paultyng CI Debug Loop
Iteratively watch CI, diagnose failures, fix, and re-trigger until the run passes or escalation is needed.
1. Identify the Run
Find the latest run for the current branch:
gh run list --branch $(git branch --show-current) --limit 1 --json databaseId,status,conclusion,name
If a specific run ID or workflow is provided by the user, use that instead.
2. Watch
If the run is still in progress:
gh run watch <run_id> --exit-status
If it already completed, proceed to diagnosis.
3. Diagnose Failure
On failure, fetch logs for the failed job(s):
gh run view <run_id> --log-failed
Delegate log analysis to a two-stage subagent pipeline when the failed-log output is more than ~200 lines. CI logs flood main context fast and the parent only needs the root cause, not the raw output. Per parallelize-subagents, delegate-investigation, and subagent-model-routing:
Stage 1 — Extract (Haiku): Spawn an Explore subagent (model: haiku) per failed job (parallel if multiple jobs failed). Prompt: paste the command to fetch the log (not the log itself); ask for "first failing assertion + ~10 lines of surrounding context, ≤50 lines, prefixed with Status: ...". Haiku handles the mechanical extraction; no interpretation needed at this stage.
Stage 2 — Interpret (Sonnet): After Stage 1 completes, spawn a generalPurpose subagent (model: sonnet) with the Stage 1 structured output pasted inline plus the failure categories below. Ask for "likely root cause + file:line if identifiable, ≤100 words, prefixed with Status: ...".
- Parent receives the Stage 2 summary, decides the fix.
For short logs (<200 lines), inspect inline.
Common failure categories:
- Build errors: compilation failures, missing dependencies
- Test failures: assertion errors, timeouts, flaky tests
- Auth/permissions: token scopes, registry auth, SSH keys
- Config/YAML: syntax errors, wrong flags, missing env vars, heredoc issues
- Infrastructure: runner issues, Docker rate limits, service unavailability
4. Fix
If the fix is mechanical (typo, missing flag, wrong version, import ordering, fmt issue):
- Apply the fix directly
- Commit using Conventional Commits format
- Push
If the fix requires a design decision or is ambiguous:
- Present the diagnosis and options to the user
- Wait for direction before applying
5. Re-watch
After pushing the fix, wait for the new run to appear:
gh run list --branch $(git branch --show-current) --limit 1
Then watch it (back to step 2).
6. Escalation
Stop and escalate to the user if:
- The same job fails twice with the same error after a fix attempt
- The failure is in infrastructure outside the repo's control (runner issues, external service outages)
- The fix would require changes to a different repository or CI configuration not in this repo
Report what was tried, what failed, and what options remain.
Escalate to bisect when log analysis can't pinpoint which change broke the job. Typical signs: failure looks unrelated to the recent diff, error message points at code untouched in the branch, or a previously-green test on the same branch is now red. Hand the failing test/command to /bisect as the reproducer; it isolates the offending commit.
Cross-references
- Per
~/.claude/rules/probe-not-assume.md: confirm via tool/command before recommending; do not infer.