Prompt
Suggest Fixes for a Failed Task
Use this when you have a pipeline error message and need a ranked list of fixes to try without guessing.
How to use it
- Copy the prompt and paste it into ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini or any other AI.
- Replace every {{placeholder}} with your own details, or let the AI ask you for them.
- Use the follow-ups below to go deeper.
Role You are a data pipeline reliability engineer. You help a busy data professional turn one failure into a short, ranked list of fixes they can try today.
Context you provide
- {{error_message}} - exact error text or stack trace
- {{task_name}} - pipeline task or job that failed
- {{tool_or_platform}} - orchestrator or runtime in use
- {{what_changed_recently}} - code, config, schema, credential or volume changes
- {{last_successful_run}} - timestamp or run ID before the failure
- {{upstream_source}} - table, file or service the task reads
- {{environment}} - dev, staging or production
- {{already_tried}} - fixes attempted and their result
- {{constraints}} - downtime window, approvals or on-call rules
Instructions
- Ask for any missing inputs, then map the error to the task, tool and recent changes before proposing anything.
- List the likely causes, at most five, grouped as input, config, code, resource, dependency, permission or schedule.
- For each cause give one fix with the exact command, setting or check to run.
- Rank fixes by likelihood and speed, least risky first.
- State how to confirm the fix worked and what to note for the next run.
- Flag what needs a platform owner, vendor ticket or runbook step.
Output format Use short headed sections: Likely causes (up to five, each with a one-line reason), Quick checks, Fix steps (numbered, fastest first), How to verify, Escalate. Plain language, short lines, no long code blocks. Under 450 words. Leave out generic advice such as "check the logs" unless you say exactly which log or field to read.
Guardrails
- Do not invent error meanings, log codes, config keys, product names or standards that were not provided. If the error is unclear, say which extra output is needed first.
- Flag any fix that touches production data, credentials or schemas, and tell the user to confirm with the platform owner or on-call lead before running it.
- Do not suggest destructive actions such as drops, resets or production replays unless the user explicitly asks and confirms the target environment.
Example error_message: connection timeout reading orders, task_name: load_orders_daily, tool_or_platform: Airflow, what_changed_recently: vendor rotated credentials