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KbWenKbWen/agent-virtual-office/.agents/skills/systematic-debugging/SKILL.md

systematic-debugging

Skill65 starsChanged 3 months agoMITView on GitHub

Use 4-phase root cause analysis (Observe, Hypothesize, Verify, Fix); avoid unverified patches.

We split this skill into the rules it gives an agent

6 rules. 0 are common, 6 are distinctive, and 0 are very specific to this project.

  • 0

    Common

    Most of the 171 edited versions we read keep these.

  • 6

    Distinctive

    This author's own choices. Worth a look.

  • 0

    Very specific

    Tied to their project's names, files or tools. Probably skip.

  • Common
  • Distinctive
  • Very specific
  1. Distinctive:

    No random patching: Do not submit fixes without root cause evidence.

    line 14
  2. Distinctive:

    Create a Minimal Reproducible Example (MRE).

    line 30
  3. Distinctive:

    Run experiments and retain output logs.

    line 41
  4. Distinctive:

    Remove falsified hypotheses to converge on the most likely root cause.

    line 43
  5. Distinctive:

    Add a Regression Test.

    line 48
  6. Distinctive:

    Verify: The original error disappears AND existing behavior is not broken.

    line 49

“Common” is measured: kept by at least 6 in 10 of the 171 edited versions of this file we could read. “Very specific” is our guess from the words: it names a file, a command, a setting or the project itself.

Keep what fits and drop the rest. Your version, ready for your agents.
Files
SKILL.md

Systematic Debugging

Overview

The core of systematic debugging is: understand first, then fix. When encountering a bug, clarify symptoms, reproduction conditions, and blast radius. Draw hypotheses, verify them with experiments to isolate the root cause, and only then submit a minimal, verifiable fix.

Ironclad Rules

  1. No random patching: Do not submit fixes without root cause evidence.
  2. Change one variable at a time: Prevent unexplainable results from touching multiple areas at once.
  3. Fixes MUST include evidence: Include reproduction steps, verification, and regression results.

When to Use

  • Hotfix incident response.
  • Flaky tests.
  • Cross-module anomalies that aren't intuitively obvious.
  • Any "fixed but I don't know why" risk scenarios.

Four-Phase Process

Phase 1: Observe

  • Precisely record error messages, timestamps, and input conditions.
  • Create a Minimal Reproducible Example (MRE).
  • Mark the blast radius (affected modules/users).

Phase 2: Hypothesize

  • Propose 1–3 testable root cause hypotheses.
  • Design "falsifiable" checks for each hypothesis.
  • Prioritize high-probability, low-cost verifiable items.

Phase 3: Verify

  • Run experiments and retain output logs.
  • Adjust only one variable to confirm causality.
  • Remove falsified hypotheses to converge on the most likely root cause.

Phase 4: Fix

  • Implement a Minimal Fix.
  • Add a Regression Test.
  • Verify: The original error disappears AND existing behavior is not broken.

Common Mistakes

  • Modifying code before reproducing the issue.
  • Modifying too many files at once, failing to locate the effective fix point.
  • Treating "accidental passes" as root cause resolved.
  • Lacking regression tests, causing similar issues to happen again.

Download now (ZIP)

  • Other versions187 projects use a version of this.

    Word for word · 0

    None found.

    Edited · 1

    1. KbWen/agentic-os★ 22490% same

    Wrote their own version · 186

    1. obra/superpowers★ 305ksame name
    2. NousResearch/hermes-agent★ 259ksame name
    3. open-metadata/OpenMetadata★ 16ksame name
    4. jnMetaCode/superpowers-zh★ 8.4ksame name
    5. vudovn/ag-kit★ 8.2ksame name
    6. vudovn/antigravity-kit★ 8.2ksame name
    7. openai/plugins★ 7.4ksame name
    8. ChrisWiles/claude-code-showcase★ 6.1ksame name
    9. farm-fe/farm★ 5.6ksame name
    10. microsoft/FluidFramework★ 5ksame name

    176 more not listed

    How matches are found. Word for word: the exact same text. Edited: shares passages with this file (“99% same” means 99% of its five-word phrases also appear here; 10% or more counts). Their own version: similar meaning, or, weakest, the same name. We can’t tell which project had it first. Projects are counted among the 200 most-starred candidates, and mentions are links to the repository we found, up to 50 per site, so both counts are a floor.

  • Used alongsideProjects with it also use chinese-code-review, chinese-commit-conventions and 10 more.

    Other files people use alongside this one.

    Files found in the same public projects as a version of this one, more often than they turn up anywhere else. Each project counts once, large collections count for less, and this file's own repository is left out.
    • GEd520Skill

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      Also in 7 projects that use this

    • GEd520Skill

      chinese-commit-conventions

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      Also in 7 projects that use this

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      Also in 4 projects that use this

    • +2 more from GEd520
    • +5 more from mjunaidca
  • In this repository16 other files it gives its agents.

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