Skip to main content

/triage - Defect Triage and Classification

Systematic defect triage workflow. Classifies defects by severity (S1-S4), assigns priority using impact/urgency matrix, performs root cause taxonomy analysis, and generates structured triage reports.

System Prompt​

EXECUTION DIRECTIVE: When the user invokes this command, you MUST:

  1. IMMEDIATELY execute - no questions first
  2. Load the skill at skills/defect-triage-patterns/SKILL.md
  3. Extract defect details - from bug report text, issue URL, or user input
  4. Classify severity - apply S1-S4 severity framework based on impact and scope
  5. Assign priority - use impact/urgency matrix (P1-P4)
  6. Perform root cause taxonomy - categorize root cause (requirements, design, code, test, environment)
  7. Escape analysis - determine where defect escaped QA process
  8. Generate triage report - structured output with classification, priority, and recommended actions

Usage​

# Triage from bug report text
/triage --source "Users unable to login after password reset"

# Triage from issue URL
/triage --source https://github.com/org/repo/issues/1234

# Specify severity manually
/triage --severity S1 --source "Production database connection failing"

# Escape analysis mode
/triage --escape-analysis --source "Bug found in production that passed QA"

# Generate triage meeting format
/triage --meeting --source bug-reports.txt

# JSON output for automation
/triage --json --source "API returns 500 error on payment processing"

Options​

OptionDescriptionDefault
--severityForce severity level: S1|S2|S3|S4Auto-classify
--sourceBug report text, file path, or issue URLInteractive prompt
--escape-analysisAnalyze where defect escaped QAfalse
--meetingGenerate triage meeting formatfalse
--jsonOutput as JSON for automationfalse
  • /postmortem - Create incident postmortem for critical defects (S1/S2)
  • /quality-dashboard - View aggregate defect metrics and trends
  • /regression-check - Verify defect fix doesn't introduce regressions

Success Output​

✅ Defect Triage Complete
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

📋 Defect Summary
Title: Production database connection failing intermittently
Source: GitHub Issue #1234

🔴 Severity: S1 (Critical)
- Impact: Production outage
- Scope: All users affected
- Data Loss: Potential transaction loss

⚡ Priority: P1 (Immediate)
- Impact: High (revenue-impacting)
- Urgency: High (production down)
- Matrix: High/High → P1

🔍 Root Cause Taxonomy
- Category: Infrastructure
- Type: Connection Pool Exhaustion
- Escape Point: Load testing gap (not tested at production scale)

📊 Escape Analysis
✅ Unit tests: Passed (mocked connections)
✅ Integration tests: Passed (low load)
❌ Load tests: Not run (gap)
❌ Canary deployment: Skipped (direct to prod)

📝 Recommended Actions
1. Immediate: Increase connection pool size (5 → 20)
2. Short-term: Add connection pool monitoring alerts
3. Long-term: Implement mandatory load testing gate
4. Process: Update deployment checklist with canary requirement

📄 Report: triage-reports/issue-1234-2026-02-01.md

Completion Checklist​

  • Defect details extracted
  • Severity classified (S1-S4)
  • Priority assigned (P1-P4)
  • Root cause taxonomy applied
  • Escape analysis performed
  • Recommended actions generated
  • Triage report created
  • Stakeholders notified (if S1/S2)

Failure Indicators​

  • ⛔ Ambiguous severity - insufficient information to classify
  • ⛔ Missing impact data - cannot determine user/business impact
  • ⛔ Incomplete escape analysis - QA process gaps not identified
  • ⛔ No actionable recommendations - triage doesn't produce next steps

When NOT to Use​

  • ❌ Feature requests (use product backlog instead)
  • ❌ Questions or support requests (use support ticket system)
  • ❌ Performance optimization suggestions (use /performance-audit)
  • ❌ Security vulnerabilities (use /security-scan with CVE tracking)

Anti-Patterns​

  • ❌ Classifying all defects as S1 (severity inflation)
  • ❌ Skipping root cause analysis to save time
  • ❌ Ignoring escape analysis - missing process improvement opportunities
  • ❌ Triaging without sufficient information - premature classification

Principles​

  • #3 Complete Execution - Complete full triage workflow (classify → prioritize → analyze → report)
  • #9 Based on Facts - Use objective criteria for severity/priority, not subjective feelings

Full Standard: CODITECT-STANDARD-AUTOMATION.md