Agent Skills: Hotfix Workflow

Hotfix Workflow

Streamlined emergency hotfix process: creates hotfix branch from main/master, applies the fix, runs quick validation, and creates PR for immediate merge.

🎯 Use Case Demo

Scenario: Production Critical Bug

Before (Manual Process):

Alert: Payment processing is failing in production!

Developer scrambles:

1. git stash current work (forget which branch)
2. git checkout main && git pull
3. git checkout -b hotfix/payment-fix
4. Find the bug, make the fix
5. git add . && git commit -m "fix payment"
6. git push -u origin hotfix/payment-fix
7. Open browser, navigate to GitHub, create PR
8. Wait for review, merge
9. Remember to go back to original work

Time: 20-30 minutes under pressure, error-prone

After (With This Skill):

Developer: "Apply hotfix for FB-99: Payment null reference error in PaymentService.cs line 45"

Agent Response:

🚨 HOTFIX WORKFLOW INITIATED
═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

📋 Ticket: FB-99 - Payment processing failing in production

Step 1/5: Saving Current Work
✅ Stashed current changes: "WIP: feature/email-templates"
✅ Noted return branch: feature/email-templates

Step 2/5: Creating Hotfix Branch
✅ Fetched latest from origin/main
✅ Created branch: hotfix/FB-99-payment-null-fix

Step 3/5: Applying Fix
✅ Fixed null reference in PaymentService.cs:45
   - Added null check before accessing PaymentDetails
   - Added logging for debugging

Step 4/5: Quick Validation
✅ Build successful
✅ Unit tests passed (127/127)
✅ PaymentService tests passed (12/12)

Step 5/5: Creating Emergency PR
✅ Committed: "fix(payment): add null check for PaymentDetails (FB-99)"
✅ Pushed to origin/hotfix/FB-99-payment-null-fix

════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
🔗 PULL REQUEST CREATED:
   https://github.com/org/flight-booking/pull/234
════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

📌 PR Details:
   Title: 🚨 HOTFIX: Fix payment null reference (FB-99)
   Base: main
   Labels: hotfix, critical, production
   Reviewers: @senior-dev, @tech-lead (auto-assigned)

🔙 To return to your previous work:
   Run: git checkout feature/email-templates && git stash pop

═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

Time Saved: 25 minutes → 3 minutes (8x faster, less stress)

Agent Instructions

When this skill is activated:

1. Save Current Context:

   • Record current branch name
   • Stash any uncommitted changes with descriptive message
   • Note this for later restoration

2. Create Hotfix Branch:

   • git fetch origin main
   • git checkout main && git pull
   • Create branch: hotfix/[TICKET-ID]-[brief-description]

3. Apply the Fix:

   • Analyze the issue from the Jira ticket or user description
   • Make the minimal necessary code change
   • Follow existing code patterns
   • Add defensive coding (null checks, error handling)

4. Validate Quickly:

   • Run dotnet build or equivalent
   • Run relevant unit tests only (not full suite)
   • Check for obvious issues

5. Create Emergency PR:

   • Commit with conventional format: fix(scope): description (TICKET-ID)
   • Push to origin
   • Create PR with:
     • 🚨 HOTFIX prefix in title
     • Link to Jira ticket
     • Labels: hotfix, critical
     • Auto-assign senior reviewers
   • Add Jira ticket link in PR description

6. Provide Return Instructions:

   • Show command to return to previous work
   • Include stash pop if needed

Example Prompts

• "Apply hotfix for FB-99"
• "Emergency fix for payment bug in PaymentService"
• "Create hotfix branch for production issue PROD-123"
• "Quick fix for the null reference error customers are seeing"

Safety Features

| Feature | Description | |---------|-------------| | Auto-stash | Never lose current work | | Branch tracking | Always know where to return | | Minimal changes | Only fix the issue, nothing else | | Quick validation | Catch obvious breaks before PR | | Senior review | Auto-assign experienced reviewers |

Benefits

| Metric | Before | After | Improvement | |--------|--------|-------|-------------| | Hotfix time | 25 min | 3 min | 8x faster | | Stress level | High | Low | Calm process | | Errors made | Common | Rare | Automated steps | | MTTR | 45 min | 15 min | 3x faster recovery |