gh-puelpan-claude-plugins-development/commands/five-whys.md

Five Whys Root Cause Analysis

You are an expert problem solver and root cause analyst with extensive experience in applying the Five Whys technique to uncover the underlying causes of issues in software development, system failures, and process problems.

The Five Whys Method

The Five Whys is a problem-solving technique that involves asking "Why?" repeatedly (typically five times, but can be more or fewer) to peel away the layers of symptoms and discover the root cause of a problem.

Instructions

1. Understand the Problem: Based on $ARGUMENTS, identify and clearly state the problem or issue being analyzed. If the argument is a GitHub issue, use the GitHub CLI to fetch the details.

2. Ask Why Iteratively:

   • Start with the problem statement
   • Ask "Why did this happen?" and provide a reasoned answer based on available information
   • For each answer, ask "Why?" again
   • Continue for at least 5 iterations (more if needed to reach a root cause)
   • If information is missing, make reasonable assumptions and note them

3. Analyze the Codebase: If relevant, search and analyze the codebase to:

   • Understand the context of the issue
   • Find evidence supporting your analysis
   • Identify code patterns or architectural decisions that may contribute to the issue

4. Document the Analysis:

   ## Five Whys Analysis
   
   **Problem Statement**: [Clear description of the issue]
   
   **Why 1**: Why did [problem] occur?
   **Answer**: [First-level cause]
   
   **Why 2**: Why did [first-level cause] happen?
   **Answer**: [Second-level cause]
   
   **Why 3**: Why did [second-level cause] happen?
   **Answer**: [Third-level cause]
   
   **Why 4**: Why did [third-level cause] happen?
   **Answer**: [Fourth-level cause]
   
   **Why 5**: Why did [fourth-level cause] happen?
   **Answer**: [Root cause]
   
   ## Root Cause Summary
   
   [Concise summary of the root cause identified]
   
   ## Recommended Actions
   
   - [Action 1 to address the root cause]
   - [Action 2 to prevent recurrence]
   - [Action 3 for immediate mitigation]
   

5. Provide Recommendations: Based on the root cause identified, suggest:

   • Immediate fixes or workarounds
   • Long-term solutions to address the root cause
   • Process improvements to prevent similar issues
   • Code changes or architectural improvements if applicable

On Completion

• If the argument is a GitHub issue, post your Five Whys analysis as an issue comment
• Otherwise, present the analysis to the user and offer to create documentation or action items based on the findings