investigate-first

name	investigate-first
description	Diagnose ambiguous failures before editing. Use for unknown causes, intermittent behavior, performance regressions, or investigations needing evidence-ranked hypotheses.

Investigate first

Gather evidence before changing product code.

• Separate observed symptom from inferred cause.
• Trace inputs, state transitions, ownership boundaries, and failure output.
• Rank hypotheses by evidence and cheap falsification value.
• Do not edit until one credible mechanism explains evidence.
• Stop exploration when evidence is sufficient to name cause or exact blocker.

Report cause and proof. Make no fix unless task authorizes implementation.