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systematic-debugging SKILL.md skillA

systematic-debugging from freenet/freenet-agent-skills is an agent skill: a SKILL.md folder an AI agent loads when a task calls for it.

Install it, pinned

mdr add freenet/freenet-agent-skills/systematic-debugging@git:20261103.f9fae8f

Pins git:20261103.f9fae8f in mdr.lock. Pin the fingerprint instead.

Audit grade: A, 17 of 17 checks passed
Kind: SKILL.md skill
Repository: freenet/freenet-agent-skills
Path: skills/systematic-debugging/SKILL.md
Versions recorded: 6
Latest version: git:20261103.f9fae8f, committed Nov 3, 2026
First version recorded: Feb 6, 2026
Size: 9,143 bytes
Repository stars: 27
License: LGPL-3.0

Methodology for debugging non-trivial problems systematically. This skill should be used automatically when investigating bugs, test failures, or unexpected behavior that isn't immediately obvious. Emphasizes hypothesis formation, parallel investigation with subagents, and avoiding common anti-patterns like jumping to conclusions or weakening tests.

Collected from public GitHub. Every version is saved exactly as it was and never changes. Install it at an exact version with the mdr tool, and every file is checked before it reaches your agent. The main file is checked against the SHA-256 fingerprint recorded here, and the others against the fingerprints GitHub keeps for its source commit. The automatic checks below grade the latest version, and the same checks always give the same file the same grade.

What the file says

# Systematic Debugging

## When to Use

Invoke this methodology when a test fails and the cause isn't immediately obvious, when unexpected behavior occurs in production or development, when an error message doesn't point to the fix, or when several causes are plausible.

Form explicit hypotheses before changing code, validate or eliminate each with evidence, and use subagents for concurrent readonly exploration.

## Debugging Scope Ladder

**Always prefer the smallest, most reproducible scope that demonstrates the bug.** Work up the ladder only when the smaller scope can't reproduce or doesn't apply:

| Priority | Scope | When to Use | Command |
|----------|-------|-------------|---------|
| 1 | **Unit test** | Logic errors, algorithm bugs, single-function issues | `cargo test -p freenet -- specific_test` |
| 2 | **Mocked unit test** | Transport/ring logic needing isolation | Unit test with `MockNetworkBridge` / `MockRing` |
| 3 | **Simulation test** | Multi-node behavior, state machines, race conditions | `cargo test -p freenet --features simulation_tests,testing --test simulation_integration` |
…

Read the whole file at its exact version.

How to install

The exact contents, by fingerprint

mdr add freenet/freenet-agent-skills/systematic-debugging@sha256:4acd2a0571288c23

The line at the top of this page pins the label git:20261103.f9fae8f, which is what most people want. This one pins the sha256 fingerprint of the contents instead, so it survives a label being moved. Either way the exact version is written to mdr.lock, and mdr install downloads and checks those contents again, so it installs them exactly or stops with an error.

Badge

[![mdr](https://markdownregistry.com/badge/art_4zoracw65onbkixw.svg)](https://markdownregistry.com/a/art_4zoracw65onbkixw)

1 badge image fetches in 30 days. What the badge shows.

Versions

The registry has recorded 6 versions of this file, between Feb 6, 2026 and Nov 3, 2026, about one every 54 days.

version	committed	commit	size	audit
git:20261103.f9fae8f latest	2026-11-03	f9fae8f	9,143 B	A	view · diff
git:20260528.5b60984	2026-05-28	5b60984	18,257 B	A	view · diff
git:20260327.ae6d65a	2026-03-27	ae6d65a	16,302 B	A	view · diff
git:20260305.d3a030d	2026-03-05	d3a030d	13,753 B	A	view · diff
git:20260220.36d1e5e	2026-02-20	36d1e5e	13,338 B	A	view · diff
git:20260206.bb1fd3a	2026-02-06	bb1fd3a	11,380 B	A	view

Audit of the latest version

A 17 of 17 checks passed. Fixed automatic checks with no AI involved, so the same checks give the same answer every run.

pass: Frontmatter block present
pass: Frontmatter declares a name
pass: Frontmatter declares a description
pass: Size between 200 bytes and 200 KB (9143 bytes)
pass: No zero-width or bidi control characters
pass: No instruction hidden inside an HTML comment
pass: No link to an exfiltration or paste host
pass: No credential-shaped string
pass: No instruction to send local credentials anywhere
pass: No text hidden with inline styles
pass: No prompt-injection phrasing
pass: No curl or wget piped into a shell
pass: No recursive delete of root, home or parent
pass: No instruction to read or print local credentials
pass: No base64 blob over 200 characters
pass: No link to a raw IP address
pass: No script tag

Source

GitHub

freenet/freenet-agent-skills · 27 stars · license LGPL-3.0 · pushed 2026-11-03 · branch main

API

GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/artifacts/art_4zoracw65onbkixw
GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/resolve?ref=freenet/freenet-agent-skills/systematic-debugging
GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/blob/4acd2a0571288c2383e4ceb20aed20c0901854a81734fd16c49b8852ea57f6b7

Your AI assistant does the legwork. You hear about the deals worth your word. Hand yours the standing instructions at modelranch.com and it joins the network that reads files like this one.

Guides: the SKILL.md format and its required fields · what to check before you install a skill · how to pin a skill to an exact version · where to find agent skills · keeping a team on the same skills · which agent file does what.