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name: buildbuddy-invocation-troubleshoot description: Troubleshoot BuildBuddy invocations via BuildBuddyService (HTTP JSON or gRPC). Use when asked to debug a BuildBuddy invocation, find failed targets and stdout/stderr, inspect remote cache vs RBE metadata, retrieve execution details/profiles/logs, download raw build events or Bazel profiles, or fetch cache scorecard data. metadata: short-description: Troubleshoot a BuildBuddy invocation and fetch logs/artifacts.

BuildBuddy Invocation Troubleshoot

Overview

Use this skill to investigate a BuildBuddy invocation end-to-end: locate the invocation, identify failing targets, collect stdout/stderr, determine whether RBE or remote cache was involved, and download build artifacts (raw BES, build logs, execution profiles, cache scorecard).

Workflow (recommended)

0) Preflight: auth + base URL

• Avoid accessing the API key value directly. Check presence by piping to wc and treating any non-empty value as valid, e.g. git config --local buildbuddy.api-key | wc -c.
• If the API key is missing (empty output), ask the user to run bb login and retry.
• Confirm the base URL (default https://app.buildbuddy.io unless self-hosted).
• Collect group_id and (if already known) invocation_id.
• Create a temp working directory (per investigation) and store all downloaded artifacts and API responses there. Reuse cached files to avoid re-calling the API; delete a cached file or set a force flag when you want a fresh response.

Reference request templates live in references/requests.md.

1) Find the invocation ID

• Use SearchInvocation with a time window (updated_after / updated_before), group ID, and optional filters (repo, branch, user, status, command).
• Sort by UPDATED_AT_USEC_SORT_FIELD descending to find the latest runs.
• If the user already has an invocation URL, extract the invocation_id from it and skip search.

2) Fetch invocation metadata

• Call GetInvocation with invocation_id to retrieve:
  • console_buffer (fastest way to see the failure banner)
  • remote_execution_enabled, upload_local_results_enabled, download_outputs_option
  • cache_stats and score_card (if remote cache was used)
  • structured_command_line to detect flags (remote executor, BES, etc.)
  • invocation_status to confirm completeness
• Note and report the git commit hash, branch name, OS, and hostname from the invocation metadata. If these match the local environment, reproduction may be feasible.

If invocation_status is not complete, expect partial logs and missing artifacts.

3) Identify failing targets + stdout/stderr

• Use GetTarget for the invocation.
  • Filter by status=FAILED or filter to narrow labels.
  • Focus on root_cause targets when present.
• For each failing target, inspect action_events (ActionExecuted) for:
  • stdout / stderr file descriptors
  • exit_code, command_line, failure_detail
• Download target logs using the file uri (if present) or by passing the bytestream_url to /file/download.

4) If RBE is involved, drill into executions

• When remote_execution_enabled=true, use GetExecution (by invocation_id) or SearchExecution to locate the execution.
• For execution details:
  • execute_response (use inline_execute_response=true) contains ActionResult and stdout/stderr digests.
  • executed_action_metadata provides queue/execute timestamps.
  • execution_id, target_label, action_mnemonic, and command_snippet help correlate to the failing target.
• If multiple executions failed but later retries succeeded, filter SearchExecution by the exact failing target label (from GetTarget) or by primary_output to avoid unrelated transient failures. A single target label can map to many actions, so primary_output is often the best discriminator.
• Download the execution profile (if enabled) via /file/download?artifact=execution_profile&invocation_id=...&execution_id=....

5) Download build events / build log / Bazel profile

• Raw BES JSON/Proto:
  • /file/download?artifact=raw_json&invocation_id=...
  • /file/download?artifact=raw_proto&invocation_id=...
• Build log (BES text chunks):
  • /file/download?artifact=buildlog&invocation_id=...&attempt=...
• Bazel profile:
  • Usually attached as an artifact file in BES. Find it from invocation/target files, then download via /file/download with its bytestream URL or direct uri.

6) Cache scorecard (server-side cache requests)

• Use GetCacheScoreCard with invocation_id.
• Apply filters for request/response type and search for a specific target/action mnemonic.
• Use order_by to surface slow or large transfers.

Tips and safety

• Avoid printing API keys in outputs. Redact before sharing.
• When making requests, use shell expansion like $(git config --local buildbuddy.api-key) instead of pasting the API key directly.
• Prefer smaller time windows in searches to avoid large result sets.
• For JSON mapping, proto fields are lowerCamelCase (e.g., requestContext, groupId).
• When unsure about fields, check these protos:
  • proto/buildbuddy_service.proto
  • proto/invocation.proto
  • proto/target.proto
  • proto/build_event_stream.proto
  • proto/execution_stats.proto
  • proto/cache.proto
  • proto/eventlog.proto