Our review

This skill uses BuildBuddy to debug failed CI/CD jobs, analyze build logs, and leverage remote build execution and caching.

Strengths

Direct access to build logs and metadata via MCP tools without API keys
Quick identification of failed targets and actions
Seamless integration with GitHub Actions and CI workflows

Limitations

Requires a configured BuildBuddy instance and appropriate access permissions
Large logs may be paginated, requiring multiple queries
Local reproduction of failures may need additional setup

When to use it

When a CI job fails on GitHub and you need to dive into detailed BuildBuddy logs.

When not to use it

For trivial failures with explicit error messages in the GitHub UI, where simpler tools suffice.

Examples

Debug failed CI invocation

I have a failed BuildBuddy invocation with ID 'inv_abc123'. Use BuildBuddy MCP tools to get the invocation details, logs, and failed targets.

Analyze build log for errors

Fetch the full build log from BuildBuddy for invocation 'inv_abc123' and search for any error or fatal messages.

Check specific target failure

Using BuildBuddy MCP, get details about target '//my:test' from invocation 'inv_abc123' to see why it failed.

name: buildbuddy description: Use when debugging failed CI/CD jobs, analyzing build logs, or investigating GitHub Actions failures. Access BuildBuddy remote build execution and caching service for detailed build insights.

BuildBuddy - Remote Build Execution & CI Debugging

MCP Tools (Primary Interface)

Use BuildBuddy MCP tools via Context Forge. MCP handles authentication automatically.

Load tools with: ToolSearch query +buildbuddy

| Tool | Purpose | | --------------------------------- | ---------------------------------- | | buildbuddy-mcp-get-invocation | Build metadata, status, duration | | buildbuddy-mcp-get-log | Full build logs (stdout/stderr) | | buildbuddy-mcp-get-target | Target information and results | | buildbuddy-mcp-get-action | Action details and execution info | | buildbuddy-mcp-get-file | Download files by URI | | buildbuddy-mcp-execute-workflow | Trigger a BuildBuddy workflow |

Debugging Failed CI

Workflow

GitHub PR fails
      │
      ▼
gh pr checks ──► extract invocation ID from BuildBuddy URL
      │
      ▼
ToolSearch +buildbuddy ──► load MCP tools
      │
      ▼
buildbuddy-mcp-get-invocation ──► check success/failure, duration
      │
      ▼
buildbuddy-mcp-get-log ──► find error messages
      │
      ▼
Parse errors ──► fix root cause

Step 1: Get the Invocation ID

# Extract invocation ID from PR check links
gh pr checks --json link | jq -r '.[] | select(.link | contains("buildbuddy")) | .link' | grep -o '[^/]*$' | head -1

The invocation ID is the last path segment of the BuildBuddy URL: https://jomcgi.buildbuddy.io/invocation/<invocation_id>

Step 2: Investigate with MCP Tools

Use the invocation ID with MCP tools — no API key or curl needed:

Get overview: buildbuddy-mcp-get-invocation — check .invocation.success, command, duration
Get logs: buildbuddy-mcp-get-log — search for error/fail/fatal messages
Get targets: buildbuddy-mcp-get-target — find which targets failed
Get actions: buildbuddy-mcp-get-action — dig into specific action failures
Get files: buildbuddy-mcp-get-file — download test outputs or artifacts

Tips

Reproduce locally with bazel test //... --config=ci
BuildBuddy logs may be paginated — use page tokens for large logs
Check .invocation.success boolean to quickly determine pass/fail
A PreToolUse hook blocks direct curl to the BuildBuddy API — use MCP tools instead

BuildBuddy - Remote Build Debugging

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