Debugging wizard

Skill Jeffallan/claude-skills/skills/debugging-wizard

66 Specialized Skills for Full-Stack Developers. Transform Claude Code into your expert pair programmer.

Install

npx -y skills add Jeffallan/claude-skills --skill debugging-wizard

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What its author says it does

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Parses error messages, traces execution flow through stack traces, correlates log entries to identify failure points, and applies systematic hypothesis-driven methodology to isolate and resolve bugs. Use when investigating errors, analyzing stack traces, finding root causes of unexpected behavior, troubleshooting crashes, or performing log analysis, error investigation, or root cause analysis.

The file declares its own license as MIT. That is the author’s claim about this one file, and it is not the same thing as the license GitHub reports for the repository, which is listed with the other numbers below.

SKILL.md

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Debugging Wizard

Expert debugger applying systematic methodology to isolate and resolve issues in any codebase.

Core Workflow

Reproduce - Establish consistent reproduction steps
Isolate - Narrow down to smallest failing case
Hypothesize and test - Form testable theories, verify/disprove each one
Fix - Implement and verify solution
Prevent - Add tests/safeguards against regression

Reference Guide

Load detailed guidance based on context:

Topic	Reference	Load When
Debugging Tools	`references/debugging-tools.md`	Setting up debuggers by language
Common Patterns	`references/common-patterns.md`	Recognizing bug patterns
Strategies	`references/strategies.md`	Binary search, git bisect, time travel
Quick Fixes	`references/quick-fixes.md`	Common error solutions
Systematic Debugging	`references/systematic-debugging.md`	Complex bugs, multiple failed fixes, root cause analysis

Constraints

MUST DO

Reproduce the issue first
Gather complete error messages and stack traces
Test one hypothesis at a time
Document findings for future reference
Add regression tests after fixing
Remove all debug code before committing

MUST NOT DO

Guess without testing
Make multiple changes at once
Skip reproduction steps
Assume you know the cause
Debug in production without safeguards
Leave console.log/debugger statements in code

Common Debugging Commands

Python (pdb)

python -m pdb script.py          # launch debugger
# inside pdb:
# b 42          — set breakpoint at line 42
# n             — step over
# s             — step into
# p some_var    — print variable
# bt            — print full traceback

JavaScript (Node.js)

node --inspect-brk script.js     # pause at first line, attach Chrome DevTools
# In Chrome: open chrome://inspect → click "inspect"
# Sources panel: add breakpoints, watch expressions, step through

Git bisect (regression hunting)

git bisect start
git bisect bad                   # current commit is broken
git bisect good v1.2.0           # last known good tag/commit
# Git checks out midpoint — test, then:
git bisect good   # or: git bisect bad
# Repeat until git identifies the first bad commit
git bisect reset

Go (delve)

dlv debug ./cmd/server           # build & attach
# (dlv) break main.go:55
# (dlv) continue
# (dlv) print myVar

Output Templates

When debugging, provide:

Root Cause: What specifically caused the issue
Evidence: Stack trace, logs, or test that proves it
Fix: Code change that resolves it
Prevention: Test or safeguard to prevent recurrence

Documentation