Issue Handler

Part of: Autonomous Issue Dispatch System Upstream: issue-dispatcher (or direct invocation) Downstream: CTO Agent → qa-submission (per-project)

Purpose

The Handler answers: "Why is this broken and how do we fix it?"

It takes ONE issue and:

• •Queries logs to find actual error
• •Reproduces via test
• •Collects evidence
• •Packages diagnosis for CTO handoff

Philosophy

Handler is focused. One issue at a time. Deep investigation.

Handler is evidence-based. No guessing. Query logs, reproduce, prove.

Handler prepares, doesn't fix. The moment you start writing production code, hand off to CTO.

Handler Workflow

Step 1: Assess Information & Ensure Context

Can I answer these questions from the issue?
├── WHAT failed? (which feature/endpoint)
├── WHEN did it fail? (timestamp or recency)
├── WHO experienced it? (user/session ID)
├── Any ERROR shown to user?
└── Source reference? (Slack thread, email for loop-back)

If basic info missing — self-investigate BEFORE asking humans:

1. •Query logs — search for recent errors matching the described symptom
2. •Search codebase — find relevant code paths, recent commits, related changes
3. •Check database — look for affected records, user sessions, error patterns
4. •Read Slack thread — if sourced from Slack, read full thread for additional context
5. •Check related issues — similar past bugs may provide clues

Only after exhausting automated investigation: If the issue is genuinely ambiguous or requires information that cannot be fetched programmatically (e.g., "what did the user see on screen?", "what was the intended behavior?"), then ask for clarification:

• •Reply in the GitHub issue (or Slack thread) with a specific question — not "need more info" but "Was this on mobile or desktop? The error only reproduces on viewport < 768px."
• •Add a needs-info label
• •Move to Blocked bucket
• •Log: "Blocked #N — asked: [specific question]"
• •Continue to next issue (don't wait)

Step 2: Query Logs

Prerequisite: Project must have queryable logging infrastructure. See "Repository Requirements" section below.

-- Example: Find recent failures
SELECT * FROM audit_logs
WHERE operation_name = 'generate_captions'
  AND status = 'error'
  AND created_at > NOW() - INTERVAL '24 hours'
ORDER BY created_at DESC;

Look for:

• •The specific failing request
• •The actual error (not user-reported symptoms)
• •Patterns (one user or everyone? one input type or all?)

For LLM operations:

• •Full rendered prompt
• •Raw LLM response
• •Parse error details

Step 3: Reproduce

Write or identify E2E test that triggers the bug:

test('reproduces issue #123 - caption parse failure', async () => {
  // Create test data matching the failing scenario
  const entry = await createTestEntry({ transcript: '...' });

  // Trigger the operation
  const result = await generateCaptions(entry.id);

  // This should fail before fix, pass after
  expect(result.status).toBe('success');
});

If reproduction fails: Report as blocker. Can't verify fix without reproduction.

Step 4: Root Cause Analysis

From logs and reproduction, identify:

Step 5: Hand Off to CTO

Package everything for CTO agent:

## Diagnosis for Issue #123

**Root cause:** LLM returns markdown-wrapped JSON when transcript exceeds 5000 characters.
The JSON parser fails on the markdown code fence.

**Evidence:**
- Log entry [timestamp]: `ParseError: Unexpected token at position 0`
- Raw LLM response started with "```json" instead of "{"
- 47 similar failures in last 24 hours

**Reproduction:** `tests/e2e/caption-parse-failure.spec.ts`
- Currently fails (expected)
- Should pass after fix

**Suggested fix:**
- File: `api/lib/llmClient.ts:142`
- Add markdown fence stripping before JSON.parse()

**Relevant files:**
- `api/generate-captions.ts:87` - calls parseJSON
- `api/lib/llmClient.ts:142` - parseJSON implementation
- `tests/e2e/caption-flow.spec.ts` - existing test (add failure case)

CTO takes over from here. Handler's job is done.

Blocker Reporting

If Handler cannot complete diagnosis, report WHY:

Insufficient Logging

BLOCKER: Cannot diagnose autonomously.

**Gap:** No logging for caption generation failures.
The error "parse failed" is shown to users but the actual
LLM response that failed to parse is not captured.

**Required:** Implement audit_logs for LLM operations.
**Blocks:** All LLM-related bug diagnosis.

No Reproduction Path

BLOCKER: Cannot reproduce.

**Issue says:** "video-2 failed"
**Problem:**
- No content_entry_id provided
- Cannot identify which entry "video-2" refers to
- No test fixture for this scenario

**Required:** Either provide entry ID, or create E2E test fixture.

Missing E2E Coverage

BLOCKER: Cannot verify fix safely.

**Feature:** Bulk caption generation
**Problem:** No E2E tests exist for this feature.
I can diagnose but cannot confirm fix works without manual testing.

**Required:** E2E test for bulk caption generation.

No Database Access

BLOCKER: Cannot query logs.

**Logs exist in:** Vercel dashboard
**Problem:** No programmatic query access.

**Required:** Either:
- Database-backed logging (queryable via SQL)
- Log export API access

Repository Requirements

For Handler to work, each repo needs:

1. Error Logging Infrastructure

For LLM operations:

• •Full rendered prompt
• •Raw LLM response (before parsing)
• •Model identifier
• •Token counts

2. Queryable Logs

Handler must be able to query, not just view in dashboard:

• •Database table (preferred): SELECT * FROM audit_logs WHERE...
• •Structured JSON files: grep-able
• •Log aggregation API: If external service, provide query access

3. E2E Test Framework

• •Tests runnable via CLI (npm test, pytest)
• •Tests can create own test data
• •Tests cover critical paths
• •New tests can be added for specific bugs

4. Database Access

Handler needs read access to:

• •Audit/error logs
• •Related entities (what content entry failed?)
• •Configuration (what settings were active?)

Handler Modes

Full Diagnosis (Default)

Complete workflow: assess → logs → reproduce → analyze → handoff.

"Diagnose issue #71"

Quick Assessment

Just check if issue is diagnosable, don't do full investigation.

"Can we diagnose #71?" / "Is #71 actionable?"

Returns: diagnosable / blocked (with reason)

Evidence Collection Only

Skip reproduction, just gather log evidence.

"Find logs for issue #71"

Useful when reproduction is known but need log correlation.

What Handler Does NOT Do

Handler is the investigator, not the fixer or the traffic controller.

Integration with CTO Agent

Handler prepares a diagnosis package. CTO Agent expects:

1. •Root cause - What's actually broken
2. •Evidence - Log entries, error messages
3. •Reproduction - Test name or steps
4. •Suggested fix - Optional but helpful
5. •Relevant files - Where to look

CTO Agent then orchestrates:

• •Developer implements fix
• •QA Engineer reviews code + tests
• •Integration Tester validates
• •Completion Gate verifies all criteria
• •QA Submission notifies reporter

Handler does NOT wait for CTO completion. Handoff is fire-and-forget (Dispatcher tracks overall status).

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