# Post Mortem

> Generate a detailed post-mortem analysis after a debugging session or incident, capturing what failed, what worked, and lessons learned

- Skill: `searayca/post-mortem` (Agent Skill)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add searayca/post-mortem`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/searayca/post-mortem/raw
- Safety review: pending
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: Coding & Dev Tools
- Author: searayca (https://skillmd.com/u/searayca)
- Updated: 2026-09-17
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/searayca/post-mortem

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# Post-Mortem Generator

Generate a detailed post-mortem analysis after a debugging session or incident.

## When to Use

Use this command after:
- A debugging session that took longer than expected
- An incident or outage
- A complex problem that was finally resolved
- Any situation where we want to capture lessons learned

## Instructions

1. **Review the conversation history** to identify:
   - The original problem/request
   - What was tried and failed
   - What finally worked
   - Time spent vs expected

2. **Generate a post-mortem document** with these sections:

   ### Header
   - Date
   - Issue summary (one line)
   - Resolution time (actual vs expected)

   ### The Problem
   - Clear description of what the user wanted
   - Why it seemed simple

   ### What Went Wrong
   - Number each failure point
   - Include code snippets showing the problematic code/config
   - Explain WHY each approach failed

   ### The Solution
   - The actual fix (with code)
   - Why this worked when other approaches didn't

   ### What We Learned
   - Numbered list of technical lessons
   - Be specific and actionable

   ### What To Do Differently
   - Organized by phase: Before/During/After
   - Include specific commands or checks to run

   ### Time Cost
   - Honest assessment of wasted time
   - Root causes of the delay

   ### Key Takeaway
   - One memorable sentence summarizing the main lesson

3. **Save the document** to `docs/postmortem_[brief_description].md`

4. **Ask the user** if any lessons should be added to CLAUDE.md for future reference

## Output Format

Use markdown with clear headers, code blocks, and bullet points. Keep it scannable but detailed enough to be useful months later.

## Example Filename

- `postmortem_dashboard_width.md`
- `postmortem_api_timeout.md`
- `postmortem_deploy_failure.md`