Host Health Loop

Input Parameters

| Name | Type | Required | Description | |------|------|----------|-------------| | inventory | string | No | Path to Ansible inventory file, defaults to ansible/inventory.ini | | playbook | string | No | Path to health check playbook, defaults to ansible/health_check.yml |

Execution Flow

Task Context

Before starting execution, initialize task_context.json:

{
  "task_id": "",
  "current_step": 0,
  "current_step_id": null,
  "status": "running",
  "steps": {
    "inspect": "pending",
    "fix_loop": "pending",
    "generate_report": "pending"
  },
  "updated_at": ""
}

Update this file after each step completes. On error, set step status to "failed" and overall status to "failed".

Step 1: inspect

Type: script Description: Run Ansible playbook to inspect all hosts and generate an issue list

Execution

Execute the following command:

ansible-playbook -i {inventory} {playbook} 2>&1
mv /tmp/host_issues.json host_issues.json

Output

• Schema: schemas/host_issues.schema.json
• File: host_issues.json

Progress Tracking

After completing this step, update task_context.json:

• Set current_step_id to "inspect"
• Set steps.inspect to "completed"

Step 2: fix_loop

Type: loop Description: Fix loop: each iteration picks the most critical issue, produces a remediation plan, waits for human approval on write operations, executes the fix, then re-inspects all hosts. Repeats until no issues remain or max iterations reached.

Iteration Loop

Goal: hostissues.json has totalissues equal to 0 (all hosts healthy, no issues found) Max Iterations: 10

> This step executes as a loop. The body steps repeat until the goal is met or max iterations reached.

Loop Body (repeats each iteration)

Body Step 1: select_issue

Type: inline Description: Select the single most critical issue from host_issues.json

Execution: Follow these instructions:

Read hostissues.json and schemas/selectedissue.schema.json.

Pick the SINGLE most critical issue using this priority order:

1. critical disk (highest priority)
2. critical service_down
3. critical memory
4. critical load
5. warning disk
6. warning service_down
7. warning memory
8. warning load (lowest priority)

Write the selected issue to selected_issue.json following the schema.

If hostissues.json has totalissues == 0, write {"done": true} instead.

Output Files

• selected_issue.json

Body Step 2: plan_action

Type: agent Description: Analyze the selected issue and create a concrete remediation plan (no execution)

Execution: Launch an independent agent with the following prompt file:

Read selectedissue.json and schemas/pendingaction.schema.json.

STEP 1 — Investigate: SSH to the target host and check the actual situation. Understand the root cause before writing any plan. Do NOT guess or write generic commands.

STEP 2 — Plan: Based on your findings, write a concrete remediation plan to pending_action.json following the schema.

Do NOT execute anything. Only investigate and write the JSON file. If selectedissue.json contains {"done": true}, write {"done": true} to pendingaction.json instead.

Output Files

• pending_action.json

Body Step 3: approve

Type: inline Description: Human approval gate — present the remediation plan and wait for confirmation before executing

Execution: Follow these instructions:

Read pending_action.json.

If it contains {"done": true}, skip this step.

Otherwise, PRESENT the remediation plan from pending_action.json to the human:

---

Awaiting Approval

Present the host, issue, risk level, and commands from pending_action.json.

Type "approve" to execute, or "reject" to skip this issue. ---

WAIT for the human to respond. Do NOT proceed without explicit approval. If approved, copy pendingaction.json to approvedaction.json. If rejected, write skip_action.json with {"status": "rejected", "reason": "rejected by human"}.

Body Step 4: execute

Type: agent Description: Execute the approved remediation

Execution: Launch an independent agent with the following prompt file:

Check for approved_action.json. If it exists, read it.

If skipaction.json exists instead, do NOT execute — write executeresult.json following schemas/execute_result.schema.json with status "skipped".

Execute the remediation: SSH into the target host and run the commands listed in approved_action.json.

Rules:

• Use the exact commands from the plan, do not improvise
• If a command fails, do NOT retry
• After execution, verify the result (e.g., check service status, check disk usage)
• Write executeresult.json following schemas/executeresult.schema.json

If pendingaction.json had {"done": true}, write {"status": "alldone"} to execute_result.json.

Output Files

• execute_result.json

Body Step 5: re_inspect

Type: script Description: Re-run inspection to refresh the issue list

Execution: Execute the following command:

ansible-playbook -i {inventory} {playbook} 2>&1
mv /tmp/host_issues.json host_issues.json

Output Files

• host_issues.json

Goal Evaluation

After all body steps complete, evaluate:

Goal: hostissues.json has totalissues equal to 0 (all hosts healthy, no issues found)

1. If goal IS met → mark this step completed, proceed to next step.
2. If goal NOT met and iterations remain → reset body steps, start next iteration.
3. If max iterations reached → mark step completed with status "maxiterationsreached", report what remains.

Append a summary to iteration_history after each iteration.

Progress Tracking

After completing this step, update task_context.json:

• Set current_step_id to "fix_loop"
• Set steps.fix_loop to "completed"

Step 3: generate_report

Type: agent Description: Generate a polished HTML inspection and remediation report

Execution

Launch an independent agent with the following prompt file:

Dispatch instruction:

Read the final hostissues.json to get the current health status. Also read all executeresult.json files from the workspace to understand what was fixed.

Generate a single, self-contained, beautiful HTML report: health_report.html

The report should include:

• Overall health status (ALL CLEAR or ISSUES REMAINING)
• Summary stats: hosts checked, total issues found & resolved
• Remediation timeline: each iteration with host, issue, investigation findings,

commands executed, and before/after comparison

• Final per-host status

Design requirements:

• Dark theme, modern dashboard style
• Use CSS grid/flexbox, no external dependencies
• Mobile-responsive
• Professional and visually impressive — this is a production report
• Include all CSS inline in a tag

Agent workflow:

1. Prepare the execution environment

1. Execute the agent with the prompt

1. Complete execution

Progress Tracking

After completing this step, update task_context.json:

• Set current_step_id to "generate_report"
• Set steps.generate_report to "completed"

Source & license

This open-source skill is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code.

• Author: KnoxOps
• Source: KnoxOps/agent-runbook
• License: Apache-2.0

Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above.