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rpraharajrpraharaj/ai-sdlc/skills/debug/SKILL.md

debug

Skill0 starsChanged 16 days agoMITView on GitHub

Diagnose a failure with a tight red loop first, then hypothesise, fix the shared cause, and prove it. Use when something is broken, a test fails, a bug is reported, or the user asks to debug or find the root cause. Do not shotgun-edit.

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The file

We split this skill into the rules it gives an agent

3 rules. 0 are common, 2 are distinctive, and 1 is very specific to this project.

  • 0

    Common

    Most of the 175 edited versions we read keep these.

  • 2

    Distinctive

    This author's own choices. Worth a look.

  • 1

    Very specific

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

  • Common
  • Distinctive
  • Very specific
  1. Distinctive:

    If you have neither a repro nor that evidence, stop.

    line 32
  2. Very specific:

    Read AGENTS.md. Redact secrets (<REDACTED>).

    line 40
  3. Distinctive:

    Write 3–5 falsifiable hypotheses, then test one at a time.

    line 44

“Common” is measured: kept by at least 6 in 10 of the 175 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

Debug

Find the cause of a known failure. Do not start a feature while debugging. Do not theorise without a command that can go red on this bug.

Is this the right skill?

SignalDo this instead
Live prod impactincident-triage first
No expected/actualtriage-defect then return
Add tests after the cause is knownwrite-tests

Required inputs

  • Expected, actual, and a repro command or the shortest UI/API steps
  • Or captured production evidence from incident-triage

If you have neither a repro nor that evidence, stop.

Human decisions (do not invent)

  • Destructive data repairs

Procedure

  1. Read AGENTS.md. Redact secrets (<REDACTED>).
  2. Pin expected / actual / repro. Write them down.
  3. Build a tight red loop — one command you have already run that asserts the user’s symptom. Tests at a public seam first. If you cannot build a loop, list what you tried and stop.
  4. Confirm it is the user’s failure. Minimise inputs until every leftover piece is load-bearing.
  5. Write 3–5 falsifiable hypotheses, then test one at a time. Cap: five failed hypotheses → stop and report.
  6. Fix the shared cause (every caller). Do not delete the failing test. Load engineering-bar. Prefer a failing test at the seam before the fix (write-tests).
  7. Re-run the original loop. Remove tagged debug logs. Run focused tests and repo Test if cheap.

Output

  • Path: reply (and a file only if asked)
  • Template: references/debug-report.md

Quality bar

  • Red-loop command and output exist
  • Root cause names a file/symbol
  • Tagged debug logs are gone
  • Original loop is green or you stopped honestly

Done

Fill the report. Next: write-tests / ready-to-merge.

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