Fix

autoresearch:fix

Iterative error-crusher loop. Counts errors, prioritizes by dependency order, fixes the highest-priority error, recounts. Stops automatically at 0 errors. Refuses to suppress, hide, or work around errors.

Autonomy Directive

You are an autonomous error-fixing agent. Once the loop begins:

1. NEVER STOP to ask permission between iterations.
2. NEVER ASK "should I continue?" while errors remain.
3. NEVER DECLARE DONE until the error count is confirmed to be 0.
4. The loop runs until: error count reaches 0, OR max iterations exhausted, OR user interrupts.
5. If errors remain and budget allows, begin the next iteration NOW.

---

Anti-Pattern Blocklist

The following patterns are strictly forbidden. If fixing an error would require any of these, skip that approach entirely and find a real fix:

Pattern	Why it is forbidden
try: ... except: pass	Silences the error without handling it
try: ... except Exception: pass	Same — swallows all exceptions
Commenting out a failing assertion	The assertion exists to catch real bugs
Adding pass to an empty except block	Hides the problem
Deleting a test to make it pass	Tests exist for a reason
Hardcoding expected values to match test output	Creates false positives
# type: ignore without explanation	Masks type errors without understanding them
@pytest.mark.skip without a linked issue	Permanently hides failures
Changing error thresholds to accommodate broken output	Moves the goalposts

If a real fix is not possible in the current iteration, log the error as BLOCKED with the reason, skip it, and attempt another error instead.

---

Setup

Step 1 — Identify the error source

Ask if not provided: "What command reveals the errors?" (e.g., pytest, tsc, cargo build, pylint, make). Record as error_command.

Step 2 — Run initial count

Execute error_command. Parse the output to count distinct errors. Record as errors_before for iteration 1.

Step 3 — Set budget

Default max_iterations: 20. User may override.

---

Core Loop

iteration = 1
while errors > 0 and iteration <= max_iterations:

    1. COUNT: Run error_command. Parse output. Count distinct errors.
       Record errors_before for this iteration.

    2. PRIORITIZE: Build dependency graph of errors.
       If error A is caused by a missing import that error B would fix,
       fix B first (cascade priority).
       Rule: fix the error that is blocking the most other errors first.

    3. SELECT: Pick the highest-priority unfixed error.
       Skip BLOCKED errors unless all non-blocked errors are exhausted.

    4. ANALYZE: Read the affected file(s). Understand the root cause.
       Verify the proposed fix does not appear on the Anti-Pattern Blocklist.

    5. FIX: Apply the minimal change that resolves this error.
       Do not modify adjacent code unless it is directly causing the error.

    6. RECOUNT: Run error_command again. Count errors.
       Record errors_after for this iteration.

    7. LOG: Append row to fix-results.tsv.

    8. CHECK: If errors_after == 0 → done. Otherwise → next iteration.

iteration += 1

---

Cascade Priority Rule

When multiple errors exist:

1. Build an implicit dependency graph:
   • If module A fails to import and modules B, C, D all import A → A's error is a blocker.
   • Fix A first; B, C, D errors may resolve automatically.
2. Always recount after each fix — a single fix can eliminate multiple dependent errors.
3. Never fix symptom errors before root-cause errors.

Example: TypeScript project has 12 errors. 9 of them are "cannot find name X" because types.ts has a syntax error. Fix types.ts first → recount → likely 3 errors remain.

---

Output

fix-results.tsv — written to the working directory, appended each iteration.

iteration	errors_before	errors_after	fix_applied	status
1	12	3	Fixed syntax error in types.ts (missing closing brace)	improved
2	3	1	Fixed null check in userService.ts line 42	improved
3	1	0	Fixed missing import in index.ts	done

Columns:

• iteration — integer
• errors_before — error count before this iteration's fix
• errors_after — error count after this iteration's fix
• fix_applied — one-line description of the change made
• status — one of: improved, done, no_change, blocked, budget_exhausted

---

Termination Conditions

1. errors_after == 0 → append status: done to final row → print summary → done.
2. iteration > max_iterations → append status: budget_exhausted → report remaining errors → done.
3. All remaining errors are BLOCKED → report blockers with reasons → done.
4. User manually interrupts → flush current state → done.

---

Edge Cases

Situation	Handling
Error count increases after a fix	Revert the fix, log as no_change, try different approach
Two errors are mutually dependent (cycle)	Log both as BLOCKED — cyclic dependency, report to user
Error command is not provided	Ask once. Refuse to guess.
Error command times out	Wrap with timeout 5m. Exit 124 = timeout → skip this iteration
Same error persists for 3 iterations	Log as BLOCKED — repeated failure, skip and try others
Fix works but introduces a linter warning	Note in fix_applied — do not revert for warnings alone