Git History Investigation
Trigger Boundary
- •Use when regressions, ownership questions, or behavioral drift require historical analysis.
- •Do not use for binary-search regression isolation; use
git-bisect-debugging. - •Do not use for security-only threat analysis; use
security-threat-modeling.
Goal
Find the commit-level root cause and decision context behind observed behavior.
Shared Git Contract (Canonical)
- •Use
../git-branch-strategy/references/git-governance-contract.mdas the single schema and gate source. - •Track investigation artifacts with
GIT-HIS-*IDs. - •Run machine validation:
python3 ../git-branch-strategy/scripts/validate_git_contract.py --manifest <path/to/manifest.json>.
Inputs
- •Reproducible symptom or unexpected behavior
- •Candidate file paths, modules, or time window
- •Available issue, PR, or review metadata
Outputs
- •
GIT-HIS-*chronological evidence trail - •Root-cause candidate commit set with rationale
- •Follow-up remediation recommendation
Workflow
- •Narrow scope by file path, author, and date window.
- •Inspect commit diffs and messages for behavioral shifts.
- •Cross-reference blame data with review and issue context.
- •Validate candidate root cause against symptom timeline.
- •Publish findings with confidence level and contract validation evidence.
Quality Gates
- •Evidence chain links symptom to specific commit behavior.
- •Root-cause claim includes reproducible supporting data.
- •Alternative hypotheses are documented and ruled out.
- •Follow-up actions target root causes, not only symptoms.
Failure Handling
- •Stop when symptom cannot be reproduced or scoped.
- •Escalate when history evidence is insufficient for a high-confidence claim.