LOOPtestingdebuggingprworkflowbug-fix

The Issue to PR Loop

A bounded loop that turns any loosely written issue — ticket, bug report, Linear task, GitHub issue, or customer complaint — into a review-ready pull request with reproduction steps, root-cause evidence, and verified fix.

Prompts capture what to ask. Playbooks capture repeatable methods. Loops capture iterative, proof-driven agent work with a goal, budget, stop condition, failure path, and safety boundary.

June 19, 2026FrankieBugs

TRIGGER

Run when an issue arrives without clear reproduction, expected behavior, or scope — tickets, bug reports, Linear tasks, GitHub issues, or customer complaints that need to become a reviewable PR.

GOAL

A pull request is opened with clear reproduction steps, confirmed root cause, bounded fix, regression tests, and reviewable evidence. No detective work left for the reviewer.

STOP CONDITION

Stop when a PR is opened with reproduction, root cause, fix, and verification attached. Also stop if the issue is proven to be a non-bug, or after two iterations with no root cause progress.

ITERATION

Action / Observe / Evaluate

Frame the issue (expected/actual/impact), reproduce in minimal environment, trace to root cause with evidence, implement smallest credible fix, verify with original reproduction and regression checks, package into PR with proof.

VERIFY / PROOF

Evidence Gate

Original reproduction no longer shows the failure. All regression tests pass. New tests fail before fix and pass after. Evidence matches failure type (screenshots, logs, benchmarks, traces). PR description is complete and reviewer-ready.

STATE / MEMORY

Memory Contract

Read the issue source, previous related issues, and codebase history. Write the reproduction steps, root cause summary, fix description, and verification evidence into the PR and any tracking issue.

TOOLS

GitGitHubLinearPlaywrightTest RunnerLinterDebugger

MODELS

Not specified

BUDGET

Two iterations or 2 hours, whichever comes first. Escalate if root cause remains unclear after first iteration.

FAILURE HANDLING

No-Progress And Unsafe States

Broaden reproduction environment incrementally if initial attempt fails. Add instrumentation or pair with a domain expert if root cause is unclear. Revert and re-analyze if fix introduces regressions. Split oversized issues into scoped sub-issues.

SAFETY CONSTRAINTS

Boundary Conditions

Never commit secrets, customer data, or internal URLs in reproduction scripts or PR descriptions. Sanitize logs and traces before attaching. Never skip regression tests to ship faster.

EXAMPLE OUTPUT

Expected Public Result

PR with linked issue, reproduction steps, root cause evidence, fix description, verification proof, and scope statement. Reviewer can approve without additional investigation.

INSTRUCTIONS

Loop Method

Use this loop when an issue arrives without clear boundaries: vague descriptions, missing reproduction steps, no expected behavior defined, or scope creeping across multiple systems. The goal is a fast, reviewable PR with proof attached.

**Pre-flight — Frame the Issue**
Before writing code, sharpen the input:
- Expected behavior: What should happen?
- Actual behavior: What happens instead?
- Impact: Who is affected and how badly?
- Source: Ticket ID, bug report link, Linear issue, GitHub issue number — capture it for the PR description.

**Iteration Cycle**
1. **Reproduce**
   - Create the smallest environment that shows the failure.
   - For UI bugs: minimal page state, specific user action, exact browser/context.
   - For API/backend: minimal request payload, smallest dataset, isolated service.
   - For performance: baseline measurement, specific load pattern, clear regression point.
   - Record the reproduction: screenshot, screen recording, curl command, test script, or benchmark output.

2. **Root Cause**
   - Trace from the failure symptom to the actual cause — not the symptom, not a nearby line of code.
   - Confirm the causal link with evidence: stack trace, log excerpt, debug breakpoint, or data flow diagram.
   - Document the cause in one sentence: "X happens because Y does Z instead of W."

3. **Fix**
   - Implement the smallest credible change that resolves the root cause.
   - Avoid unrelated cleanup, hidden refactors, or scope creep.
   - If a refactor is necessary, split it into a separate PR or note it explicitly.
   - Add or update tests that fail before the fix and pass after.

4. **Verify**
   - Repeat the original reproduction — confirm the failure is gone.
   - Run regression checks: existing tests, related integration tests, linter, type checker.
   - Match proof to failure type:
     - UI: screenshots or recordings (before/after)
     - Backend: test output or log excerpts
     - Performance: benchmark deltas
     - Integration: sanitized traces or request/response pairs

5. **Package**
   - Write a PR description that includes:
     - Issue source and link
     - Expected vs actual behavior
     - Reproduction steps
     - Root cause summary
     - Evidence (screenshots, logs, test output)
     - Scope statement: what was changed and what was explicitly not changed
   - Assign reviewers with context, not just names.

**Stop Conditions**
- PR is opened with reproduction, root cause, fix, and verification attached
- Issue is determined to be a non-bug (expected behavior, documentation gap, external dependency) — document and close with evidence
- Two iterations with no progress on root cause — escalate to operator or domain expert

**Failure Handling**
- Reproduction fails to show the issue: broaden the environment incrementally, check for environment-specific factors (browser, cache, race conditions), ask the reporter for more detail.
- Root cause is unclear: add instrumentation, add logging, bisect recent changes, pair with someone who knows the codebase.
- Fix introduces regressions: revert immediately, re-analyze the root cause, check for side effects.
- Issue is too large for one PR: split into scoped sub-issues, fix the critical path first, document the remainder.

Published by FrankieBugs

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