Skill: Run Repair Loop (Review + Test + Fix)

Purpose

Converge a codebase or change set to "clean" by running a multi-iteration loop:

1. Review (find problems early and prevent regressions),
2. Test (get executable signal),
3. Fix (apply the smallest correct patch),
4. Repeat until no blocking issues remain or a stop condition is hit.

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Core Objective

Primary Goal: Converge the repository to a "clean" state — all tests passing and no critical/major review findings — using a bounded, evidence-driven review-test-fix loop.

Success Criteria (ALL must be met):

1. ✅ Definition of done resolved: Pre-flight choices (scope, test mode, max iterations, allowed actions) are confirmed before the loop starts
2. ✅ Evidence-first each iteration: Each iteration produces at least one of: a new test result, a new review signal, or a concrete code change
3. ✅ Tests rerun after fixes: The failing test command (or a targeted subset) is always rerun after applying a fix within the same iteration
4. ✅ Bounded loop: The loop terminates due to convergence or an explicit stop condition — no infinite retries
5. ✅ Structured final report: Output includes a Repair Loop Report (Appendix: Output contract) with commands run, failures, patches, and remaining risks

Acceptance Test: Does the final report show either (a) tests passing with no blocking review findings, or (b) an explicit stop condition with clear remaining issues and options for the user?

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Scope Boundaries

This skill handles:

• Multi-iteration review → test → fix loops
• Diff-scoped and codebase-scoped review using review-diff and review-code
• Test execution via run-automated-tests (fast/ci/full modes)
• Minimal targeted patches with preserved API contracts
• Stop condition detection (no progress, environment blockers, flaky tests, iteration limit)
• Structured repair loop report output

This skill does NOT handle:

• Installing dependencies without explicit user confirmation
• Using network or starting Docker/services without user confirmation
• Large refactors without explicit user approval
• Modifying unrelated sibling repositories
• Disabling tests, weakening assertions, or deleting coverage without explicit user approval

Handoff point: When the loop converges or hits a stop condition, present the Repair Loop Report to the user. For risky changes (schema migration, auth changes, broad refactor), pause and ask for explicit approval before applying.

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Use Cases

• "Keep fixing until tests pass."
• "Do a review-test-fix loop and make the repo green."
• "Stabilize this PR/change set with iterative testing and targeted fixes."
• "Run CI-like tests, fix failures, repeat until stable."

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Behavior

1. Pre-flight (must resolve once)

Confirm or default the following:

• Target: repo path (default .) and scope:
  • diff (default): focus on current changes, prioritize review-diff.
  • codebase: review a specified path set, prioritize review-codebase/language skills via review-code.
• Definition of done:
  • Tests: chosen test plan passes (fast/ci/full).
  • Review: no critical/major review findings remain.
  • If only minor/suggestion findings remain, list them and ask whether to address them.
• Loop bounds:
  • max_iterations default: 5.
  • time_budget default: "best effort"; if user provides a time limit, honor it strictly.
• Allowed actions (ask if unclear; default to safer choice):
  • Modify repo files: Yes (this skill is for fixing), but keep changes minimal.
  • Install dependencies: No without confirmation.
  • Network access: No without confirmation.
  • Docker/services (DB/Redis/etc.): No without confirmation.
  • Large refactors: No without confirmation.

2. Iteration loop

For i = 1..max_iterations:

1. Collect current signals (evidence-first)

   • If scope = diff: run/perform a review-diff pass over the current diff/untracked additions.
   • If scope = codebase or user wants deeper review: run review-code (or the relevant atomic review skill(s)).
   • If a previous iteration had test failures, prioritize resolving those failures first.

2. Run tests

   • Use run-automated-tests to discover and run the best matching test command(s) in the selected mode:
     • fast (default): unit tests only, minimal setup.
     • ci: mirror CI steps as closely as possible.
     • full: include integration/e2e (only with explicit confirmation for dependencies/services).
   • Capture:
     • the first failing command + exit code
     • the most relevant error excerpt (do not dump massive logs unless asked)

3. Synthesize a fix plan (smallest correct patch)

   • Choose one primary issue to fix first:
     • First failing test/command usually wins (highest signal).
     • If review found a critical security/correctness issue, fix that before or alongside tests.
   • Prefer fixes that:
     • change the smallest surface area
     • preserve API/contracts unless explicitly approved
     • add or adjust tests when fixing a bug (when feasible)

4. Apply fix

   • Implement the patch.
   • Avoid unrelated formatting or churn.
   • If the fix requires a risky change (schema migration, auth changes, broad refactor), pause and ask.

5. Re-run the minimal validation

   • Re-run the most relevant failing test subset if the framework supports it; otherwise re-run the same test command.
   • If fixed, proceed to the next remaining failure/finding within the same iteration only if it is trivial; otherwise go to the next loop iteration.

6. Stop early when converged

   • If tests pass and there are no critical/major review findings, stop.

3. Stop conditions (must not loop forever)

Stop and ask the user for direction if any occur:

• No progress: the same failure repeats for 2 iterations with no new information.
• Environment blocker: missing toolchain, missing secrets, or unavailable dependency (DB/Docker) and user has not approved required setup.
• Flaky tests: non-deterministic failures suspected (e.g., passes on retry without changes).
• Iteration limit reached: max_iterations exhausted with remaining failures.

When stopping, provide the shortest path options:

• run a different test mode (fast -> ci -> full)
• allow installs/network/Docker
• narrow scope (fix only first failing test)
• increase iteration limit

Report persistence

Do NOT write a standalone report file by default. If the user explicitly asks to persist, write to the path resolved from project norms, or default to docs/calibration/repair-loop.md and overwrite the canonical file unless a snapshot is explicitly requested.

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Input & Output

Input

• Target path (default .)
• Scope: diff (default) or codebase (+ paths)
• Test mode: fast (default), ci, full
• Constraints: allow installs/network/Docker/services (yes/no)
• max_iterations (default 5)
• Optional: time budget

Output

• Repair Loop Report:
  • Definition of done used
  • Evidence sources (which files/CI configs informed test plan)
  • For each iteration:
    • test command(s) run and result
    • first failure excerpt (if any)
    • changes made (files touched + intent)
    • remaining failures/findings
  • Final state:
    • tests passing (which commands)
    • remaining review items (if any) and whether they are blocking

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Restrictions

Hard Boundaries

• Do not install dependencies, use network, start Docker/services, or run destructive commands without explicit confirmation.
• Do not ask the user to paste secrets into chat. Prefer local env files or documented dev flows.
• Do not "fix" by disabling tests, weakening assertions, or deleting coverage unless the user explicitly approves and the tradeoff is documented.
• Avoid large refactors as a default; prioritize minimal patches that unblock correctness.
• Keep changes scoped to the target repository; do not modify unrelated sibling repos.

Skill Boundaries (Avoid Overlap)

Do NOT do these (other skills handle them):

• Test execution only (no review or fix loop): Use run-automated-tests
• Test quality assessment (coverage, structure, edge-case adequacy): Use review-testing
• Comprehensive code review (without test-fix iteration): Use review-code
• Diff-only review (without test execution or fix iteration): Use review-diff
• Writing new tests from scratch (not fixing existing failures): Use development skills

When to stop and hand off:

• Loop converges (tests pass, no blocking findings) → Present Repair Loop Report and stop
• Stop condition hit (no progress, environment blocker, flaky tests, iteration limit) → Present options and wait for user direction
• User asks for a one-time code review without fixing → Hand off to review-code or review-diff
• User asks to only run tests without fixing → Hand off to run-automated-tests

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Self-Check

Core Success Criteria

• Definition of done resolved: Pre-flight choices (scope, test mode, max iterations, allowed actions) are confirmed before the loop starts
• Evidence-first each iteration: Each iteration produces at least one of: a new test result, a new review signal, or a concrete code change
• Tests rerun after fixes: The failing test command (or a targeted subset) is always rerun after applying a fix within the same iteration
• Bounded loop: The loop terminates due to convergence or an explicit stop condition — no infinite retries
• Structured final report: Output includes a Repair Loop Report (Appendix: Output contract) with commands run, failures, patches, and remaining risks

Process Quality Checks

• Minimal patch surface: Each fix touched only the files necessary to resolve the identified issue — no unrelated formatting or churn.
• Flaky-test awareness: Non-deterministic failures were detected (e.g., pass-on-retry without code change) and flagged rather than "fixed" blindly.
• Risky-change pause applied: Schema migrations, auth changes, or broad refactors triggered an explicit user confirmation before proceeding.
• Progress tracked per iteration: Each iteration log shows a clear delta (new signal or new fix) — no hollow iterations.

Acceptance Test

Does the final report show either (a) tests passing with no blocking review findings, or (b) an explicit stop condition with clear remaining issues and options for the user?

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Examples

Example 1: Fix failing unit tests in a Node repo

User: "Make tests pass. Keep fixing until green."

Agent:

1. Pre-flight: scope=diff, test mode=fast, max_iterations=5; confirm installs allowed (npm ci) and network allowed.
2. Iteration 1: run npm test, fix first failing test, rerun npm test.
3. Iteration 2: run review-diff to catch edge cases introduced by the fix; rerun npm test.
4. Stop when npm test passes and there are no major review findings.

Example 2 (Edge case): Integration tests require Docker and secrets

User: "Mirror CI and fix failures."

Agent:

1. Pre-flight: propose test mode=ci, but detect CI uses docker compose and env secrets.
2. Stop condition triggered: environment blocker (Docker + secrets not approved/available).
3. Ask the user to choose:
   • run only fast unit tests locally, or
   • allow Docker and provide a non-chat secret workflow, or
   • run only the failing CI job steps that don't require secrets.

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Appendix: Output contract

Each skill execution MUST produce a Repair Loop Report in this exact JSON format:

{
  "repair_loop_report": {
    "definition_of_done": {
      "tests": "test command passes",
      "review": "no critical/major findings"
    },
    "scope": "diff | codebase",
    "mode": "fast | ci | full",
    "max_iterations": 5,
    "iterations": [
      {
        "iteration": 1,
        "review": {
          "skill_used": "review-diff",
          "findings_count": {"critical": 0, "major": 1, "minor": 2},
          "blocking": ["unused import in utils.js"]
        },
        "tests": {
          "command": "npm test",
          "status": "failed",
          "exit_code": 1,
          "first_failure": "FAIL src/utils.test.js"
        },
        "fix": {
          "files_changed": ["src/utils.js"],
          "intent": "remove unused import"
        },
        "re_run": {
          "command": "npm test",
          "status": "passed"
        }
      }
    ],
    "final_state": {
      "tests_passing": true,
      "commands_passed": ["npm test"],
      "blocking_issues_remaining": [],
      "minor_suggestions": ["consider adding type hints"]
    },
    "stop_condition": "converged | max_iterations | environment_blocker | no_progress"
  }
}

Element	Type	Description
definition_of_done	object	What constitutes success
scope	string	diff or codebase
mode	string	Test mode: fast, ci, or full
max_iterations	number	Loop limit
iterations	array	Each iteration's review, test, fix, re-run
final_state	object	End state: tests passing, remaining issues
stop_condition	string	Why loop ended: converged, max_iterations, environment_blocker, no_progress

This schema enables Agent consumption without prose parsing.