systematic-debugging SKILL.md skillA

systematic-debugging from rolandbrecht/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 rolandbrecht/agent-skills/systematic-debugging@git:20260307.ead8663

Pins git:20260307.ead8663 in mdr.lock. Pin the fingerprint instead.

Audit grade
A, 17 of 17 checks passed
Kind
SKILL.md skill
Repository
rolandbrecht/agent-skills
Path
systematic-debugging/SKILL.md
Versions recorded
3
Latest version
git:20260307.ead8663, committed Mar 7, 2026
First version recorded
Mar 7, 2026
Size
4,550 bytes
Repository stars
4
License
MIT

Trigger this AUTOMATICALLY anytime you encounter a stack trace, test failure, production bug, or unexpected behavior. Do NOT guess the fix or propose code changes before explicitly triggering this skill. This skill mandates a strict data-gathering and hypothesis phase before you are permitted to edit ANY source code.

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

## Overview

Random fixes waste time and create new bugs. Quick patches mask underlying issues. As an AI agent, it is tempting to rapidly guess the solution based on symptoms because it is fast. **You must resist this temptation.**

**Core principle:** ALWAYS find the root cause before attempting fixes.
**The Iron Law:** NO FIXES WITHOUT ROOT CAUSE INVESTIGATION FIRST.

## When to Use

Use for ANY technical issue:

- Test failures
- Bugs in production or local development
- Build or CI pipeline failures
- Unexplained performance issues

**Do not skip this process even if:**

- The issue seems "simple" or "obvious"
- You are under time pressure
- The user asks for a "quick fix"

---

## Phase 1: Planning (Root Cause Investigation)

**BEFORE attempting ANY code modification or fix:**

1. **Information Gathering (Do Not Guess)**
   - Read the error message and stack trace completely. Note the exact file paths and line numbers.
   - Use `view_file` to read the surrounding code where the error occurred.
   - Use `grep_search` to find definitions, usages, or configurations related to the failing components.
…

Read the whole file at its exact version.

How to install

The exact contents, by fingerprint
mdr add rolandbrecht/agent-skills/systematic-debugging@sha256:29344ce48cdd62d2

The line at the top of this page pins the label git:20260307.ead8663, 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 badge

[![mdr](https://markdownregistry.com/badge/art_6cng2hu5dh2l6pgi.svg)](https://markdownregistry.com/a/art_6cng2hu5dh2l6pgi)

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

Versions

The registry has recorded 3 versions of this file, all committed on Mar 7, 2026.

versioncommittedcommitsizeaudit
git:20260307.ead8663 latest2026-03-07 ead8663 4,550 BA view · diff
git:20260307.15df2cf2026-03-07 15df2cf 4,551 BA view · diff
git:20260307.e65d69b2026-03-07 e65d69b 3,671 BA 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 (4550 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

rolandbrecht/agent-skills · 4 stars · license MIT · pushed 2026-09-21 · branch main

API

GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/artifacts/art_6cng2hu5dh2l6pgi
GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/resolve?ref=rolandbrecht/agent-skills/systematic-debugging
GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/blob/29344ce48cdd62d2d1a92398b26d4fb2c9456bf5db82cd40a129d3cb072425c9

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.

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Every file in rolandbrecht/agent-skills

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