find-and-fix-bug

name	find-and-fix-bug
description	Find a genuine logic bug anywhere in this repo (C# engine/games, the React/TypeScript web clients, or the Lambda APIs), prove it with a failing test, fix it, and open a PR. Always starts from a fresh branch off the latest main and creates the PR automatically when done. Use when the user asks to "find a bug", "find and fix a bug", "prove a bug with a test", or wants a TDD bug-hunt.

Find a bug, prove it with a failing test, fix it, open a PR

A disciplined TDD bug hunt across this repository, wrapped in git automation. The goal is one real, unambiguous bug proven red→green — not a pile of speculative findings. This applies to any part of the repo, not just the game engine.

1. Start from a fresh branch off the latest main

Always begin clean so the work lands in its own PR:

git checkout main
git pull --ff-only
git checkout -b fix/<short-slug>     # name it after the bug once you know it

If you start before knowing the bug, branch on a placeholder and rename, or just branch after step 3 — but never commit the fix onto main or onto an unrelated branch. Leave pre-existing unrelated working-tree changes unstaged; only stage the files for this fix.

2. Pick the surface and learn its test setup

This repo has several testable components, each with its own runner. Choose the one that matches the code you're hunting in, and confirm the exact command to run a single test and a full suite:

• C# engine & games — dotnet test <Project> (e.g. UnitTests, ZorkOne.Tests, Planetfall.Tests, EscapeRoom.Tests); single test via --filter "FullyQualifiedName~<Name>". Note dotnet test A B errors with MSB1008 — run each project separately.
• Web clients (zorkweb.client, planetfallweb.client, shared-web-types) — the React/TypeScript projects; use their package.json scripts (unit runner and/or Playwright).
• Lambda APIs — their own *.Tests projects via dotnet test.

Match the surrounding test files' framework, layout, and assertion style. Skim AGENTS.md "Development Best Practices" for the C# conventions.

3. Hunt for candidates

Read logic-heavy areas where "correct" is objective and provable without external services (no AWS/AI/network/DB): parsing, string/list formatting, arithmetic and limits, comparisons and boundary conditions, collection handling, state machines, and any place that re-implements or overrides shared behavior. Skim recent diffs and TODO/FIXME/HACK markers.

For breadth, fan out read-only Explore agents over non-overlapping subsystems (engine, a specific game, a web client, the Lambdas); have each report file:line, the wrong behavior, the correct behavior, and a concrete reproducing input. Don't also run the same search yourself.

4. Vet ruthlessly (most important step)

Quick reads and subagents produce false positives. Before committing to a bug, verify it yourself by reading the actual code and the types/contracts involved:

• Don't trust a precedence/associativity claim until you've confirmed how the language parses it (e.g. a C# is pattern with or is a pattern combinator bound to the is, not ||).
• Check type/interface hierarchies and implicit conversions (a "specific" check may also match a broader or not-ready state — e.g. an off lamp still matching a light-source interface).
• Confirm the buggy code is actually reached — find the call site.
• Confirm no existing test already asserts the current behavior as intended. Prefer the purest bug: a pure function with no state beats a deep stateful one.

5. Prove it with a failing test (red)

• Put the test next to related tests and match the file's style and framework.
• Deterministic only: no real randomness, clock, network, filesystem, AWS, or AI. For C#, use real Repository objects with Repository.Reset() in setup and mock IRandomChooser; for the web clients, stub the equivalent seams. Pick inputs with a single correct output.
• Clear subject_scenario_expectedBehavior name; assert the specific value/message (FluentAssertions on the C# side).
• Run just this test and confirm it fails for the right reason — read the assertion diff, not just a non-zero exit. A test that errors on setup hasn't proven the bug.

6. Fix it (green)

• Make the minimal change that corrects the behavior; match surrounding style and add a one-line comment explaining the trap so it isn't reintroduced.
• Prefer fixes that are behavior-preserving for the cases that already worked.

7. Verify, no regressions

• Re-run the new test → green.
• Run every suite that exercises the changed code (shared helpers are used widely across games and clients). Run each project/runner separately if it can't take multiple targets at once.

8. Open a PR automatically

When the fix is green and regression-free, commit only this fix's files, push the branch, and create the PR — don't wait to be asked:

git add <the fix + test files>
git commit -m "<concise summary>

<why it was wrong and what changed>

Co-Authored-By: Codex Opus 4.8 (1M context) <[e-mail]>"
git push -u origin fix/<short-slug>
gh pr create --base main --fill   # or pass --title/--body with the bug, the proof, and pass counts

End PR bodies with the "Generated with Codex" line. Then report the bug, the file:line, the proof (red→green), the pass counts, and the PR URL. Mention other candidates you found but did not touch.

Guardrails

• One bug, fully proven. Never commit to main; always work on the fresh branch from step 1.
• The proving test must run in the component's normal test command — no [Explicit], integration, or cloud-gated tests.
• Don't invent a bug to satisfy the request. If nothing is clearly wrong, say so on the branch (or skip the PR) and list the strongest suspects with the open questions.