kaizen:root-cause-tracing

To trace stack traces back to the original trigger, follow caller chains from the failure point to the initiating call. Add lightweight instrumentation and capture Error stacks to reveal test file names, line numbers, and caller contexts.

Test bisection is a debugging technique that runs per-test isolation to discover which test or setup step pollutes state. By capturing stacks and bisecting the test suite, you can locate the exact test that creates unexpected files or invalid data.

Debug a failing git init by tracing an empty cwd back through session and workspace initialization. Add stack-capture logging before the operation to identify the caller context, then add validation and layered guards to fix the original trigger.

Use root-cause tracing when errors appear deep in execution and the visible symptom is distant from the original fault. Trace backward through call chains to fix the source of invalid data or incorrect behavior rather than patching the downstream symptom.

After finding the original trigger through backtrace debugging, add defense-in-depth protections by validating caller inputs and implementing layered guards. This prevents recurrence by blocking invalid data at multiple layers before it reaches the failure point.