mikeparcewski/debugging
skills/engineering/debugging/SKILL.md
Systematic debugging and root cause analysis for investigating errors, diagnosing complex issues, and performance profiling. Use when: "debug this error", "why is this failing", "root cause analysis", "fix this bug", "investigate crash", "stack trace", "not working"
$ install --global
skillsauthnpx skillsauth add mikeparcewski/wicked-garden debuggingInstall this skill globally with one command. Works with Claude Code, Cursor, and Windsurf.
Security Scan Results
3 of 9 scanners reported clean
Some scanners were skipped, did not run, or reported a non-clean status. Review each row below.
3
Scanners Passed
9
Scanners in report
Clean
TrivyContainer and dependency vulnerability scanner
95%
Clean
SemgrepStatic code analysis for vulnerabilities
95%
Clean
mcp-scan (Snyk)Model Context Protocol security validation
95%
Skipped
Snyk (dep)Open source security scanning
50%
Skipped
Socket.devSupply chain security analysis
50%
Skipped
VirusTotalMulti-engine malware detection
50%
Skipped
CrowdStrikeAdvanced threat intelligence
50%
Skipped
OSV-ScannerOpen Source Vulnerability database check
50%
Skipped
OWASP Dep-Check
50%
Last scanned: May 7, 2026, 6:24 AM58.5s3 files scanned
SKILL.md
- name:
- debugging
- description:
- |
- Use when:
- debug this error", "why is this failing", "root cause analysis",
- portability:
- portable
- context:
- fork
- agent:
- debugger
- # TODO #339:
- When Claude Code supports 'paths' in skill frontmatter for
- # paths:
- ["**/*.log", "**/error*.ts", "**/error*.py", "**/*debug*"]
- phase_relevance:
- ["design", "build"]
- archetype_relevance:
- ["*"]
Debugging Skill
Systematic debugging, root cause analysis, and error investigation.
Debugging Approach
1. Understand the Problem
- What is expected vs actual behavior?
- When did it start? Can it be reproduced?
- What changed recently?
2. Gather Evidence
- Read logs and stack traces
- Review recent changes
- Identify patterns
3. Form Hypothesis
- What is the most likely cause?
- What evidence supports this?
4. Test Hypothesis
- Design targeted test
- Observe results
- Refine if needed
5. Implement Fix
- Develop minimal fix
- Verify resolution
- Add regression tests
6. Document
- Root cause and fix
- Add monitoring/alerting
Issue Categories
- Logic Errors: Incorrect conditions, off-by-one, wrong operators
- State Errors: Race conditions, stale closures, shared mutable state
- Integration Errors: API mismatch, auth issues, timeouts
- Performance: N+1 queries, missing indexes, memory leaks
- Environment: Config differences, missing vars, permissions
Systematic Process
Follow the six-step debugging process with:
- Checklists for investigation and evidence gathering
- Severity levels (CRITICAL, HIGH, MEDIUM, LOW)
- Output templates for documentation
- Tools by environment (browser, Node.js, database)
See refs/process.md for detailed process, checklists, and severity guidelines.
Common Patterns
Debugging techniques and solutions for:
- Null/undefined issues with optional chaining
- Async timing and race conditions
- Scope and closure problems
- Binary search debugging with git bisect
- Performance profiling
- Database query analysis
See refs/patterns.md for code examples and debugging techniques.
External Integration Discovery
Debugging can leverage available integrations by capability:
| Capability | Discovery Patterns | Provides |
|------------|-------------------|----------|
| Error tracking | sentry, rollbar, datadog | Recent errors, stack traces, user context |
| Observability | newrelic, dynatrace, telemetry | APM data, traces, metrics |
| Logging | splunk, elastic, cloudwatch | Log aggregation, search |
Discover available integrations via capability detection. Fall back to local log analysis via wicked-garden:search when none available.
Notes
- Start with the simplest explanation
- Use scientific method: hypothesis, test, refine
- Document your findings for future reference
- Add tests to prevent regression
Related Skills
mikeparcewski/skills/engineering/large-scale-migration
development
VerifiedTrustedCommunity
--- name: large-scale-migration description: How to execute a LARGE MECHANICAL change across any codebase with LEVERAGE instead of an agent-grind or hand-edits — a cross-cutting migration, refactor, rename, dialect/framework/DB port, library adoption, or bulk transform. The map→transform→gate pattern: a deterministic transform driven by a source-of-truth map, proven by a differential-equivalence gate. Use when the work is "migrate all X to Y", "rename Z everywhere", "port to a new DB/dialect/fra
8SKILL.mdUpdated Jun 3, 2026
mikeparcewski/wicked-garden:classify
testing
VerifiedTrustedCommunity
v11 LLM-based work-shape classifier. Replaces the regex archetype detector with the model's own reasoning. Reads the user's prompt, picks the right archetype(s) from the catalog, identifies signals (blast_radius, novelty, reversibility, etc.), and persists to SessionState so subsequent turns steer correctly. Use when: the prompt_submit hook emitted a `<wg classify-due />` directive, OR explicitly invoked at session start, OR when re-classifying after the user changes scope mid-session.
8SKILL.mdUpdated May 26, 2026
mikeparcewski/wicked-garden:archetype
tools
VerifiedTrustedCommunity
v11 work-shape archetype runner. When a prompt has been routed to one of the 9 archetypes (triage, explore, specify, decide, ship, review, incident, build, migrate), this skill is the entry point. It picks the right per-archetype playbook from refs/ and executes the phase shape declared in `.claude-plugin/archetypes.json`. Use when: a `<wg archetype="X">` or `<wg archetypes>` system-reminder tag appears, an explicit "let's run the X archetype" request, or when one of the per-archetype slash commands resolves to this skill.
8SKILL.mdUpdated May 8, 2026
mikeparcewski/intent
development
VerifiedTrustedCommunity
Show or set the session intent variable. Intent gates how loud the framework is — simple-edit (silent), feature/research (synthesis directive), rigor (full crew context). Auto-detected on turn 1; this skill overrides explicitly. Sticky for the session. Use when: "set intent", "intent override", "/wicked-garden:intent", "make the framework quiet", "force rigor", "what's my intent".
8SKILL.mdUpdated May 6, 2026