This starter recipe is for a reproducible bug or tightly bounded engineering change with a known outcome. It favors a small, testable correction over a broad rewrite.
The agent chain
Codex runs at high effort to find the root cause, implement the smallest durable fix, and add focused regression coverage. Reviewer follows at medium effort to verify that the change addresses the reproduction and avoids adjacent regressions.
Write a reproducible fix brief
Document who or what is affected, the shortest reliable reproduction, relevant logs or failing tests, precise expected behavior, edge cases, and the proof that would demonstrate the issue is fixed.
- A regression test tied to the reported failure
- Existing checks that must remain green
- Manual confirmation when the behavior cannot be fully automated
Keep the review narrow
The Reviewer should trace the patch back to the root cause and call out unrelated refactors. A human still inspects the diff and decides whether the available evidence is sufficient to merge.