issue-rootcause-workflow

An invariant-centric approach to root-cause analysis explicitly states the expected system state and violation context to guide diagnosis. It helps identify true root causes rather than surface symptoms by applying structured evidence-driven principles.

To document an incident postmortem for a bug triage, apply a 6-step workflow covering invariant, choice, experiment, verify arrival, and cross-check. Use structured templates for postmortems and code comments to capture evidence and next steps.

To trace a system failure to its root cause during debugging, formalize the violated invariant, design an A/B experiment plan, and perform cross-checks. This workflow traces from symptom to invariant to root cause for a durable fix.

The best way to record architecture decisions during incident reviews is using ADR templates that capture invariant violations, experimental choices, and verified evidence. This ensures reliability decisions are documented for future reference.

Yes, you can use this debugging workflow for issues across code, data, and system infrastructure. It applies invariant-driven principles to guide diagnoses and reconciliations for any failing system component.

Yes, you need a defined invariant before starting root-cause analysis. The workflow requires an explicit expected state, an A/B experiment plan, and clear cross-checks to successfully identify true root causes.