Files
magnus919_agent-skills/systematic-debugging
Magnus Hedemark 738ec715e7 Add human-focused README.md to every skill and bundle directory
Each README is written for a human audience, explaining:
- What the skill does (not what format it follows)
- What benefit the user gets from installing it
- Quick setup and usage patterns
- When to load/trigger the skill
- What scripts, references, and templates it ships

data-scientist already had a README — left unchanged.

48 READMEs added across all skill and bundle directories.
2026-07-09 22:30:12 -04:00
..

Systematic Debugging — 4-Phase Root Cause Protocol

A disciplined 4-phase protocol for debugging technical issues: understand bugs before fixing. No random fixes, no symptom patching — only root cause investigation.

Why Install This Skill

When your agent loads this skill, it becomes a disciplined debugger who follows a proven protocol. That means:

  • Phase 1: Understand the bug — reproduce, characterize, and scope before touching any code
  • Phase 2: Find root cause — trace symptom to source with evidence, not guesses
  • Phase 3: Fix root cause — one fix per root cause, validated before committing
  • Phase 4: Verify and learn — test the fix, check for similar issues, document the lesson
  • Specialized patterns — schema/environment divergence, exception chain analysis, dependency source detection, API failure characterization

What You Get

Directory Purpose
SKILL.md The Iron Law, phase-by-phase protocol, specialized debugging patterns
references/ Deep dives into each phase, specialized pattern guides, diagnostics

Triggers

Load this for ANY technical issue — test failures, production bugs, unexpected behavior, performance problems, build failures, integration issues. ESPECIALLY when under time pressure.

Requirements

Platform-agnostic. Some sections cover macOS-specific sandbox debugging patterns. Requires access to source code and testing tools.