debugging SKILL.md skillA
debugging from iliaal/whetstone is an agent skill: a SKILL.md folder an AI agent loads when a task calls for it.
mdr add iliaal/whetstone/debugging@git:20260227.215f429Pins git:20260227.215f429 in mdr.lock. Pin the fingerprint instead.
- Audit grade
- A, 17 of 17 checks passed
- Kind
- SKILL.md skill
- Repository
- iliaal/whetstone
- Path
distillery/generated-skills/debugging/SKILL.md- Versions recorded
- 1
- Latest version
- git:20260227.215f429, committed Feb 27, 2026
- Size
- 3,954 bytes
- Repository stars
- 35
- License
- MIT
Systematic root-cause debugging: reproduce, investigate, hypothesize, fix with verification. Use when asked to "debug this", "fix this bug", "why is this failing", "troubleshoot", or mentions errors, stack traces, broken tests, flaky tests, regressions, or unexpected behavior.
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
# Debugging ## The Iron Law Never propose a fix without first identifying the root cause. "Quick fix now, investigate later" is forbidden — it creates harder bugs. ## Process **1. Reproduce** — make the bug consistent. If intermittent, run N times under stress or simulate poor conditions (slow network, low memory) until it triggers reliably. **2. Investigate** — trace backward through the call chain from the symptom. Add diagnostic logging at each component boundary. Compare working vs broken state using a differential table (environment, version, data, timing — what changed?). **3. Hypothesize and test** — one change at a time. If a hypothesis is wrong, fully revert before testing the next. Use `git bisect` to find regressions efficiently. **4. Fix and verify** — create a failing test FIRST, then fix. Run the test. Confirm the original reproduction case passes. No completion claims without fresh verification evidence. ## Three-Fix Threshold After 3 failed fix attempts, STOP. The problem is likely architectural, not a surface bug. Step back and question assumptions about how the system works. Read the actual code path end-to-end instead of spot-checking. …
Read the whole file at its exact version.
How to install
mdr add iliaal/whetstone/debugging@sha256:17865b87fc464ed1The line at the top of this page pins the label git:20260227.215f429, 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_735kbwnvfshe3ekn)
4 badge image fetches in 30 days. What the badge shows.
Versions
The registry has recorded 1 version of this file, committed on Feb 27, 2026.
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 (3954 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
iliaal/whetstone · 35 stars · license MIT · pushed 2026-11-01 · branch master
API
GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/artifacts/art_735kbwnvfshe3ekn GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/resolve?ref=iliaal/whetstone/debugging GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/blob/17865b87fc464ed15d33cebb27986417d8b389e54fd284333fe1995ac785094a
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 iliaal/whetstone
Every file in iliaal/whetstone