# Look for elements that match the adapter's intent
# Compare the snapshot with what the adapter expects

API changed (API_ERROR, EMPTY_RESULT)

# Open page with network interceptor, then trigger the action manually
opencli operate open https://example.com/target-page && opencli operate state

# Interact to trigger API calls
opencli operate click <N> && opencli operate network

# Inspect specific API response
opencli operate network --detail <index>

Step 4: Patch the Adapter

Read the adapter source file at the path from RepairContext.adapter.sourcePath and make targeted fixes. This path is authoritative — it may be in the repo (clis/) or user-local (~/.opencli/clis/).

# Read the adapter (use the exact path from diagnostic)
cat <RepairContext.adapter.sourcePath>

Common Fixes

Selector update:

// Before: page.evaluate('document.querySelector(".old-class")...')
// After:  page.evaluate('document.querySelector(".new-class")...')

API endpoint change:

// Before: const resp = await page.evaluate(`fetch('/api/v1/old-endpoint')...`)
// After:  const resp = await page.evaluate(`fetch('/api/v2/new-endpoint')...`)

Response schema change:

// Before: const items = data.results
// After:  const items = data.data.items  // API now nests under "data"

Wait condition update:

// Before: await page.waitForSelector('.loading-spinner', { hidden: true })
// After:  await page.waitForSelector('[data-loaded="true"]')

Rules for Patching

Make minimal changes — fix only what's broken, don't refactor
Keep the same output structure — columns and return format must stay compatible
Prefer API over DOM scraping — if you discover a JSON API during exploration, switch to it
Use @jackwener/opencli/* imports only — never add third-party package imports
Test after patching — run the command again to verify

Step 5: Verify the Fix

# Run the command normally (without diagnostic mode)
opencli <site> <command> [args...]

If it still fails, go back to Step 1 and collect fresh diagnostics. You have a budget of 3 repair rounds (diagnose → fix → retry). If the same error persists after a fix, try a different approach. After 3 rounds, stop and report what was tried.

When to Stop

Hard stops (do not modify code):

AUTH_REQUIRED / BROWSER_CONNECT — environment issue, not adapter bug
Site requires CAPTCHA — can't automate this
Rate limited / IP blocked — not an adapter issue

Soft stops (report after attempting):

3 repair rounds exhausted — stop, report what was tried and what failed
Feature completely removed — the data no longer exists
Major redesign — needs full adapter rewrite via opencli-explorer skill

In all stop cases, clearly communicate the situation to the user rather than making futile patches.

Example Repair Session

1. User runs: opencli zhihu hot
   → Fails: SELECTOR "Could not find element: .HotList-item"

2. AI runs: OPENCLI_DIAGNOSTIC=1 opencli zhihu hot 2>diag.json
   → Gets RepairContext with DOM snapshot showing page loaded

3. AI reads diagnostic: snapshot shows the page loaded but uses ".HotItem" instead of ".HotList-item"

4. AI explores: opencli operate open https://www.zhihu.com/hot && opencli operate state
   → Confirms new class name ".HotItem" with child ".HotItem-content"

5. AI patches: Edit adapter at RepairContext.adapter.sourcePath — replace ".HotList-item" with ".HotItem"

6. AI verifies: opencli zhihu hot
   → Success: returns hot topics

opencli-autofix