What problem does it solve? Debugging often devolves into guessing and symptom-patching, where each quick fix creates new bugs elsewhere. This Skill enforces a disciplined four-phase debugging workflow that finds the actual root cause before any code is changed, then proves the fix works with a regression test. ## Core Features & Use Cases - Root Cause Investigation: Collects symptoms, traces code paths with Grep and Read, checks recent git history, and requires reproduction before forming a hypothesis. - Hypothesis Testing with Guardrails: Matches bugs against known patterns (race conditions, null propagation, state corruption, config drift), optionally searches the web for sanitized error signatures, and stops after 3 failed hypotheses to escalate. - Scope Locking: Restricts edits to the affected directory via a freeze mechanism, preventing scope creep during a debug session. - Verified Fixes: Requires a regression test that fails without the fix and passes with it, plus a full test suite run and a structured debug report. - Use Case: A user reports "the checkout total is wrong after applying a coupon." The Skill traces the discount calculation, finds a recent commit changed rounding order, confirms the hypothesis with a log statement, fixes the root cause, and adds a regression test. ## Quick Start Ask the assistant to debug this error and find the root cause before changing any code.
