ci-troubleshoot · git:20260805.ff041ae · 2026-08-05 · sha256 b987564fc196f474
ci-troubleshoot git:20260805.ff041aeA
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---
name: ci-troubleshoot
description: 'Diagnose failed GitHub Actions runs for pi-agent-dashboard: the 6-workflow taxonomy, the release pipeline, known failure modes, and how to read `gh run` logs and retrigger jobs. Use when a CI run is red, a release is stuck, a workflow won''t dispatch, or you need to know which workflow does what. See `release-cut` to trigger a release, `release-revoke` to revoke one.'
---
# CI Troubleshoot
Diagnose CI failures for pi-agent-dashboard. The repo has 6 workflows arranged in two flows:
```
┌─ FLOW 1: every push ───────────────────────────────┐
│ │
│ ci.yml │
│ ├─ ci (tests + lint + type-check) │
│ ├─ standalone-install-smoke-linux (matrix) │
│ └─ standalone-install-smoke-windows (matrix) │
│ │
│ deploy-site.yml (on push if site/** changed) │
│ │
└────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
┌─ FLOW 2: release ──────────────────────────────────┐
│ │
│ publish.yml (push tag v* OR workflow_dispatch) │
│ ├─ prepare (bump, lockfile, CHANGELOG, │
│ │ commit, tag, push) │
│ ├─ publish (npm publish OIDC, ordered) │
│ ├─ electron (calls _electron-build.yml) │
│ │ needs: [prepare, publish] ← CRITICAL │
│ └─ github-release (creates Release, drops logs) │
│ needs: [prepare, publish, electron] │
│ │
│ sync-release-version.yml (on release published) │
│ └─ writes site/src/data/latest-release.json │
│ │
└────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
┌─ MANUAL: smoke a feature branch's installer matrix ┐
│ │
│ ci-electron.yml (workflow_dispatch only) │
│ └─ calls _electron-build.yml with │
│ source_only_bundle=true │
│ │
│ Safety invariants (locked by repo-lint): │
│ - no npm publish, no GitHub Release, no tag push │
│ - version slug is a SemVer prerelease ranked │
│ BELOW base stable (electron-updater safe) │
│ │
└────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
```
Full per-workflow detail: [`references/workflow-taxonomy.md`](references/workflow-taxonomy.md).
## First moves — always run these
```bash
npx tsx ./scripts/list-recent-runs.ts # last 10 runs across all workflows
npx tsx ./scripts/list-recent-runs.ts --failed # only failed
npx tsx ./scripts/show-failed-run.ts <run-id> # failed steps + log tails
npx tsx ./scripts/show-failed-run.ts # most recent failed run
```
These wrap `gh run list`, `gh run view --log-failed`, and similar. You need `gh auth status` to be authenticated.
> Scripts are TypeScript (cross-platform). All invocations use `npx tsx` so they work on Linux, macOS, and Windows. `tsx` is already a project dep; `gh` CLI is cross-platform.
## Triage decision tree
```
Is the run red?
│
▼
Which workflow?
│
┌────┼────────────────────────┬───────────────────┐
│ │ │ │
▼ ▼ ▼ ▼
ci.yml publish.yml ci-electron.yml
│ │ │
▼ ▼ ▼
Tests, lint, smoke Release flow — which job? On-demand Electron
│ │ smoke (not publish)
▼ │
references/ ├─ prepare → see below
common-failures.md ├─ publish → npm ordering
├─ electron → matrix leg
└─ github-release → asset collision
```
## Release pipeline — `publish.yml`
The release flow runs 4 jobs strictly in this order:
```
prepare ──▶ publish ──▶ electron ──▶ github-release
(deps (npm OIDC, (matrix (creates
+ tag) ordered) 6 legs) Release)
```
`needs:` chains lock this order. **Do not remove `needs: [prepare, publish]` from `electron`** — the electron build's bundled server runs `npm install` for `@blackbelt-technology/*`, which must already exist on npm. Locked by `packages/shared/src/__tests__/publish-workflow-contract.test.ts`.
Full walkthrough with per-job failure modes: [`references/release-pipeline.md`](references/release-pipeline.md).
## Known failure modes
Maintained in [`references/common-failures.md`](references/common-failures.md). Headline catalog:
| Failure | Where | Diagnosis | Fix |
|---------|-------|-----------|-----|
| `verify-lockfile-versions.mjs` fails | `prepare` | Cross-ref specifier in lockfile doesn't match bumped version | Regenerate lockfile + commit; or fix `scripts/sync-versions.js` |
| CHANGELOG already has `## [X.Y.Z]` | `prepare` | You're re-dispatching with a version that was already promoted | Bump to a new version, or revert the CHANGELOG section |
| `npm publish` 403 | `publish` | OIDC trusted publisher not configured for that package | Configure in npm web UI; or temporarily use NPM_TOKEN |
| Electron matrix leg fails | `electron` | Missing prebuild for node-pty/better-sqlite3 on that OS/arch | Check `bundle-server.mjs` GO/NO-GO guard; rebuild prebuilds |
| `shell: bash` on Windows runner | any | Lint test `no-bash-on-windows.test.ts` flags it | Remove `shell: bash` or guard with `if: runner.os != 'Windows'` |
| Electron job missing `needs:` | repo-lint | `publish-workflow-contract.test.ts` failed | Restore `needs: [prepare, publish]` |
| `Cannot find module @blackbelt-technology/...` in electron | `electron` | `publish` job didn't run or failed; bundled server can't resolve from npm | Check `publish` job — re-run only if it failed; never bypass |
| Fastify crashes in bundled server smoke | any using node | Bad Node version pinned in workflow | Bump `node-version:` to ≥ 22.18.0 |
| Loud-but-harmless `EADDRINUSE` in smoke | smoke job | Concurrent server spawns | Usually self-recovering; check next log lines |
| `electron` + `github-release` SKIPPED despite green `publish` | `electron` | Tag-push path skips `tag-and-push`; a skipped needs-ancestor poisons electron's DEFAULT `if: success()` | Give `electron` explicit `if: ${{ !cancelled() && needs.publish.result == 'success' }}` (mirrors `publish`'s guard). First hit v0.6.1 |
| `✗ koffi prebuild GO/NO-GO failed at ...koffi\build\koffi\win32_x64\koffi.node` | `electron` (both win32 legs) | koffi@3.x ships the prebuild at `@koromix/koffi-win32-x64/win32_x64/koffi.node`; the 2.x `koffi/build/...` path is never created | Update `bundle-server.mjs` guard to check the 3.x @koromix path first, 2.x fallback. First hit v0.6.1 |
| arm64 NSIS smoke: `pi-dashboard.exe not found ... after 150s` | `electron` (win32-arm64) | x64 runner can't execute an arm64 `Setup.exe`/app, so silent install extracts nothing | Guard the NSIS install-smoke step `if: matrix.platform == 'win32' && matrix.arch == 'x64'`. arm64 installer still builds+ships. First hit v0.6.1 |
## Reading gh logs efficiently
```bash
# Last 10 runs (all workflows, this branch)
gh run list -L 10
# Last 5 failed runs across all workflows
gh run list -L 50 | grep -E 'failure|cancelled' | head -5
# Get a specific run, only the failed steps
gh run view <run-id> --log-failed
# Watch a running workflow (live tail)
gh run watch <run-id>
# Re-run only the failed jobs (preserves successful ones, saves CI time)
gh run rerun <run-id> --failed
# Re-run from scratch (rare; usually for flakes)
gh run rerun <run-id>
```
`gh run view --log-failed` is the highest-leverage one — it pulls only failed-step output, which is what you want 95% of the time.
**Rerun gotcha (tag-push releases):** `gh run rerun <id> --failed` does NOT re-dispatch skipped downstream reusable-workflow jobs (e.g. `electron`) even after `publish` flips green — they stay `skipped`. After a smoke-**gate** flake on a tag-push release, re-push the tag for a clean single-pass run instead: `git push --delete origin vX.Y.Z && git push origin vX.Y.Z`. `publish` is idempotent (skips already-published packages), so re-pushing the tag is safe.
## When the failure is repo-lint
Repo-lint tests fail the `ci` job specifically. They're listed in `debug-dashboard/references/test-failure-triage.md` → "Repo-lint tests". Fix the file that violated the rule. **Don't loosen the lint** — each one exists because of a real regression.
## Related skills
- `release-cut` — trigger a release (cuts the tag that fires `publish.yml`)
- `release-revoke` — rollback / yank a release
- `debug-dashboard` — when the bug only reproduces locally
- `implement` — back to writing the fix
- `code-review` — review the fix before re-pushing