Hotfix Pattern — Checklist

Pattern: Hotfix
Component: checklist.md
Version: 1.1 | Updated: 2026-07-16

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Gate: No emergency code deploy until containment was attempted or IC documents why containment is impossible.

Declare

• SEV declared
• IC + scribe named in channel topic
• Comms cadence set
• Impact + containment success metric written

Contain

• Evidence preserved (digests, flag states, key traces)
• Fastest reversible containment executed
• Impact trending down (or escalation triggered)

Hotfix (only if needed)

• Allowed paths listed; lockfiles/refactors forbidden
• IC + one reviewer ack
• Abort criteria for the deploy defined
• Probes verify improvement
• Timeline updated with digests

Exit

• Status MITIGATED / MONITORING
• Durable fix owner assigned
• RCA scheduled with root-cause-pattern
• Emergency exceptions time-boxed