---
name: why-acd3fc76c247
description: Iterative Five Whys root cause analysis drilling from symptoms to fundamentals
argument-hint: Optional issue or symptom description
---

# Five Whys Analysis

Apply Five Whys root cause analysis to investigate issues by iteratively asking "why" to drill from symptoms to root causes.

## Description

Iteratively ask "why" to move from surface symptoms to fundamental causes. Identifies systemic issues rather than quick fixes.

## Usage

`/why [issue_description]`

## Variables

- ISSUE: Problem or symptom to analyze (default: prompt for input)
- DEPTH: Number of "why" iterations (default: 5, adjust as needed)

## Steps

1. State the problem clearly
2. Ask "Why did this happen?" and document the answer
3. For that answer, ask "Why?" again
4. Continue until reaching root cause (usually 5 iterations)
5. Validate by working backwards: root cause → symptom
6. Explore branches if multiple causes emerge
7. Propose solutions addressing root causes, not symptoms

## Examples

### Example 1: Production Bug

```
Problem: Users see 500 error on checkout
Why 1: Payment service throws exception
Why 2: Request timeout after 30 seconds
Why 3: Database query takes 45 seconds
Why 4: Missing index on transactions table
Why 5: Index creation wasn't in migration scripts
Root Cause: Migration review process doesn't check query performance

Solution: Add query performance checks to migration PR template
```

### Example 2: CI/CD Pipeline Failures

```
Problem: E2E tests fail intermittently
Why 1: Race condition in async test setup
Why 2: Test doesn't wait for database seed completion
Why 3: Seed function doesn't return promise
Why 4: TypeScript didn't catch missing return type
Why 5: strict mode not enabled in test config
Root Cause: Inconsistent TypeScript config between src and tests

Solution: Unify TypeScript config, enable strict mode everywhere
```

### Example 3: Multi-Branch Analysis

```
Problem: Feature deployment takes 2 hours

Branch A (Build):
Why 1: Docker build takes 90 minutes
Why 2: No layer caching
Why 3: Dependencies reinstalled every time
Why 4: Cache invalidated by timestamp in Dockerfile
Root Cause A: Dockerfile uses current timestamp for versioning

Branch B (Tests):
Why 1: Test suite takes 30 minutes
Why 2: Integration tests run sequentially
Why 3: Test runner config has maxWorkers: 1
Why 4: Previous developer disabled parallelism due to flaky tests
Root Cause B: Flaky tests masked by disabling parallelism

Solutions: 
A) Remove timestamp from Dockerfile, use git SHA
B) Fix flaky tests, re-enable parallel test execution
```

## Notes

- Don't stop at symptoms; keep digging for systemic issues
- Multiple root causes may exist - explore different branches
- Document each "why" for future reference
- Consider both technical and process-related causes
- The magic isn't in exactly 5 whys - stop when you reach the true root cause
- Stop when you hit systemic/process issues, not just technical details
- Multiple root causes are common—explore branches separately
- If "human error" appears, keep digging: why was error possible?
- Document every "why" for future reference
- Root cause usually involves: missing validation, missing docs, unclear process, or missing automation
- Test solutions: implement → verify symptom resolved → monitor for recurrence


---
Source attribution: NeoLabHQ
Original project: https://github.com/NeoLabHQ/context-engineering-kit
License: MIT
License information: https://opensource.org/license/mit
Original upstream instructions; downloaded from Mega AI Hub.

## Upstream license notice

MIT License

Copyright (c) 2026 Gabriel Moreira

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal
in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights
to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell
copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is
furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:

The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all
copies or substantial portions of the Software.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE
AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER
LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM,
OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE
SOFTWARE.



# Mega AI Hub resource metadata

Creator / publisher: NeoLabHQ
Original project: https://github.com/NeoLabHQ/context-engineering-kit
Attribution basis: Upstream repository explicitly recorded in package mirror path

Fields of work: Development & Engineering, Operations, Product Management
Roles: Business Process Analyst, Operations Manager, Product Manager, QA / Test Engineer, Technical Product Manager
Specialties: Cross Platform
Tools: Tool not specified
Country applicability: Country not specified
Classification basis: Source catalog labels
Instruction SHA-256: afc83e99ac79b26b903abf0dcfa32277de532cf579f7b42fa608b1affc4940d8