grceng.academy
YAML lab 45 bonus XP

Specify the exercise-to-pipeline loop

Start labRead the room

Objectives

Four exercises produced twenty findings. They live in a wiki page titled 'Exercise Findings 2026'. Twelve are marked 'in progress' with no date; the page view count is the programme's evidence of improvement.

Specify the loop instead: exercises that can fail, findings that enter the work system with an owner and a due date, ship targets that end in a control or an alert, and a closure rate reported per cycle.

Current practice

scenario: emailed in advance, "so nobody is caught off guard"
injects: paused when discussion gets interesting
findings: wiki page, well organised
tracking: none (page views reported to leadership)
evidence of improvement: "strong engagement"

Checks the server runs (6)

  • Scenario can fail and is grounded in your own systems
  • Time to detect and time to decide are measured
  • Findings land in the work tracker, not a wiki
  • Owner and due date are required before a finding leaves the room
  • Every finding has a ship target: control, alert or runbook change
  • Closure rate is the reported metric

Check names are all you see here: the expectations that decide pass or fail, and the reference solution, stay on the server.

Step-by-step hints

The guided walkthrough, in full. It is free: no XP cost, and it does not touch the paid hint ladder or the reveal gate.

  1. Step 1

    Let the exercise fail

    A scenario emailed in advance with pausable injects measures attendance. Ground it in your own systems and let it carry ambiguity and time pressure.

    Scenario can fail and is grounded in your own systems

  2. Step 2

    Start two clocks

    Time to detect and time to decide are the two numbers that turn a discussion into a trend. Recorded each cycle, they are your readiness curve.

    Time to detect and time to decide are measured

  3. Step 3

    Move findings where work lives

    A wiki page cannot escalate. Findings go into the work tracker, and owner plus due date are mandatory fields: a finding without them does not leave the room.

    Findings land in the work tracker, not a wikiOwner and due date are required before a finding leaves the room

  4. Step 4

    Define done as shipped

    Each finding names its ship target, a control updated, an alert rule, a runbook edit, and the programme reports the closure rate: how many of this cycle's findings shipped before the next exercise.

    Every finding has a ship target: control, alert or runbook changeClosure rate is the reported metric

Rules summary

  • XP on pass

    45 bonus XP the first time every check goes green.

  • Paid hints

    2 available. Each costs 25% of the lab XP (about 11 XP).

  • Reveal solution

    Scores 0 XP and unlocks only after 3 check runs.

  • Attempt cap

    60 check runs per learner. The runner warns you in the last 10.

  • Drafts

    Your editor content is saved in this browser, so a reload will not lose work.

  • Walkthrough

    Always free and never penalised: use it before spending a hint.