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Abstract A micromechanics-based ductile fracture initiation theory is developed and applied for high-throughput assessment of ductile failure in plane stress. A key concept is that of inhomogeneous yielding such that microscopic failure occurs in bands with the driving force being a combination of band-resolved normal and shear tractions. The new criterion is similar to the phenomenological Mohr–Coulomb model, but the sensitivity of fracture initiation to the third stress invariant constitutes an emergent outcome of the formulation. Salient features of a fracture locus in plane stress are parametrically analyzed. In particular, it is shown that a finite shear ductility cannot be rationalized based on an isotropic theory that proceeds from first principles. Thus, the isotropic formulation is supplemented with an anisotropic model accounting for void rotation and shape change to complete the prediction of a fracture locus and compare with experiments. A wide body of experimental data from the literature is explored, and a simple procedure for calibrating the theory is outlined. Comparisons with experiments are discussed in some detail.