6bnbn Systematic Debugging
Goal
Find the root cause before making changes.
Workflow
- Reproduce the issue reliably.
- Read the exact error output and identify where it surfaces.
- Check recent changes, configuration, and environmental differences.
- Compare the broken path to a working example when possible.
- Form one concrete hypothesis at a time.
- Make the smallest change needed to test that hypothesis.
- Verify the result before moving on.
Rules
- Do not stack multiple speculative fixes together.
- Do not call something fixed without reproducing the original path again.
- If three attempted fixes fail, step back and question the design or architecture.
- For behavior bugs, pair this with
test-driven-developmentwhen possible. - Before declaring success, use
verification-before-completion.
Debugging Notes
- Log key boundaries in multi-step systems.
- Trace bad values back to their origin rather than patching symptoms.
- Prefer evidence and comparison over intuition.
- Ask for clarification when the system behavior or expected outcome is unclear.