Incident postmortem

Incident Postmortem

PREREQUISITE: Read ../_mureo-shared/SKILL.md for auth, security rules, output format, and Tool Selection (Read/Write on Code, mureo_strategy_* / mureo_state_* MCP on Desktop / Cowork).

After the fire is out, learn from it. A rescue that is never reflected on repeats: the same root cause resurfaces, the same scramble happens, and nothing in the account got more resilient. This skill reconstructs what happened, finds the controllable cause, and converts the episode into durable know-how and guardrails.

This skill makes NO ad-platform writes — it changes no campaigns, ads, budgets, bids, or targeting. It only reads platform and state data, writes a postmortem document, appends the postmortem to action_log, saves insights via /learn, and — with explicit approval — edits STRATEGY.md ## Guardrails. Say this up front to the operator so they know nothing in the ad accounts moves during this review.

Prerequisites

• STRATEGY.md and STATE.json must exist (run the onboard skill first)

Steps

Before you start: Run the Diagnostic preamble from ../_mureo-shared/SKILL.md — load learning insights (mureo_learning_insights_get) and consult advisors (mureo_consult_advisor) before drawing conclusions.

0. Establish today: call mureo_state_get first, on every host (including Claude Code, where you would otherwise Read the file) and take server_now from its response — ISO 8601 with UTC offset, e.g. 2026-07-28T10:12:33+09:00. Its date is the only source of the current date for this run: the scan window in step 1, the detection lag in step 2, and every "has this action's observation_due window closed?" judgement are measured from it. Do not shell out (this skill must run in Bash-less headless hosts). The action_log timestamps and last_synced_at you reconstruct the timeline from are history — that is exactly what makes them useful here, and exactly why they are never "now". Never write server_now into STATE.json: it is a response field, and a persisted copy becomes tomorrow's stale "today".

1. Identify the incident: Take the operator's description if given. Otherwise scan the action_log (via mureo_state_get) over the chosen window for the fingerprints of a handled incident: entries with command="/rescue", actions taken while Operation Mode was TURNAROUND_RESCUE, or a cluster of stabilization actions (budget cuts, bulk pauses, bid drops) around a CPA-spike / CV-drop / runaway-spend date. Confirm the incident's scope (which platform(s), campaign(s), and date range) with the operator before reconstructing.

2. Reconstruct the timeline from action_log (mureo_state_get) plus STRATEGY.md/STATE.json notes (mureo_strategy_get). Lay out, in order:

   • Detection — when and how the problem surfaced (a daily-check flag, an operator report, an anomaly). Note the detection lag — how long the account was off before anyone noticed; a long lag is itself a finding.
   • Actions taken — each rescue action with its metrics_at_action baseline and timestamp.
   • Outcomes — for each action whose observation_due window has now closed (its date is on or before server_now's date), call mureo_outcome_evaluate (before = that entry's metrics_at_action, after = current numbers) for a deterministic improved / regressed / inconclusive verdict per action. For actions still inside their window, mark them still observing — do not score them (respect ../_mureo-learning/SKILL.md).

3. Root-cause analysis: Classify the cause into one (or a ranked combination) of four buckets, with the evidence for each:

   • Platform-side — a budget/CBO change, a disapproval, and on the platforms that price delivery by auction (Google Ads, Meta) a bid-strategy misfire or an auction shift. Evidence: change history, the platform's own unit-cost trend (CPC / CPM where it reports one), delivery diagnostics.
   • Site-side — a landing-page break, a checkout/lead-form failure, a speed regression. Evidence: CVR collapse with stable CTR, a deploy that lines up with the drop.
   • Measurement-side — a pixel/tag break, a conversion-action misconfig, an attribution change. Evidence: conversions flatlining while sessions/clicks hold (cross-check /tracking-health).
   • External — seasonality, a holiday, a demand shift, and on Google Ads / Meta a competitor entering the auction. Evidence: same-period-last-year, category-wide movement, and an impression-share change where the platform reports one. Run a 5-whys chain until you reach a controllable cause (something the operator can change) or an honest unknown (say "root cause not determinable from available data" rather than forcing a story). Do not stop at the first symptom.

4. What-worked / what-didn't table — grade the response, not just the incident:

   Response action	Intent	Verdict	Evidence
   Cut prospecting budget 40%	Stop the bleed	Worked	Spend/day −38%, CPA back under target in 5d
   Paused top ad set	Reduce waste	Backfired	Removed the only converting audience; CV fell
   Added negatives	Cut junk queries	Inconclusive	Still observing (due in 6d)

5. Output a structured postmortem document with these sections: Summary (one paragraph), Impact (spend wasted / conversions lost / days affected), Timeline (step 2), Root cause (step 3, with the 5-whys), What worked / what didn't (step 4), Insights (step 6), Preventive guardrails (step 7). On Code, offer to Write it to ./postmortems/YYYY-MM-DD-<slug>.md (create the postmortems/ directory if absent). On Desktop / Cowork, present it inline (no local filesystem). Keep it blameless and factual.

6. Distill 1–3 generalized insights and run /learn for each: Convert the root cause and the response grading into reusable, account-agnostic lessons (e.g. "A CVR collapse with stable CTR points site-side — check the LP/tracking before touching bids"). Present each for explicit approval, then save it through the /learn flow — mureo learn add per that skill's conventions (do not duplicate its steps here). One approval per insight; never record account IDs, credentials, or personal data.

7. Propose preventive guardrails where the root cause suggests one: if the incident was a runaway budget, propose a ## Guardrails max_total_daily_budget / max_daily_budget_increase_pct; if it was a measurement break, propose a recurring /tracking-health cadence; if detection lag was the problem, propose a tighter /daily-check rhythm. Editing STRATEGY.md ## Guardrails is a write — apply the approval gate: show the exact before/after of the ## Guardrails section and get explicit confirmation before saving (Write / Edit on Code, mureo_strategy_set on Desktop / Cowork). If the operator declines, leave STRATEGY.md untouched.

8. Log the postmortem itself to action_log via mureo_state_action_log_append: command="/incident-postmortem", a summary naming the incident and its root-cause classification, and a metrics_at_action snapshot of the post-incident state. This is a context-layer record (STATE.json), not an ad-platform mutation — it has no observation_due because the postmortem itself is not an experiment to observe. It leaves a durable marker that this incident was reviewed, so it is not re-litigated later.

No mureo_state_report_set call: a postmortem is a one-off narrative document, not a recurring dashboard report — it is delivered as the document in step 5 and the action_log marker in step 8, not persisted to the reports section.