# JustDiag!: A Diagnostic Justification Engine for Accountable Root Cause Analysis

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2606.19407 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2606.19407/

## Key facts

- Cited by 1 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 15 of its 22 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 17 Jun 2026.

## Builds on (most cited first, 15 of 15)

- [Let's Verify Step by Step](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2305.20050/) (2023)
- [Tree of Thoughts: Deliberate Problem Solving with Large Language Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2305.10601/) (2023)
- [Towards A Rigorous Science of Interpretable Machine Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1702.08608/) (2017)
- [Explanation in Artificial Intelligence: Insights from the Social Sciences](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1706.07269/) (2017)
- [Language Models Don't Always Say What They Think: Unfaithful Explanations in Chain-of-Thought Prompting](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2305.04388/) (2023)
- [ERASER: A Benchmark to Evaluate Rationalized NLP Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1911.03429/) (2019)
- [Closing the AI Accountability Gap: Defining an End-to-End Framework for Internal Algorithmic Auditing](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2001.00973/) (2020)
- [RCAgent: Cloud Root Cause Analysis by Autonomous Agents with Tool-Augmented Large Language Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2310.16340/) (2023)
- [Exploring LLM-based Agents for Root Cause Analysis](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2403.04123/) (2024)
- [Causal Inference-Based Root Cause Analysis for Online Service Systems with Intervention Recognition](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2206.05871/) (2022)
- [Flow-of-Action: SOP Enhanced LLM-Based Multi-Agent System for Root Cause Analysis](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2502.08224/) (2025)
- [Reviewable Automated Decision-Making: A Framework for Accountable Algorithmic Systems](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2102.04201/) (2021)
- [Outlining Traceability: A Principle for Operationalizing Accountability in Computing Systems](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2101.09385/) (2021)
- [mABC: multi-Agent Blockchain-Inspired Collaboration for root cause analysis in micro-services architecture](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2404.12135/) (2024)
- [ThinkFL: Self-Refining Failure Localization for Microservice Systems via Reinforcement Fine-Tuning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2504.18776/) (2025)

## Built on by (most cited first, 1 of 1)

- [OOM-RL II: Reality Is an Oracle, Not a Debugger Provenance-Constrained Diagnosis in Continually Evolving Agent-Engineered Systems](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2610.10256/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Large language models can produce fluent root cause analyses, but fluent final answers alone are insufficient evidence for accountability in high-stakes operations. In real incident response, engineers need to know what evidence supported a diagnosis, which alternatives were considered, where contradictions remained, and whether the system resolved the case or preserved uncertainty. We address this gap with JustDiag, a diagnostic justification engine for RCA that maintains an explicit process state over evidence, findings, competing hypotheses, conflicts, and next checks. We evaluated the system on 66 real-world incidents using a two-layer protocol that separately scores final-answer quality and process quality. Relative to a matched control without diagnostic justification, JustDiag achieved stronger outcome and process scores, while accepting slightly lower terminal completion due to more calibrated non-closure. These results suggest that accountable RCA requires explicit diagnostic justification artifacts and process-aware evaluation, not only fluent final answers.