sar/.claude/skills/bmad-investigate/references/case-file-template.md

Investigation: {title}

Hand-off Brief

1. What happened. {one-sentence problem statement, evidence-graded}
2. Where the case stands. {status, last finding, what would unblock progress}
3. What's needed next. {single recommended action with rationale}

Case Info

Field	Value
Ticket	{ticket-id or "N/A"}
Date opened	{date}
Status	Active
System	{OS, version, relevant environment details}
Evidence sources	{diagnostic archive, logs, crash dump, code, version control, etc.}

Problem Statement

{User-reported description; the initial claim. May be refined or contradicted by evidence.}

Evidence Inventory

Source	Status	Notes
{source}	{Available / Partial / Missing}	{details}

Investigation Backlog

#	Path to Explore	Priority	Status	Notes
1	{description}	{High / Medium / Low}	{Open / In Progress / Done / Blocked}	{context}

Timeline of Events

Time	Event	Source	Confidence
{timestamp}	{event description}	{log file, commit, …}	{Confirmed / Deduced}

Confirmed Findings

Finding 1: {title}

Evidence: {citation — path:line, log timestamp, or commit hash}

Detail: {description}

Deduced Conclusions

Deduction 1: {title}

Based on: {which Confirmed Findings}

Reasoning: {logical chain}

Conclusion: {what follows}

Hypothesized Paths

Hypothesis 1: {title}

Status: {Open / Confirmed / Refuted}

Theory: {description}

Supporting indicators: {what makes this plausible}

Would confirm: {specific evidence that would prove this}

Would refute: {specific evidence that would disprove this}

Resolution: {when Status changes from Open, what evidence settled it}

Missing Evidence

Gap	Impact	How to Obtain
{what's missing}	{what it would confirm or eliminate}	{how to get it}

Source Code Trace

Element	Detail
Error origin	{file:line, function name}
Trigger	{what causes this code to execute}
Condition	{what state produces the observed behavior}
Related files	{other files in the same code path}

Conclusion

Confidence: {High / Medium / Low}

{Summary stating what is Confirmed vs. what remains Hypothesized. If a root cause is identified, state it; otherwise name the most promising hypothesized paths and what would resolve the remaining uncertainty.}

Recommended Next Steps

Fix direction

{What needs to change and why. Categorize by mechanism when multiple issues combine.}

Diagnostic

{Steps to confirm the root cause: additional logging, targeted tests, data to collect.}

Reproduction Plan

{Setup, trigger, expected results. Scale from isolated proof to full system reproduction.}

Side Findings

Tangential observations surfaced during the investigation, evidence-graded, with citation when applicable.

• {observation}

Follow-up: {date}

New Evidence

Additional Findings

Updated Hypotheses

Backlog Changes

Updated Conclusion