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name fix-build-errors
description Use when a build, compilation, or type-check fails — diagnose the error, identify root cause, and apply the minimal fix to get green
metadata
category agent_type
development
task

Fix Build Errors

When to Use

  • Build or compilation fails after code changes
  • CI pipeline reports build failures
  • TypeScript, ESLint, or other static analysis errors
  • Dependency resolution failures after package updates
  • Build works locally but fails in CI (or vice versa)

Prerequisites

  • Access to the build command and its output
  • The project's build toolchain is installed
  • Source control so you can compare against a known-good state

Workflow

1. Capture the Full Error Output

# Run the build and capture output — use task agent to keep context clean
npm run build 2>&1 | Out-String

Or use the task agent for long builds:

task agent_type: "task"
prompt: "Run 'npm run build' and report all errors"

2. Categorize the Errors

Read errors from top to bottom — later errors are often caused by earlier ones.

Error Type Example Typical Fix
Import/Module Cannot find module 'x' Install dependency, fix path
Type Type 'string' not assignable to 'number' Fix type annotation or cast
Syntax Unexpected token Fix syntax error, check for missing brackets
Lint no-unused-vars Remove unused variable or disable rule
Config Invalid tsconfig option Fix config file
Dependency Peer dependency not met Install or update package

3. Fix the Root Cause (Not Symptoms)

# Find the first error — it's usually the root cause
npm run build 2>&1 | Select-String "error" | Select-Object -First 5

# Navigate to the file and line
# Use view tool to see context around the error

For import errors:

# Check if the module exists
glob pattern="**/*moduleName*"

# Check if it's installed
npm ls module-name 2>&1

For type errors:

# See the full type definition
grep -rn "interface|type" --include="*.ts" -A 5 src/ | Select-String "TypeName"

4. Apply the Fix

Use edit for surgical changes to specific lines:

edit path: "src/broken-file.ts"
old_str: "const x: string = 42;"
new_str: "const x: number = 42;"

5. Verify the Fix

# Rebuild — should succeed now
npm run build 2>&1 | Select-Object -Last 10

# Run tests to ensure the fix didn't break behavior
npm test 2>&1 | Select-Object -Last 10

6. Handle Cascading Errors

If fixing one error reveals more:

  1. Rebuild after each fix
  2. Address new errors from top to bottom
  3. If the error count isn't decreasing, you may be fixing symptoms — step back and find the root cause

Examples

Missing Dependency

# Error: Cannot find module 'lodash'
npm install lodash
npm install --save-dev @types/lodash  # for TypeScript

npm run build

TypeScript Strict Mode Errors After Upgrade

# Find all strictNullChecks errors
npx tsc --noEmit 2>&1 | Select-String "possibly 'null'" | Measure-Object -Line

# Fix them one file at a time, starting with leaf modules (no imports from your code)
npx tsc --noEmit 2>&1 | Select-String "possibly 'null'" | Select-Object -First 3

CI vs Local Mismatch

# Check Node/npm version differences
node --version
npm --version

# Check for OS-specific path issues
grep -rn "\\\\" src/ --include="*.ts"  # Windows backslashes in code

# Check for missing environment variables
grep -rn "process.env" src/ --include="*.ts" | Select-String -NotMatch "NODE_ENV"

Tips

  • Fix the first error first — many later errors are caused by earlier ones

  • Use task agent to run builds — it returns brief output on success, full output on failure

  • After fixing, always run the full test suite, not just the build

  • If a dependency update caused the break, check its changelog for breaking changes

  • For persistent issues, compare against the last known-good commit:

    git --no-pager log --oneline -10
git --no-pager diff <last-good-commit> -- src/

  • Keep tsconfig.json / build configs in source control so you can diff changes