systematic-debugging SKILL.md skillA
systematic-debugging from sethgammon/citadel is an agent skill: a SKILL.md folder an AI agent loads when a task calls for it.
mdr add sethgammon/citadel/systematic-debugging@git:20260624.445e974Pins git:20260624.445e974 in mdr.lock. Pin the fingerprint instead.
- Audit grade
- A, 17 of 17 checks passed
- Kind
- SKILL.md skill
- Repository
- sethgammon/citadel
- Path
skills/systematic-debugging/SKILL.md- Versions recorded
- 5
- Latest version
- git:20260624.445e974, committed Jun 24, 2026
- First version recorded
- Mar 29, 2026
- Size
- 5,449 bytes
- Repository stars
- 927
- License
- MIT
4-phase root cause analysis: observe, hypothesize, verify, fix. Enforces investigation before any code changes. Emergency stop after 2 failed fixes. Prevents shotgun debugging and fix cascades.
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 — Root Cause Before Fix
## Orientation
**Use when:** root cause is unknown and premature fixes keep failing -- enforces observe -> hypothesize -> verify before touching code.
**Don't use when:** root cause is already known (use /marshal to implement the fix); the bug is shallow and the stack trace is enough (use /do).
## Protocol
### Phase 1: OBSERVATION & REPRODUCTION
1. Read the error message, stack trace, or bug description
2. Reproduce the issue:
- If it's a type error: run typecheck and read the full error
- If it's a runtime error: identify the triggering conditions
- If it's a behavioral bug: document expected vs actual behavior
3. Isolate the failing component/function:
- What file? What function? What line?
- What are the inputs when it fails?
- Does it fail consistently or intermittently?
**Output**: A clear problem statement:
"{Component} does {X} when it should do {Y}, triggered by {condition}"
### Phase 2: HYPOTHESIS & VERIFICATION
1. Formulate up to 3 hypotheses for WHY the bug exists:
- H1: {most likely cause} — because {evidence}
- H2: {second candidate} — because {evidence}
…Read the whole file at its exact version.
How to install
mdr add sethgammon/citadel/systematic-debugging@sha256:f673e7bf5f8e7ff2The line at the top of this page pins the label git:20260624.445e974, 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.
[](https://markdownregistry.com/a/art_6f6u4ziwaurvr4gn)
8 badge image fetches in 30 days. What the badge shows.
Versions
The registry has recorded 5 versions of this file, between Mar 29, 2026 and Jun 24, 2026, about one every 22 days.
| version | committed | commit | size | audit | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| git:20260624.445e974 latest | 2026-06-24 | 445e974 | 5,449 B | A | view · diff |
| git:20260611.0f3f8e7 | 2026-06-11 | 0f3f8e7 | 5,460 B | A | view · diff |
| git:20260611.a647953 | 2026-06-11 | a647953 | 5,447 B | A | view · diff |
| git:20260503.631b94d | 2026-05-03 | 631b94d | 5,360 B | A | view · diff |
| git:20260329.6c378a2 | 2026-03-29 | 6c378a2 | 4,965 B | A | view |
Audit of the latest version
- pass: Frontmatter block present
- pass: Frontmatter declares a name
- pass: Frontmatter declares a description
- pass: Size between 200 bytes and 200 KB (5449 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
sethgammon/citadel · 927 stars · license MIT · pushed 2026-11-05 · branch main
API
GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/artifacts/art_6f6u4ziwaurvr4gn GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/resolve?ref=sethgammon/citadel/systematic-debugging GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/blob/f673e7bf5f8e7ff249b09f263b24b095917bb9c5ebc58bea446209cf34391c4c
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.
More from sethgammon/citadel
Every file in sethgammon/citadel