investigate

Systematic root-cause debugging identifies why something broke by guiding you through investigate, analyze, hypothesize, and implement phases. This structured approach captures symptoms, gathers evidence using Bash and Grep, and tests hypotheses before proposing fixes.

Investigating unexpected errors requires gathering evidence through tools like Read, Grep, and Glob to inspect files and search code. A structured debugging workflow captures symptoms, reproduces issues, and verifies conclusions using actionable findings before implementing changes.

Bash and Grep can analyze a system failure by searching logs and inspecting system state within a structured debugging workflow. This skill leverages allowed tools to gather evidence, test hypotheses, and validate fixes during root-cause analysis.

A structured debugging workflow organizes root-cause analysis into four phases: investigate, analyze, hypothesize, and implement. This approach uses guided prompts and gates to capture symptoms, reproduce issues, test hypotheses, and validate fixes systematically.

Systematic debugging supports web search to gather evidence and analyze external error causes. The workflow leverages WebSearch alongside Bash, Grep, and file inspection tools to collect comprehensive evidence and present actionable root-cause findings.

Structured root-cause analysis prevents error-prone fixes by identifying the actual underlying cause before proposing changes. Directly patching errors without systematic investigation risks treating symptoms rather than resolving the fundamental issue.