A comprehensive diagnostic skill utilizing 5 Whys, fault tree analysis, and dependency tracing to find the true origin of system issues.
Install & Download
1. ClawHub CLI
The fastest way to install a skill directly from the registry.
npx clawhub@latest install root-cause-tracing
2. Manual Installation
Copy the skill folder to one of these locations
~/.openclaw/skills/ <project>/skills/ Priority: Workspace > Local > Bundled
3. Prompt Installation
Copy this prompt to OpenClaw to install it automatically.
Help me install root-cause-tracing using Clawhub. If Clawhub is not installed, install it first (npm i -g clawhub).
Prefer to download?
Get the raw skill files in a ZIP archive.
What is Root Cause Tracing?
The Root Cause Tracing skill is a powerful analytical framework designed to help AI agents look beyond immediate symptoms and uncover the underlying drivers of bugs and system failures. By implementing structured methodologies such as the 5 Whys and Fault Tree Analysis, it provides a logical and repeatable path to resolve complex technical debt and recurring incidents. This skill ensures that developers don't just patch symptoms but implement permanent fixes based on verified evidence.
Whether dealing with API timeouts, authentication loops, or infrastructure bottlenecks, this skill integrates seamlessly into the development workflow to provide deep insights. By leveraging Openclaw Skills for root cause analysis, teams can significantly reduce their Mean Time To Recovery (MTTR) and improve system stability through data-driven post-mortems and preventative countermeasures.
Root Cause Tracing Use Cases
- Diagnosing the source of intermittent API timeouts by drilling down through database and network layers.
- Resolving authentication failures by mapping dependencies across microservices and external providers.
- Analyzing blockchain transaction reverts by tracing gas usage, nonce conflicts, and smart contract logic.
- Identifying regression origins in large codebases using automated version control tracing.
- Performing post-incident reports to establish long-term prevention strategies for production environments.
How Root Cause Tracing Works
- Symptom Documentation: The skill records error messages, frequency of occurrence, and specific environmental conditions.
- Hypothesis Generation: Uses 5 Whys to drill down into the logic or Fault Tree Analysis to map out all possible failure paths.
- Evidence Gathering: Analyzes logs across multiple sources (app, system, network) and traces code dependencies or stack traces.
- Verification: Runs reproduction tests or temporary fixes to validate the hypothesized root cause.
- Reporting: Generates a structured Root Cause Analysis report with immediate remediation and permanent prevention steps.
Root Cause Tracing Setup
This skill is automatically triggered within the environment when keywords like root cause or why are detected. To ensure full functionality, the agent requires access to system logs and the git repository. You can test log-based tracing using standard CLI commands:
# Analyze logs surrounding an error
grep -B30 -A10 "ERROR" app.log
# Filter logs by a specific timestamp
grep "2026-02-02 12:3" app.log
For regression tracing, the skill utilizes git bisect:
git bisect start
git bisect bad HEAD
git bisect good <working_commit_hash>
Root Cause Tracing Data Schema & Taxonomy
The skill organizes its findings into a structured diagnostic report to ensure clarity and actionability.
| Component | Description |
|---|---|
| Problem | Concise summary of the observed failure. |
| Symptoms | List of specific error codes and abnormal behaviors. |
| 5 Whys Analysis | The logical sequence of why questions leading to the source. |
| Root Cause | The identified fundamental cause of the issue. |
| Evidence | Log snippets, stack traces, and test results supporting the claim. |
| Countermeasures | Categorized into Immediate (hotfixes) and Permanent (process changes). |
Root Cause Tracing Advanced Features
- Multi-Source Log Correlation: Synchronizes application, system, and network logs via timestamps to find causal links.
- Fault Tree Logic: Uses AND/OR gates to decompose complex system failures into manageable logical components.
- Environment-Specific Tracing: Dedicated modules for Cloudflare Workers, AI Gateways, and blockchain transaction analysis.
- Git Bisect Integration: Leverages binary search on commit history to pinpoint the exact code change that introduced a bug.
- Cross-Skill Synergy: Automatically triggers systematic-debug or auto-fix once the root cause is determined to expedite repairs.
SKILL.md
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