Report Bug
File a structured Bug issue from a QA finding. Core value: the Gherkin scenario that failed becomes the reproducible test evidence, and the originating Task and Feature are linked automatically so nothing loses its context.
Process
0. GitHub CLI setup
Run steps 1–2 of
../references/gh-setup.md
(install check and auth check). Stop if
is not installed or not authenticated. Extensions are not required for this skill.
Skip this step if invoked from
or another skill that already ran gh-setup this session.
1. Identify the source
If called from : the task number and failing scenario(s) are already in context — skip to step 2. Do not ask the questions below.
If invoked directly:
Ask in a single message:
- "What is the bug? (one sentence)"
- "Which Task does this trace back to? (issue number, or 'unknown')"
If a task number is known, fetch the Task first, extract the Feature number from its Context section, then fetch the Feature:
bash
gh issue view <task_number> # Gherkin, Contracts, ACs, DoD — also yields feature number
# Extract feature number, then:
gh issue view <feature_number> # ACs, user stories for expected behavior context
2. Identify the failing scenario(s)
If the Task has Gherkin, present the full scenario list and call
with
question: "Which scenarios failed?"
,
header: "Failing scenarios"
, and
pre-filled with the scenario names from the Task (one option per scenario), plus
{label: "New — not covered by existing scenarios", description: "This bug isn't covered by the current Gherkin"}
.
For each failing scenario, note:
- The scenario name
- The file path of the automated test (if it exists) or "manual"
- The failing step (the first Then / When that did not hold)
If no Gherkin exists for this bug, skip this step and rely on step 3.
3. Gather bug details
If called from and all six details below are already in context, skip this step entirely.
Otherwise, gather each unknown item
one at a time using
, omitting any item already known:
- a. Observed behavior — call with
question: "What was the exact behavior you observed?"
, header: "Actual behavior"
, and pre-filled with 1–2 plausible failure descriptions inferred from the scenario context.
- b. Expected behavior — call with
question: "What did you expect to happen instead?"
, header: "Expected behavior"
, and pre-filled with the relevant Gherkin step or AC text if available.
- c. Reproduction steps — call with
question: "What are the reproduction steps?"
, , and options: [{label: "I'll type them out", description: "Enter numbered steps"}]
.
- d. Contract violation — call with
question: "Is any contract violated?"
, , and pre-filled with contract names from the Task (e.g. API schema name, event name), plus {label: "None identified"}
.
- e. Regression risk — call with
question: "What else might break if we fix this?"
, header: "Regression risk"
, and pre-filled with adjacent areas found in the codebase or related Aggregates.
- f. Suggested fix — call with
question: "Do you have a suggested fix in mind?"
, , and options: [{label: "No suggestion", description: "Leave blank"}]
.
4. Map to Ubiquitous Language
Review the bug description and reproduction steps. If implementation vocabulary has crept in (e.g. "the database returned null", "the HTTP 500 response", "the JSON field"), restate in domain terms that match the Task's Ubiquitous Language (e.g. "the Order could not be found", "the Payment Settlement failed", "the Shipment Reference was missing").
Confirm the restatement with the user before proceeding.
When called from with multiple failures to file: apply the restatement silently — do NOT ask for confirmation. Note the language changes made in the draft instead of asking the user to approve them. This prevents an interrogation when processing multiple bugs in sequence.
5. Find linked test files
Use the Grep tool to locate:
- Automated test files that cover the failing Gherkin scenario (search by scenario name or feature area)
- Any existing test for the contract section violated
List each file found with a one-line description of what it covers. These become the Test Evidence in the bug report.
6. Draft the Bug report
Read the BUG template first:
bash
# Read .github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/BUG.md
Use only the markdown body below the second
delimiter (ignore YAML frontmatter).
Fill in all sections:
Related
- Feature: #<feature_number> (if known)
- Task: #<task_number> (if known)
- Failing test(s): list each file path (or "manual" with reproduction steps)
Expected Behavior
Quote the relevant Gherkin
step or Feature AC verbatim, then add a plain-language restatement.
Actual Behavior
Describe in domain terms what happened instead. Include any observable symptom (error message, wrong state, missing event).
Steps to Reproduce
Concrete numbered steps — exact inputs, routes, or actions. If from a Gherkin scenario, map Given → setup, When → action, Then → the failing assertion.
Contracts Violated
Paste the relevant contract section from the Task (API schema, event schema, invariant). If none, write "None identified."
Suggested Fix
Fill if the QA engineer or developer has a hypothesis. Otherwise leave blank.
Regression Risk
List other behaviors, Aggregates, or integration points that touch the same code path and could be affected by a fix.
7. Review with user
Show the draft. Then call
with
question: "Does this accurately capture the bug and its impact?"
,
, and
options: [{label: "Yes — create the issue", description: "Proceed with bug creation"}, {label: "I have changes", description: "I want to adjust something first"}]
.
Apply edits, then proceed.
8. Create the issue
Note: the commands below are pseudo-code. Write each body to a temp file with the Write tool, then use
to avoid shell quoting issues with multi-line content.
Title generation: Spawn a subagent using the
model to generate a concise title from the bug's one-sentence description. Pass in the description and ask for a short title (no prefix emoji/label needed — that is added below). If the subagent returns nothing usable, derive the title directly from the one-sentence description.
bash
gh issue create --title "🐞 Bug: <title>" --body-file /tmp/bug-body.md --label "bug"
If the originating Task is known, add a comment to it linking the bug:
bash
gh issue comment <task_number> --body "🐞 Bug reported: #<bug_number> — <one-line summary>"
Print the Bug issue URL and number.
Note: if the
label does not exist on the repo, create it first with
gh label create bug --color d73a4a
before running
.
9. Offer next steps
-
-
-
:
[{label: "Report another bug", description: "File another bug from this QA session (default if more failures remain)"}, {label: "Mark Task blocked", description: "Reopen the Task and mark it blocked by this bug"}, {label: "Done", description: "Exit — no further action (default if no more failures remain)"}]
-
Report another bug → restart from step 2 with the same Task context. Use as default only when the caller (e.g.
step 8) has indicated more failures are pending.
-
Mark Task blocked → reopen the Task and add a blocking comment:
bash
gh issue reopen <task_number>
gh issue comment <task_number> --body "Blocked by #<bug_number>."
-
Done (default when no more failures remain) → exit.