Incident RCA and Assurance Case Templates — Operating Quantum Computers

This appendix provides copyable templates for incident forensics, root-cause analysis, mission review, and assurance cases. These templates are intentionally operational. They should be stored with evidence packages, not in slide decks.

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Incident RCA and Assurance Case Templates · Figure 1

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flowchart LR
    Incident[Incident] --> Template[RCA template]
    Claim[Claim] --> Assurance[Assurance template]
    Mission[Mission] --> Readiness[Readiness template]
    Template --> Repository[Governance repository]
    Assurance --> Repository
    Readiness --> Repository

Quantum incident intake

Illustrative listing · yaml

incident_id: qinc-YYYYMMDD-NNN
opened_at: ""
opened_by: ""
severity: ""
incident_class:
  - device
  - calibration
  - compiler
  - runtime
  - evidence
  - governance
  - communication
summary: ""
impacted_workloads: []
impacted_claims: []
initial_detection:
  detector: "dashboard | user | canary | audit | provider"
  signal: ""
evidence_freeze:
  package_id: ""
  hash: ""
  storage_uri: ""
containment:
  action: ""
  owner: ""
  expires_at: ""

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Quantum incident intake · Figure 2

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flowchart TB
    Intake[Intake] --> Freeze[Freeze evidence]
    Freeze --> Severity[Assign severity]
    Severity --> Contain[Contain]
    Contain --> RCA[RCA]
    RCA --> Close[Close]

RCA hypothesis table

Hypothesis	Evidence for	Evidence against	Test	Result	Status
device drift					open
compiler regression					open
mitigation bias					open
evidence defect					open
operator error					open

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RCA hypothesis table · Figure 3

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flowchart LR
    H[Hypothesis] --> For[Evidence for]
    H --> Against[Evidence against]
    For --> Test[Test]
    Against --> Test
    Test --> Status[Status]

Root-cause statement template

Illustrative listing · text

Because <condition>, when <trigger> occurred, <system component> produced <observed effect>.
This affected <workloads/claims> during <time window>.
The condition escaped detection because <detection gap>.
The recurrence controls are <controls>, validated by <validation method>.

Corrective action record

Illustrative listing · yaml

corrective_action_id: qca-YYYYMMDD-NNN
incident_id: ""
action_type: "prevent | detect | recover | govern | communicate"
description: ""
owner: ""
due_date: ""
validation_method: ""
closure_evidence: ""

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Corrective action record · Figure 4

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stateDiagram-v2
    [*] --> Proposed
    Proposed --> Accepted
    Accepted --> Implemented
    Implemented --> Validated
    Validated --> Closed
    Accepted --> Rejected

Assurance case skeleton

Illustrative listing · yaml

assurance_case_id: qac-YYYYMMDD-NNN
claim:
  text: ""
  boundary:
    target: ""
    time_window: ""
    method: ""
    confidence: ""
arguments:
  - id: A1
    text: ""
    evidence_refs: []
evidence:
  - id: E1
    type: "raw_counts | calibration | compiler | review | telemetry"
    uri: ""
    hash: ""
review:
  reviewer: ""
  decision: "approved | conditional | rejected"
  conditions: []

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Assurance case skeleton · Figure 5

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flowchart TB
    Claim --> A1[Argument 1]
    Claim --> A2[Argument 2]
    A1 --> E1[Evidence 1]
    A1 --> E2[Evidence 2]
    A2 --> E3[Evidence 3]
    E1 --> Review
    E2 --> Review
    E3 --> Review

Mission readiness checklist

mission profile is complete
decision to support is explicit
classical baseline is defined
target candidates are justified
compiler and runtime profiles are pinned
evidence requirements are configured
abort criteria are approved
claim language is pre-bounded
review board has signed off

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Mission readiness checklist · Figure 6

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flowchart LR
    Checklist[Readiness checklist] --> Board[Readiness board]
    Board --> Go{Go?}
    Go -- yes --> Execute[Execute]
    Go -- no --> Remediate[Remediate]