Re: [PATCH v3 6/7] agents: add a skill to find other instances of a fixed bug

[Sasha Levin <sashal@kernel.org>]

On Fri, Oct 16, 2026 at 02:17:25PM -0400, Julia Lawall wrote:
>
>
>On Fri, 16 Oct 2026, Sasha Levin wrote:
>
>> On Fri, Oct 16, 2026 at 02:00:15PM -0400, Julia Lawall wrote:
>> >
>> >
>> > On Fri, 16 Oct 2026, Sasha Levin wrote:
>> >
>> > > A bug fixed in one place often exists elsewhere, in copied code, sibling
>> > > drivers, or other users of the same interface, and reviewers routinely
>> > > ask whether that was checked. Left alone, agents tend to audit the whole
>> > > tree by reading it. Add a skill that states the defect as a rule,
>> > > searches for it through shared interfaces, copied code, the introducing
>> > > series and earlier fixes, and verifies each candidate before reporting
>> > > it.
>> > >
>> > > When Coccinelle is available, the skill searches with a semantic patch:
>> > > it looks for an existing one under scripts/coccinelle/, checks that the
>> > > rule marks the fixed site in the code before the fix, runs it over the
>> > > whole tree with coccicheck, and checks which code spatch could not
>> > > parse. These steps live in references/coccinelle.md, which the agent
>> > > reads only when it uses Coccinelle.
>> >
>> > Could I get some feedback from this?  I would be interested to know about
>> > code that it can't parse.  Maybe AI could write a semantic patch and try
>> > it?
>>
>> Right, this is exactly what the skill currently says:
>>
>> +2. Otherwise, write a semantic patch outside the repository. Match only what
>> +   the defect needs, not names or statements specific to the fixed site. Mark
>> [...]
>>
>> I'd expect the agent to have information in the transcript about this, or are
>> you looking for something different?
>
>I just want to know how to find it, or ideally if it could be reported to
>me (or to the Coccinelle mailing list).

I can add an instruction to the prompt that any issues discovered and fixed
this way should also include the semantic patch?

-- 
Thanks,
Sasha