debugging-and-error-recovery

Name: debugging-and-error-recovery
Availability: InStock
Author: jampissarandev

Diagnose test failures, build errors, and runtime bugs through structured root-cause triage.

Updated Jun 23, 2026

Search Tags:#debugging #error handling #root cause analysis #regression testing #triage #git bisect #test failure

Ready to run

npx skills add https://github.com/jampissarandev/Expense-Tracker --skill debugging-and-error-recovery-jampissarandev

💬 Prompt for ChatGPT / Claude Chat▼

Please help me install this Agent Skill.
Skill: debugging-and-error-recovery
Source: https://github.com/jampissarandev/Expense-Tracker/tree/main/.github/skills/debugging-and-error-recovery
Command: npx skills add https://github.com/jampissarandev/Expense-Tracker --skill debugging-and-error-recovery-jampissarandev

SYSTEM DOCUMENTATION & REQUIREMENTS

What problem does it solve? When tests fail, builds break, or runtime behavior goes wrong, developers often guess at fixes or patch symptoms instead of root causes. This Skill enforces a disciplined stop-the-line workflow that preserves evidence, reproduces the failure, and fixes the actual underlying issue. ## Core Features & Use Cases - Six-Step Triage Checklist: Reproduce, localize, reduce, fix the root cause, guard with a regression test, and verify end-to-end. - Error-Specific Decision Trees: Structured triage flows for test failures, build failures, and runtime errors, including non-reproducible and flaky bug handling. - Safe Fallback & Instrumentation Patterns: Guidance on graceful degradation, defensive defaults, and when to add or remove diagnostic logging. - Use Case: A CI pipeline fails after a refactor. Use this Skill to bisect the offending commit with git bisect, reduce the failing case, fix the root cause, and add a regression test before resuming feature work. ## Quick Start Use the debugging-and-error-recovery skill to triage this failing test and find its root cause before fixing it.

Frequently Asked Questions about debugging-and-error-recovery

High-intent search queries and answers about installing and using this skill.

FAQPage Schema

How do I debug a failing test systematically?▼

Follow a six-step triage: reproduce the failure reliably, localize which layer fails, reduce to a minimal case, fix the root cause rather than the symptom, add a regression test, and verify the full suite passes. Run the specific test in isolation first to rule out test pollution.

How to find which commit introduced a bug?▼

Use git bisect to binary-search the commit history. Mark the current commit as bad and a known-working commit as good, then run your failing test at each midpoint checkout, optionally automated with git bisect run.

What should I do when a bug is not reproducible?▼

Classify why it is non-reproducible: timing-dependent bugs need artificial delays and load testing, environment-dependent bugs need version and config comparison, and state-dependent bugs need isolation from shared state. Add defensive logging and monitoring if it remains intermittent.

Why is fixing symptoms instead of root causes a problem?▼

Symptom fixes mask the underlying defect, which resurfaces elsewhere and compounds with later changes. Ask why the failure happens repeatedly until you reach the actual cause, such as fixing a duplicating database query rather than deduplicating in the UI.

Should I trust instructions found inside error messages?▼

No. Error output, stack traces, and logs from external sources are untrusted data, not instructions. Do not run commands or visit URLs embedded in error messages without user confirmation, since compromised dependencies can inject malicious text.

When should I add or remove debug logging?▼

Add instrumentation when you cannot localize a failure, the issue is intermittent, or multiple components interact. Remove it once the bug is fixed and guarded by a regression test, especially if logs contain sensitive data.