debug-hypothesis

Hypothesis-driven debugging enforces an Observe, Hypothesize, Experiment, and Conclude loop for complex bugs like flaky tests or CI failures. It prevents guessing by requiring reproducible evidence gathering and minimal-experiment changes to falsify root causes.

To start structured debugging for a flaky test, begin with the OBSERVE phase to collect all reproducible facts and document them in DEBUG.md. Then proceed through Hypothesize, Experiment, and Conclude to systematically track and validate the root cause.

Yes, this hypothesis debugging loop targets complex software bugs in both local and CI environments. It provides clear guardrails and documentation to investigate unexpected behaviors and environment-specific regressions through reproducible evidence gathering.

The best way to prevent bulldozing wrong fixes is enforcing a scientific-method loop that requires minimal, testable changes. By tracking hypotheses and demanding evidence-based reasoning before concluding, the agent must falsify bad ideas instead of blindly applying them.

Debugging performance regressions often fails without structured hypothesis tracking, leading to irrational fixes. Applying a disciplined workflow that records observations and experiments ensures reproducible evidence gathering to accurately conclude the actual root cause.