root-cause-drilling

Research

Drill from surface symptoms to root causes via 5 Whys, Ishikawa decomposition, and Current Reality Trees. Validates each causal link with literature evidence.

QUICK START

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Source SKILL.md: https://github.com/yogsoth-ai/de-anthropocentric-research-engine/blob/HEAD/skills/root-cause-drilling/SKILL.md

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Root-Cause Drilling

Drill from surface phenomena to actionable root causes.

When to Use

A gap or problem has been identified but the underlying cause is unclear — need to understand WHY it exists.

Budget

Base SOP	Target	±10% Range
web-search	30	27–33
web-research	10	9–11
paper-overview	40	36–44
paper-search	25	22–28
paper-research	10	9–11

State Ledger

<HARD-GATE>
| SOP | Done | Target | % |
|-----|------|--------|---|
| web-search | ? | 30 | ? |
| web-research | ? | 10 | ? |
| paper-overview | ? | 40 | ? |
| paper-search | ? | 25 | ? |
| paper-research | ? | 10 | ? |
Budget Gate: OPEN/CLOSED (>=80% required to exit)
</HARD-GATE>

Available Tactics

causal-tree-building

Available SOPs

Import: web-search, web-research, paper-overview, paper-search, paper-research Subagent: five-whys-drilling, ishikawa-decomposition, current-reality-tree

Execution Guidance

Start with 5 Whys to drill from surface to root. Use Ishikawa for multi-factor decomposition. Build CRT for formal causal logic. Validate each causal link with literature evidence.

Output Format

Root Cause Report — causal chain, Ishikawa diagram, CRT, validated root causes with evidence.

Available Tactics

Optional, no fixed order; the final leaf is always a sop.

Tactic	When to use
causal-tree-building	Build logical causal trees from symptoms to root causes — list UDEs, connect causal chains, validate logic, locate root causes. Combines ishikawa-decomposition, current-reality-tree, and clr-validation SOPs.

Available SOPs

Optional, no fixed order; the final leaf is always a sop.

SOP	When to use
current-reality-tree	Build TOC Current Reality Trees — connect Undesirable Effects via sufficient-cause logic to identify 1-3 root causes.
five-whys-drilling	Iterative "Why?" questioning (5+ levels) to drill from surface phenomenon to actionable root cause. Each level verified against evidence.
ishikawa-decomposition	Decompose problems into 6M categories (Methodology, Data, Theory, Measurement, Researchers, Environment) via fishbone diagram analysis.