Issue Analyze Skill

Trigger

• Keywords: analyze issue, investigate problem, problem analysis, root cause, root cause analysis, triage review, review thread analysis

Input Types

When input is a Review Thread:

• Phase 1 skips gh issue view, uses provided thread data directly
• Phase 2 classification uses Review Thread dimensions (see references/classification.md)

Modes

When NOT to Use

• Known root cause, fix directly (use /bug-fix)
• Pure feature development (use /feature-dev)
• Only need code review (use /codex-review)

Workflow

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Phase 1: Read Issue / Review Thread                             │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ GitHub Issue: gh issue view <number> --json ...                  │
│ Review Thread: use provided { path, line, reviewer, comment }   │
│ Extract: symptoms, reproduction steps, error messages, files    │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
                              ↓
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Phase 2: Problem Classification                                 │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ GitHub Issue: Determine problem type → investigation strategy   │
│ Review Thread: Determine category → actionability               │
│                                                                 │
│ ┌────────────────┬──────────────────────────────────┐           │
│ │ Type           │ Investigation Strategy            │           │
│ ├────────────────┼──────────────────────────────────┤           │
│ │ Unfamiliar     │ /code-explore                    │           │
│ │ Regression     │ /git-investigate                 │           │
│ │ Complex root   │ /code-investigate (dual view)    │           │
│ │ Multiple cause │ /codex-brainstorm (exhaustive)   │           │
│ │ Composite      │ Combine multiple strategies      │           │
│ └────────────────┴──────────────────────────────────┘           │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
                              ↓
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Phase 2.5: Verdict Assessment (NEW)                             │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ Codex blind verification: ACTIONABLE / NON_ACTIONABLE / UNCERTAIN│
│ Fresh exec thread (§ Start), anti-anchoring                     │
│ Pattern: @skills/seek-verdict/references/verdict-prompt.md      │
│ Thresholds: @skills/seek-verdict/references/policy-mapping.md   │
│                                                                 │
│ ⚠️ Never send Claude's classification to Codex                  │
│ --triage mode: stop here, output verdict + classification       │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
                              ↓
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Phase 3: Execute Investigation                                  │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ Skip if verdict = DISMISS_VERIFIED (per policy-mapping thresholds)    │
│ Otherwise: invoke corresponding investigation command           │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
                              ↓
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Phase 4: Consolidated Report                                    │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ Synthesize investigation results + verdict, produce report      │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Problem Classification Decision Tree

Issue Symptoms
    │
    ├─ "It used to work, now it doesn't" ───→ /git-investigate
    │                                          (find introduction point)
    │
    ├─ "Don't know how this feature works" ─→ /code-explore
    │                                          (quick understanding)
    │
    ├─ "Has error message / stack trace"
    │       │
    │       ├─ Clear error ────────────────→ /code-explore
    │       │                                (trace path)
    │       │
    │       └─ Vague / intermittent ───────→ /code-investigate
    │                                        (dual-view confirmation)
    │
    ├─ "Many possible causes" ────────────→ /codex-brainstorm
    │                                        (exhaustive analysis)
    │
    └─ Composite / uncertain ─────────────→ Start with /code-explore
                                             then choose based on results

Investigation Tool Comparison

Phase 2.5: Verdict Assessment

After classification, run Codex blind verification to independently assess actionability.

Codex call requirements (same as /seek-verdict pattern):

Prompt construction: follow @skills/seek-verdict/references/verdict-prompt.md pattern, adapting input:

• GitHub Issue input: provide issue title, body, labels as finding context
• Review Thread input: provide file path, line, reviewer comment as finding context
• Always include Standard Research Block (git status, git diff, grep, cat)

Codex output (all fields required):

- codex_verdict: ACTIONABLE | NON_ACTIONABLE | UNCERTAIN
- confidence: [0.0 - 1.0]
- evidence_refs: [files/lines/commands used]
- reasoning: [why this verdict]

Policy mapping: follow @skills/seek-verdict/references/policy-mapping.md thresholds (normal state; heightened thresholds apply after [DISMISS_PATTERN_WARN] — see policy-mapping.md Anti-Abuse Guard):

--triage mode: stop after Phase 2.5, output classification + verdict only.

Graceful degradation — on codex_fail only, which is adapter exit 1 and nothing else (@skills/codex-code-review/references/codex-transport.md § Completion state machine): log a warning and continue by mode, because the two modes have different next steps and one instruction cannot serve both. Full mode proceeds to Phase 3 with the verdict explicitly recorded as unavailable. --triage mode has no Phase 3 to proceed to — it stops at Phase 2.5 by definition — so it stops here and emits the classification with verdict: UNAVAILABLE (codex_fail), which the Output and Verification sections below admit as a complete triage result. Telling triage mode to "proceed to Phase 3" was an instruction it could not execute. This is a non-gate dispatch, so there is no fallback carrier to route to. The other outcomes are not this branch: exit 2 is a configuration or usage error to fix — surface it and stop; an unknown completion is not a failure at all — wait for it, because a launch is not a verdict. "If the Codex call fails" flattened all three into one action, which is the reading this line now refuses.

Output

Full Report (default)

## Issue Analysis: <title>
- **Classification**: <problem type>
- **Verdict**: ACTIONABLE / NON_ACTIONABLE / UNCERTAIN / UNAVAILABLE (codex_fail) (confidence: 0.XX
  — omitted for UNAVAILABLE, where no dispatch produced one)
- **Root cause hypothesis**: <analysis>
- **Investigation strategy**: <tools + plan>
- **Priority**: P0 / P1 / P2

Triage Report (--triage mode)

## Triage: <file>:<line> (or issue title)
- **Category**: <classification>
- **Verdict**: ACTIONABLE / NON_ACTIONABLE / UNCERTAIN / UNAVAILABLE (codex_fail)
- **Confidence**: 0.XX  <!-- omitted when the verdict is UNAVAILABLE: no dispatch produced one -->
- **Reasoning**: <brief justification>
- **Evidence**: <file:line references>

UNAVAILABLE (codex_fail) is a complete result in either mode, not a failure to report one: the classification stands on its own and the verdict line says plainly that no usable Codex verdict was produced or accepted. That is the accurate claim, and it is narrower than it looks — adapter exit 1 covers failures that happen after the child may have started (a nonzero child exit, a half-written prompt, malformed JSONL, a missing thread event, an empty report), so codex_fail does not say whether a reviewer ran. Only exit 2 means nothing was dispatched (@skills/codex-code-review/references/codex-transport.md § Completion state machine), and exit 2 is not this branch. Reporting a verdict nobody produced would be the alternative, and it is worse.

Verification

• Issue / review thread content fully extracted
• Problem type correctly classified
• Verdict assessment executed (Codex blind verification) — or the report carries UNAVAILABLE (codex_fail), which is this item satisfied by the degradation branch rather than unsatisfied: exit 1 can land before any verdict exists to assess
• Codex prompt contains no Claude conclusions (anti-anchoring) — applies to the dispatch that was made; on codex_fail there may be no completed dispatch to check
• Fresh Codex thread used (not reusing existing thread) — same condition
• Investigation strategy reasonably selected (or skipped if NON_ACTIONABLE)
• Report includes root cause analysis + verdict
• Contains specific fix recommendations
• --triage mode: outputs classification + verdict only — and on codex_fail, stops there with verdict: UNAVAILABLE (codex_fail) rather than continuing to a phase this mode does not have

References

• references/classification.md — Detailed problem classification guide (includes Review Thread dimensions)
• references/report-template.md — Report template (includes Triage Report)
• @skills/seek-verdict/references/verdict-prompt.md — Codex blind verification prompt pattern (source of truth)
• @skills/seek-verdict/references/policy-mapping.md — Verdict thresholds + audit format (source of truth)

Examples

Regression Issue

Input: /issue-analyze 123
Phase 1: gh issue view 123 -> "API returns 500 after update"
Phase 2: Classification = Regression
Phase 3: /git-investigate -> find introducing commit
Phase 4: Report + fix recommendation

Intermittent Error

Input: /issue-analyze 456
Phase 1: gh issue view 456 -> "Random timeout occurrences"
Phase 2: Classification = Complex root cause (intermittent)
Phase 3: /code-investigate -> Claude + Codex dual-view
Phase 4: Consolidated report -> ranked possible causes

Unknown Feature

Input: /issue-analyze 789
Phase 1: gh issue view 789 -> "Why does it behave this way?"
Phase 2: Classification = Unfamiliar feature
Phase 2.5: Verdict = ACTIONABLE (confidence 0.75) -> proceed
Phase 3: /code-explore -> trace execution path
Phase 4: Report + flow diagram + verdict

Review Thread Triage

Input: /issue-analyze --triage "src/service.ts:42 — Use early return instead of nested if"
Phase 2: Classification = nit
Phase 2.5: Verdict = NON_ACTIONABLE (confidence 0.85)
  Codex found: current nested pattern follows project convention in 12 other files
Output: Triage report — skip suggested