Specification
- Skill ID
- aj-geddes/useful-ai-prompts/root-cause-analysis
- Publisher
- aj-geddes
- Repository
- useful-ai-prompts
- Installs
- 0
- Files
- 8
- Synced
- Sep 23, 2026
How to use it
Open any RiverX project, open the Skills panel in the chat, and search for this identifier. The files are fetched from the source repository at install time.
aj-geddes/useful-ai-prompts/root-cause-analysisInstalls these files- SKILL.md
- references/follow-up-prevention.md
- references/rca-report-template.md
- references/root-cause-analysis-techniques.md
- references/systematic-rca-process.md
- references/the-5-whys-technique.md
- scripts/validate-schema.sh
- templates/migration-template.sql
What this skill tells the agent
Root Cause Analysis
Table of Contents
- Overview
- When to Use
- Quick Start
- Reference Guides
- Best Practices
Overview
Root cause analysis (RCA) identifies underlying reasons for failures, enabling permanent solutions rather than temporary fixes.
When to Use
- Production incidents
- Customer-impacting issues
- Repeated problems
- Unexpected failures
- Performance degradation
Quick Start
Minimal working example:
Example: Website Down
Symptom: Website returned 503 Service Unavailable
Why 1: Why was website down?
Answer: Database connection pool exhausted
Why 2: Why was connection pool exhausted?
Answer: Queries taking too long, connections not released
Why 3: Why were queries slow?
Answer: Missing index on frequently queried column
Why 4: Why was index missing?
Answer: Performance testing didn't use production-like data volume
Why 5: Why wasn't production-like data used?
Answer: Load testing environment doesn't mirror production
Root Cause: Load testing environment under-provisioned
Solution: Update load testing environment with production-like data
Prevention: Establish environment parity requirementsReference Guides
Detailed implementations in the references/ directory:
| Guide | Contents |
|---|---|
| The 5 Whys Technique | The 5 Whys Technique |
| Systematic RCA Process | Systematic RCA Process |
| RCA Report Template | RCA Report Template |
| Root Cause Analysis Techniques | Root Cause Analysis Techniques |
| Follow-Up & Prevention | Follow-Up & Prevention |
Best Practices
✅ DO
- Follow established patterns and conventions
- Write clean, maintainable code
- Add appropriate documentation
- Test thoroughly before deploying
❌ DON'T
- Skip testing or validation
- Ignore error handling
- Hard-code configuration values
More from aj-geddes
Use this skill in a project
Open any RiverX project, search the Skills panel for aj-geddes/useful-ai-prompts/root-cause-analysis, and install it in one click.