investigate

Iron Law

No fix without understanding the root cause.

If you have attempted 3 different fixes and none worked: STOP and escalate. Do not guess a 4th fix. More attempts without new information just waste time and may make the system harder to understand.

Step 1 — Understand the symptom

Ask if not clearly provided:

• Exact symptom — error message verbatim, wrong output, crash, silent failure?
• Reproduction — always, sometimes (what triggers it), or intermittent?
• When did it start — after what change? Or has it always been this way?
• Environment — local, staging, prod? All three?
• What was tried — what has already been attempted?