gstack-openclaw-investigate

Root-cause debugging requires a structured approach to collect symptoms, analyze patterns, formulate hypotheses, and verify fixes. This skill guides engineers through a four-phase process ensuring reproducibility and documentation of the investigation with a formal debug report.

Pattern analysis identifies common debugging patterns such as race conditions, nil/null propagation, and state corruption. By gathering symptoms and reading code to locate failure points, you can isolate the specific pattern causing the issue and apply a targeted fix.

Systematic reproduction involves gathering symptoms, checking recent changes, and executing a four-phase investigation process. This approach ensures reproducibility and verifiability, ultimately producing a formal debug report that documents the root cause and verified fix.

A structured debugging playbook applies to debugging tasks across both codebases and incidents. It guides engineers to collect symptoms, analyze patterns, formulate hypotheses, and implement verified fixes regardless of the specific context.

Hypothesis testing validates assumptions using targeted instrumentation and controlled experiments. After identifying common debugging patterns and formulating a hypothesis, you test it to confirm the root cause before implementing the actual fix.

Ensuring regression prevention involves fixing the root cause and adding regression tests as part of the implementation phase. The structured process verifies the fix and produces a formal debug report documenting the entire investigation for future reference.