Failure Mode Analysis

Purpose

Systematically identify potential failure scenarios in system upgrades or changes and outline corresponding recovery strategies to mitigate risks.

References

• Optimism Design Docs Repo
• Wonderland Design Docs Repo
• FMA Template

Important Sections

Metadata

Document ownership and review status:

• Author: Name of the individual drafting the document
• Created at: Date of creation
• Initial Reviewers: Names of initial reviewers
• Need Approval From: Security team member responsible for final approval
• Status: Current document status (Draft, In Review, Implementing Actions, Final)

Introduction

Brief overview of the project or change being analyzed, including:

• Project context
• Scope of changes
• Key objectives
• System components affected

Failure Modes and Recovery Paths

For each potential failure mode, document:

• Description: Detailed explanation of the failure scenario
• Risk Assessment: Evaluation of severity and likelihood
• Mitigations: Strategies to prevent or mitigate the failure
• Recovery Path: Step-by-step recovery procedures

Audit Requirements

Document specific audit needs:

• Required audit scope
• Critical areas for review
• Security considerations

Action Items

Track implementation progress:

• Risk mitigation tasks
• Implementation requirements
• Testing needs
• Documentation updates

Appendix

Supporting information:

• Technical references
• Related documentation
• Additional context
• Supporting data

Workflow

• The main branch in the Wonderland repo should remain stable and unchanged
• For new work, create a feature branch (e.g., sc-feat/<feature> or sc-fix/<fix>)
• Within this, create further branches (feat/<X>, fix/<Y>) for specific tasks
• Open internal PRs targeting the main feature branch
• After all internal PRs are merged, raise an external PR to the main branch of the Optimism repo

Collaboration

• Schedule sync review sessions with Optimism to present the FMA and incorporate feedback
• Initial FMA drafts can be started in Notion for easier iteration and team input
• Migrate to GitHub for final review and versioning
• Ensure security team approval before finalizing