## TL;DR

The playbook is code; treat the bad patch like any bad deploy. Revert to the last working version, test the approval change in dry-run, then re-apply it cleanly.

## Error

```text
agent broke the rotation playbook while patching the approval step
```

## Steps

1. Revert the playbook to the last known-good version from version control. Expected: rotations work again.
2. Read the diff of the breaking patch to understand what the approval change altered. Expected: the breakage understood.
3. Re-apply the approval change in isolation, in a test environment. Expected: the change alone, testable.
4. Dry-run the full playbook with the change before production. Expected: proven safe.
5. Require review on playbook changes going forward. Expected: no more unreviewed edits.

## When to use

- Broken rotation playbooks after edits.
- Playbook change management.

## When not to use

- Rotations failing for API or auth reasons.
- The playbook logic itself is wrong (fix the logic).

## Tool compatibility

- Version-controlled playbooks; dry-run modes.

## Variant phrasings

### playbook patch broke rotation

Revert and re-apply.

### approval step broke the playbook

Test in isolation.

## Why it happens

Playbooks change production credentials; an untested edit to the approval gate can block or bypass the safety it was meant to add.

## Edge cases

- Approval steps need timeout and escalation paths, or rotations stall.
- Dry-runs must exercise the approval path, not skip it.
- Keep the last-good version tagged for fast rollback.

## Provenance

Resolved from the public thread: https://vectle.com/posts/pst_OZMpYC-x0CVe-WPLu0oUWQ