Self Healing CI

Self-Healing CI

CI-only variant of self-healing. Runs the diagnose → patch → verify → file loop headlessly against pull-request and scheduled workflow events.

Install

gh skill install pskoett/pskoett-skills self-healing-ci

Fallback using the Agent Skills CLI:

npx skills add pskoett/pskoett-skills/skills/self-healing-ci

Purpose

Run self-healing in CI without interactive chat loops:

• Inspect failed PR checks (test/build/lint/scan/deploy) and parse logs for root cause
• Propose a minimal verified patch as a PR comment or follow-up commit
• Commit a HEAL- entry to .learnings/HEALS.md with verification proof (or pending-verify if the workflow can't re-run the check)
• Search prior HEAL entries by Pattern-Key before filing new ones — deduplicate recurrences
• Append a Handoff block at Recurrence-Count >= 3 for promotion via self-improvement-ci

Use self-healing for interactive/local sessions.

Context Limitation (Important)

CI agents do not have peak task context from the original implementation session. The agent is reading CI logs and code, not riding peak context after a focused implementation. Implications:

• Favor conservative diagnoses — when uncertain, file pending-verify and surface to the PR author
• Require mandatory verify before claiming verified — re-run the failing check in the same workflow run
• Never modify project code without an explicit verify pass; propose changes as PR comments unless the workflow is configured for auto-commit
• Route uncertain or high-impact recommendations to interactive review

Prerequisites

1. GitHub Actions enabled for the repository
2. GitHub CLI authenticated in the workflow (gh auth status)
3. gh-aw installed for authoring/validation:

gh extension install github/gh-aw

4. .learnings/HEALS.md committed to the repo (or created on first run; see references/workflow-example.md for the bootstrap pattern)

CI Contract

The CI skill must:

1. Read CI logs, PR diff, and existing .learnings/HEALS.md — nothing else from the PR author's machine
2. Avoid direct code modifications by default — propose via PR comment or label-gated commit
3. Re-run the failing check after applying the proposed patch (when feasible) — verified requires this; pending-verify is honest if it cannot
4. Emit a machine-readable YAML output (see Output Schema)
5. Commit the verified HEAL- entry only on a successful re-run — abandoned heals are still filed, but in a separate commit clearly labeled

Output Schema

self_healing_ci:
  source:
    pr_number: 123
    commit_sha: "abc123def"
    failed_check: "test (node 20)"
    workflow_run_id: 4567891234
  heal:
    heal_id: "HEAL-20260524-001"
    status: "verified"            # verified | pending-verify | abandoned
    trigger: "tool-failure"       # free-form
    active_context: "ci"          # optional
    area: "tests"                 # free-form
    pattern_key: "env.lockfile_mismatch"
    diagnosis: "Project uses pnpm; CI workflow ran `npm ci`."
    fix:
      summary: "Switch the CI install step from `npm ci` to `pnpm install --frozen-lockfile`."
      diff_path: ".learnings/heals/HEAL-20260524-001/patch.diff"   # only if files generated
    verification:
      command: "pnpm install --frozen-lockfile"
      exit_code: 0
      output_excerpt: "Lockfile is up to date, resolution step is skipped"
    recurrence_count: 1
    promotion_ready: false        # true at recurrence_count >= 3
  summary:
    heals_filed: 1
    verified: 1
    pending_verify: 0
    abandoned: 0
    promotion_candidates: 0

Verify-Before-Persist in CI

In CI the verify step is operationalized as re-running the failed check inside the same workflow run after applying the proposed patch:

If the re-run isn't feasible (the check requires secrets only available in production workflows; the failure is transient; the patch needs human review before commit), the HEAL ships as pending-verify with explicit notes on what would prove it.

Never fake verified. Faking is the exact failure mode this skill exists to prevent — and in CI, the consequences propagate further than in interactive sessions because future PRs may apply the unverified "fix" automatically.

Recurrence and Promotion Rules

• Search .learnings/HEALS.md by Pattern-Key before filing new heals
• On match: increment Recurrence-Count, update Last-Seen, append the new occurrence to See Also
• Promotion threshold (same as interactive):
  • Recurrence-Count >= 3
  • Seen across at least 2 distinct PRs/tasks
  • Within a 30-day window
  • The fix is generalizable (not project-specific)
• On promotion: append a Handoff block to the existing HEAL with a Promotion Target (CLAUDE.md / AGENTS.md / .github/copilot-instructions.md / new-skill) and a one-line Distilled Rule
• self-improvement-ci consumes the Handoff blocks and proposes the promotion as a PR

Suggested Workflow Triggers

Authoring patterns and example .github/workflows/*.lock.yml files live in references/workflow-example.md. Keep example workflows out of .github/workflows until you've explicitly decided to enable CI automation.

Anti-Patterns in CI

The interactive skill's anti-patterns all apply. CI-specific ones to watch:

1. Auto-commit unverified fixes. A patch that hasn't passed the re-run check should never land on the branch automatically. Propose via PR comment instead.
2. Re-trigger loops. If the heal triggers its own workflow, gate with if: github.actor != 'github-actions[bot]' to prevent infinite loops.
3. Silent retry of flaky tests. A flaky test is not a heal candidate unless the patch actually addresses the non-determinism. Re-running the same flaky test until green is hiding, not healing.
4. Cross-PR Pattern-Key collisions. If two PRs hit the same Pattern-Key with different root causes, the keys are too coarse — refine them rather than letting them merge.
5. Heals on infra you don't own. Don't patch a third-party action's source from inside CI — propose a version pin or a configuration change instead.

Cross-references

• self-healing — the interactive skill this mirrors; same file format, same verify discipline
• self-improvement-ci — receives heal Handoff blocks; proposes promotion to memory files
• simplify-and-harden-ci — quality pass after heals stabilize the PR
• verify-gate — the interactive verify gate; self-healing-ci's verify is the CI workflow re-run
• references/workflow-example.md — gh-aw workflow templates and authoring notes