Infra Kit.workflow.thinking

Infrastructure Thinking

Use this skill when the user needs higher-quality reasoning around infrastructure work: incident triage, root-cause analysis, migration choices, risk trade-offs, or when requirements are vague and the next step is unclear.

This skill is about thinking quality and decision hygiene. Pair it with domain skills (infra-kit.domain.k8s-doctor, infra-kit.domain.iac, infra-kit.domain.helm, infra-kit.domain.github, infra-kit.workflow.audit) once the problem is framed and the next tests/actions are explicit.

Output Rules

• When producing an incident workspace, decision record, or structured analysis, write it to Markdown file(s) in the repo (not only chat output).
• If the content is large, split it into multiple Markdown files and keep each file narrow.
• Prefer a stable location such as docs/infra-thinking/<topic>/.

Outcomes

• Turn a vague infra problem into a crisp problem statement and a short list of testable hypotheses
• Separate facts, assumptions, and unknowns so investigation stays evidence-driven
• Choose actions using reversibility and risk (safe-to-try first, high-blast-radius last)
• Produce decisions that are explainable: constraints, alternatives, trade-offs, and why now

Where This Fits In The Flow

• Use at the start when requirements are vague, signals conflict, or you need hypotheses and tests.
• Use to turn the ticket into crisp inputs for infra-kit.workflow spec.md / plan.md.

Workflow

1. Establish the context and goal.
2. Write a one-paragraph problem statement:
   • symptom
   • impact (users/SLO)
   • time window
   • scope boundary (what is explicitly out of scope)
3. Build an evidence table:
   • Facts: confirmed from logs/metrics/code/commands
   • Assumptions: believed true but not verified
   • Unknowns: blocking questions
4. Generate 3-7 hypotheses. Each hypothesis must have a proposed test and expected observation.
5. Prioritize tests by:
   • fastest-to-disprove first
   • biggest blast-radius reduction first
   • highest expected information gain first
6. Run a bias and failure-mode check before committing to a path:
   • confirmation bias: what evidence would change my mind
   • anchoring: what else could explain this
   • availability: am I over-weighting the last incident
   • pre-mortem: if this plan fails, why
7. Decide using reversibility:
   • reversible step: do now, learn, iterate
   • irreversible step: require stronger evidence, rollback plan, and explicit approval
8. Communicate as BLUF:
   • Bottom line
   • key evidence
   • next 1-3 actions
   • risks and rollback

Hallucination Guardrails

• Do not claim a cause without evidence. If the cause is not proven, present competing hypotheses and what would falsify each.
• When referencing defaults or behavior of cloud/Kubernetes/tooling, require version context or cite an authoritative source.
• Always label assumptions as assumptions.

Templates

Incident Triage

• Problem:
• Impact: <users/SLO/cost>
• Timeline:
• Facts:
• Hypotheses + tests:
• Next actions (safe-to-try first):
• If wrong, rollback:

Decision Record (lightweight)

• Decision:
• Why now:
• Options considered:
• Constraints:
• Trade-offs:
• Risks + mitigations:
• Reversibility + rollback:

References