doc-ears-fixer

name	doc-ears-fixer
description	Apply fixes to an EARS document from the latest doc-ears-audit report - structure, links, element IDs, EARS syntax, references, and upstream drift. Use after an audit reports issues.
metadata	{"tags":["sdd-workflow","layer-3-artifact","quality-assurance"],"custom_fields":{"layer":3,"artifact_type":"EARS","skill_category":"quality-assurance","upstream_artifacts":["BRD","PRD"],"downstream_artifacts":["BDD","ADR","SPEC","TDD","IPLAN"],"version":"0.24.0","framework_spec_version":"0.40.0","last_updated":"2026-05-23","adapts":["section_toggles"]}}

doc-ears-fixer

Purpose

Read the latest audit report and apply fixes to an EARS document, bridging ../doc-ears-audit/SKILL.md and a passing EARS so the audit↔fix cycle can converge.

Layer: 3 (EARS quality improvement). Upstream: the EARS document + .aidoc/audit/03_EARS-audit.md. Downstream: the fixed EARS + EARS-NN.F_fix_report_vNNN.md.

When to Use

After doc-ears-audit returns FAIL, as part of an Audit → Fix → Audit loop. Do not use without an audit report (run the audit first) or to create a new EARS (use ../doc-ears/SKILL.md / ../doc-ears-autopilot/SKILL.md).

Input Contract

Consume the .aidoc/audit/03_EARS-audit.md report. Back up the EARS before editing (tmp/backup/EARS-NN_<ts>/); on error, restore. Element-ID standards come from ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/framework/governance/ID_NAMING_STANDARDS.md; structure and syntax rules from ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/framework/layers/03_EARS/EARS-TEMPLATE.yaml and README.md.

Remediate Mode

Resolve review_mode from .aidoc/profile.yaml; if unset, fall through to the framework default team per the precedence chain in ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/framework/governance/ADAPTATION.md. Same fallback applies to other adaptation knobs (section_toggles).

team mode (per REVIEW_TEAM.md §Operations §Remediate)

1. Read the audit report at .aidoc/audit/03_EARS-audit.md AND, when present, the per-persona slots under .aidoc/review/03_EARS/<EARS-id>/ (where <EARS-id> is the short artifact ID, e.g. EARS-01).

   • Prefer the per-persona slots for the structured findings — stable ids, priorities, locations, recommendations.
   • Slots are optional — when absent (e.g. single_pass run produced no synthesizer output), fall back to parsing the audit report's Findings sections directly.

2. Resolve responsible lenses per finding. Each blocking finding (P0 + P1) carries a personas array in the synthesizer's reduced form OR can be inferred from per-lens slot membership. Dispatch rules:

   • Single-lens finding (1 persona): dispatch that lens.
   • Multi-lens finding (2+ personas): dispatch all listed lenses in parallel. Each writes its own <persona>.fix_<N>.json slot. The fix is accepted only when every dispatched lens returns no new P0/P1 (any one lens regressing reverts the patch).
   • No-persona / orphan finding (empty or missing personas): dispatch the EARS crew's author lens (per REVIEW_CREWS.yaml: requirements_specialist for EARS) as the default responsible reviewer.

   Lens → agent map for EARS:

   Lens	Agent
   requirements_specialist	requirements-analyst
   tech_lead	solutions-architect
   qa_lead	test-architect
   chaos_engineer	chaos-engineer
   security_engineer	security-engineer

   EARS crew weights: {requirements_specialist: 35, tech_lead: 25, qa_lead: 20, chaos_engineer: 12, security_engineer: 8}.

   P2/P3 are advisory — apply deterministically without lens validation.

3. Propose and apply a patch per blocking finding. Fix Phases 0–7 below describe the patch shapes; the catalogue is the same in both modes. Back up first per the existing Input Contract.

4. Validate non-regression. For each responsible lens identified in step 2, dispatch one Task subagent in patch-validation mode: subagent_type=<mapped agent>; brief = the patched region + the original finding + the patch diff; the lens MUST NOT read, cite, or weight any author self-assessment score (*_ready_score/*_score/ readiness_score/audit_score) when forming its lens_score (REVIEW_TEAM.md GD-05); output = a fresh persona-output record (lens_score for the patched region + any new findings). Persist each lens's output as .aidoc/review/03_EARS/<EARS-id>/<persona>.fix_<N>.json (<N> = sequential fix-iteration counter, starting at 1). Multi-lens findings produce one slot file per responsible lens for the same <N>.

5. Revert regressions. If any lens returns new P0/P1 on the patch, revert that patch and flag manual_required for the original finding. Never silently keep a regressing fix.

6. Dispatch the synthesizer once, after all patches are validated, to emit the unified fix report. Persist EARS-NN.F_fix_report_vNNN.md with both the Fixes Applied table AND a Validation Slots index.

single_pass mode (fallback)

Apply Phase 0–7 directly, single-handed, no lens validation. Unchanged legacy behaviour — required when the profile says so, when Task subagent dispatch is unavailable, or when no slots are present.

In both modes, P2/P3 advisory findings are applied without lens validation; only blocking findings (P0/P1) go through the patch-validation loop in team mode.

Saga interaction

When invoked by doc-ears-autopilot (or directly), this skill reads and updates the saga journal at .aidoc/review/03_EARS/<EARS-id>/saga.json per ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/framework/governance/REVIEW_SAGA.md. The fixer acts as the remediation stage of the saga: it transitions branches to BRANCH_COMPENSATING during patch validation, then back to BRANCH_COMPLETED (validated) or BRANCH_FAILED (regression detected).

On entry

At entry, write the fixer's start epoch:

Bash: mkdir -p .aidoc/review/03_EARS/<EARS-id>/ && date +%s > .aidoc/review/03_EARS/<EARS-id>/.skill-start.fixer

If .aidoc/review/03_EARS/<EARS-id>/saga.json exists, read it. Validate that current saga status is FANIN_REDUCED (post-audit) or BRANCH_FAILED (re-entering after a prior fixer regression). If status is something else, log a warning and proceed.

During patch validation (team mode)

For each blocking finding (P0/P1) that requires lens validation:

1. Before dispatching the responsible lens validator(s): for each lens in the finding's personas[] list, append a transition: {"ts": "<now>", "from": "BRANCH_COMPLETED", "to": "BRANCH_COMPENSATING", "scope": "branch:<lens>"}. Update branches[<lens>].status to "BRANCH_COMPENSATING". Append an entry to compensation_actions[]: {"ts": "<now>", "branch": "<lens>", "reason": "<finding_id>: <message>", "action": "retry"}.
2. After the validation Task subagent returns:
   • If patch validated (no regression): transition back to BRANCH_COMPLETED. Update compensation_actions[] last entry with the validation result.
   • If patch regresses (lens flags new P0/P1 on patched region): transition to BRANCH_FAILED. Set compensation_actions[] last entry's action to "escalate". The finding becomes manual_required.

Before synthesizer dispatch

Per REVIEW_SAGA.md §"Break-circuit policy" — the fixer's checkpoint boundary is between multi-lens validation dispatches (each blocking finding's per-lens validation is one boundary). Before dispatching the next validation:

Bash: echo $(( $(date +%s) - $(cat .aidoc/review/03_EARS/<EARS-id>/.skill-start.fixer) ))

If elapsed > SOFT_DEADLINE (1500s):

• Append transition: {"ts": "<now>", "from": "BRANCH_COMPENSATING", "to": "PARTIAL_TIMEOUT", "scope": "run"}.
• Set saga status: "PARTIAL_TIMEOUT". Preserve all completed validations (their fix_N.json slots remain durable). Set current_phase: "fixer" so the resume invocation knows to continue the remaining validations.
• Update updated_at. Write saga.json. Exit cleanly.

The remaining validations resume on next invocation per doc-ears-autopilot's §3.4 resume logic.

After synthesizer reduce

• Append transition: {"ts": "<now>", "from": "BRANCH_COMPENSATING", "to": "BRANCH_COMPLETED", "scope": "run"} (run-level: fixer pass complete).
• Update saga status: "BRANCH_COMPLETED" (autopilot's next phase will be re-review).
• Update updated_at. Write saga.json.

When invoked standalone (no saga.json on entry)

If .aidoc/review/03_EARS/<EARS-id>/saga.json does NOT exist (user runs /aidoc-flow:doc-ears-fixer directly outside the autopilot loop), do NOT initialize the full saga schema. Log saga.json not present; running fixer without saga journal (standalone mode). Run the fix phases as usual; write the fix report; skip all saga.json transitions. Backward-compatible with direct skill invocation.

When invoked in single_pass mode

If review_mode: single_pass is active, the fixer applies patches deterministically without lens validation and without writing saga.json. Existing behavior preserved.

Break-circuit policy

Per ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/framework/governance/REVIEW_SAGA.md §"Break-circuit policy", this skill checks elapsed wall-clock at one checkpoint boundary: after all per-finding patches return and before invoking the synthesizer. The SOFT_DEADLINE is 1500s (ORCHESTRATOR_TIMEOUT=1800s minus 300s buffer).

If the soft deadline has been crossed, exit cleanly with saga status: "PARTIAL_TIMEOUT" per §"Before synthesizer dispatch" above. The fixer's partial progress (fix_N.json slots already written) is durable; resumed invocation continues from where the break-circuit fired.

Fix Phases

Run in order; later phases assume the earlier ones succeeded.

Phase	Scope	Representative actions
0 — Structure	nested-folder rule	move EARS into docs/03_EARS/EARS-NN_{slug}/; rename folder to match ID; fix relative links after the move
1 — Missing files	referenced-but-absent	create glossary / reference placeholders from templates
2 — Links	broken/abs paths	recompute relative paths; convert absolute → relative; fix upstream BRD/PRD links
3 — Element IDs	legacy/invalid IDs	re-derive EARS.NN.SS.xxxx (section number + content hash); drop legacy EARS.NN.xxxx, numeric type-codes (.25/.26), Event-XXX/State-XXX/UB-XXX/REQ-XXX prefixes
4 — Content	placeholders, syntax	fill template dates; normalize headings in place; flag missing SHALL keyword, broken WHEN-THE-SHALL structure, missing trigger, vague timing, compound (non-atomic) statements for manual review; flag [TODO]/[TBD]
5 — References	traceability	add tags missing from this layer's required_tags (per LAYER_REGISTRY.yaml necessary-upstream contract — EARS requires @prd); fix @threshold: format; convert comma separators → pipes; update the traceability matrix
6 — Upstream	metadata + drift	fix deliverable_type/document_type; when upstream_mode: "ref", apply tiered drift merge (below)
7 — Style	STY01 banned phrases, STY02/03 oversized prose, FM01 frontmatter mismatch	substitute filler; replace flagged superlatives; collapse paragraph (≥ 3 banned phrases in one section) to bullets; reconcile frontmatter ↔ Document Control rows; STY02/03 — split sections > 300 words at the next requirement boundary, or mark manual_required. Authority: ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/framework/governance/AUTHORING_STYLE.md

Element ID re-derivation: EARS.{doc_id}.{section_id}.{hash} — assign a stable 4-hex-char identifier, distinct within its section (HASH01), extending to 8 on collision. Do not compute SHA-256 here: the hash form is the canonicalization TARGET produced by a deterministic tool pass, and byte-exact field extraction is defined for BRD §7 only (Phase 2+ for EARS). Preserve an existing valid ID — re-deriving one breaks every downstream citation. Authority: framework/governance/ID_NAMING_STANDARDS.md. The section conveys element kind (statement vs. quality attribute) — never reuse a legacy sequence number as the final segment. Document-level refs (SPEC-NN, ADR-NN, IPLAN-NN) stay in dash form.

Tiered upstream drift (only when upstream_mode: "ref"): <5% change → Tier 1 auto-merge (patch bump); 5–15% → Tier 2 auto-merge + detailed changelog (minor bump); >15% → Tier 3 archive current + regenerate via autopilot (major bump). Never delete upstream-removed requirements — mark [DEPRECATED] and retain for traceability. Record results in .drift_cache.json.

Confidence Classification

Tag every applied fix and surface counts in the report:

Confidence	Meaning
auto-safe	deterministic, low semantic risk (link/path, header normalize, ID conversion, comma→pipe)
auto-assisted	template insertion with partial assumptions (scaffolded tables/sections, threshold placeholders)
manual-required	domain content cannot be inferred (missing SHALL, non-atomic split, vague-term quantification, unresolved TODO/TBD)

Content-Preservation Rules

• Never delete existing requirement content; insert template blocks only where a section is missing or below minimum structure.
• Normalize equivalent headings in place rather than duplicating sections.
• Preserve threshold values when reformatting; renumber only within the same section file; flag if a cross-reference anchor would break.

Fix Report Format

Table-pipe escape (MD056)

When emitting markdown table cells that contain code spans with shell pipes (e.g. `docker compose ps | grep 'Up'`), the unescaped | inside the code span is parsed by markdownlint as a column separator, tripping MD056 (column-count mismatch). Two fixes:

• Preferred: escape the pipe inside the code span as \| — renders as | in markdown viewers but doesn't break the table. Example row: | OP-02 | ... | `docker compose ps \| grep 'Up'` | ... |
• Alternative: move the code span out of the table cell and reference it as a footnote or paragraph below the table. The cell then carries plain prose like "shell readiness gate (see below)".

Apply to every report row that emits a shell-pipe code span inside a table cell. Cascade-output that trips MD056 is a SKILL bug, not a markdownlint over-strictness — fix here, not by lint-ignoring.

Write EARS-NN.F_fix_report_vNNN.md with: Summary (issues in / fixed / remaining; files created / modified) · Fixes Applied (code, issue, fix, file, confidence) · Manual-Review Queue (e.g. syntax, atomicity) · Validation After Fix (score/errors/warnings before→after) · Cleanup Summary (delete superseded fix reports) · Next Steps (re-run doc-ears-audit). Loop until score ≥ threshold or max iterations reached.

Adaptation

Before applying fixes, read the project adaptation profile (.aidoc/profile.yaml). Honor section_toggles: do not reintroduce an optional section the project has toggled off. Ignore any unknown or out-of-surface key. Authority: ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/framework/governance/ADAPTATION.md.

Related Resources

• Audit (input): ../doc-ears-audit/SKILL.md · Create: ../doc-ears/SKILL.md
• Orchestration: ../doc-ears-autopilot/SKILL.md · IDs: ../doc-naming/SKILL.md
• Authority: ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/framework/layers/03_EARS/EARS-TEMPLATE.yaml, ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/framework/governance/ID_NAMING_STANDARDS.md