diagnose-a-red-run ยท diff
git:20260819.8db3984 to git:20260921.bbe08f8
3 added, 2 removed. Audit A to A.
---
name: diagnose-a-red-run
description: Test is red, typecheck failed, CI job failed, flaky, timed out, was this already broken. Use to classify any failing check before changing code or calling it pre-existing.
---
# Skill: Diagnose a Red Run
## Capture the branch failure
- Record the exact command, commit SHA, exit code, and passed/failed/skipped
counts. Quote the first actionable failure; do not summarize it away.
- Classify the check: testkit spec, unit suite, typecheck, build, lint, or CI job.
## Run a clean control
Never call a failure pre-existing from memory or from a modified checkout.
```bash
git fetch origin dev
git worktree add /tmp/openwork-dev-control --detach origin/dev
# In that clean worktree, prepare the same prerequisites and run the exact command.
git worktree remove /tmp/openwork-dev-control
```
- Keep tool versions, environment, services, flags, and secrets equivalent.
- Quote the control command, `origin/dev` SHA, exit code, counts, and matching
failure text.
- Classify as pre-existing only when the clean control demonstrates the same
failure. Otherwise classify it as introduced, environment-specific, or
unresolved. A non-reproducing control is not proof of flakiness; repeat both
sides before using that label.
## Classify by signature
- Unit/type/CI-only failure: inspect the first failing job and run its exact
command locally before broadening scope.
- Vision disagreement on identical pixels: claim wording or product ambiguity.
Make the product unambiguous or make the claim factual.
- Timeout with an On-screen dump: read it. It names the state; for example,
`/session` can expose a steer-back race.
- Auth `403 INVALID_ORIGIN`: inspect Den trusted origins.
- Authorize URL points at the real provider: Den booted without mock env.
- Teardown `403 fresh_auth_required`: the session aged; a `freshSession` retry
exists.
## Environment forensics
- Kill by port, not process name. `tsx watch` can orphan its Node child, which
keeps the port while `/health` lies.
- `EADDRINUSE` in logs while health returns 200 means a zombie survived.
- Electron zombies can respawn from a root process; kill the process group.
- Leaked state pollutes organizations; delete leftover connectors between runs.
For a testkit failure, read the test run's last unvalidated artifacts before touching
- code. Publish useful red test evidence with `publish-evidence`; it remains human audit,
- not a passing verdict.
+ code. Name the verdict as CI posted it: `Passed` only when every claim has an
+ observable assertion; a skip or a pending `looks()` judgment is `Incomplete`,
+ never `Passed`. Red evidence is useful evidence; never soften or omit it.