bouclem Debugging Strategies
Transform debugging from frustrating guesswork into systematic problem-solving with proven strategies, powerful tools, and methodical approaches.
Use this skill when
- Tracking down elusive bugs
- Investigating performance issues
- Debugging production incidents
- Analyzing crash dumps or stack traces
- Debugging distributed systems
Do not use this skill when
- There is no reproducible issue or observable symptom
- The task is purely feature development
- You cannot access logs, traces, or runtime signals
Instructions
- Reproduce the issue and capture logs, traces, and environment details.
- Form hypotheses and design controlled experiments.
- Narrow scope with binary search and targeted instrumentation.
- Document findings and verify the fix.
- If detailed playbooks are required, open
resources/implementation-playbook.md.
Resources
resources/implementation-playbook.mdfor detailed debugging patterns and checklists.
Limitations
- Use this skill only when the task clearly matches the scope described above.
- Do not treat the output as a substitute for environment-specific validation, testing, or expert review.
- Stop and ask for clarification if required inputs, permissions, safety boundaries, or success criteria are missing.