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principle-fix-root-causes SKILL.md skillA

principle-fix-root-causes from shiwenbin1617/pstack is an agent skill: a SKILL.md folder an AI agent loads when a task calls for it.

Install it, pinned

mdr add shiwenbin1617/pstack/principle-fix-root-causes@git:20260827.f7b391a

Pins git:20260827.f7b391a in mdr.lock. Pin the fingerprint instead.

Audit grade: A, 17 of 17 checks passed
Kind: SKILL.md skill
Repository: shiwenbin1617/pstack
Path: skills/principle-fix-root-causes/SKILL.md
Versions recorded: 1
Latest version: git:20260827.f7b391a, committed Aug 27, 2026
Size: 1,366 bytes
Repository stars: 3
License: a license file GitHub does not identify

Apply when debugging. Trace each symptom to its root cause and fix it there; reproduce first, ask why until you reach it, resist nil-check guards that silence crashes.

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

# Fix Root Causes

When debugging, do not paper over symptoms. Trace every problem to its root cause and fix it there.

**Why:** Symptom fixes accumulate. Each workaround makes the system harder to reason about, and the real bug remains. Root-cause fixes are slower upfront but reduce total debugging time.

**Pattern:**
- Reproduce first (if you can't reproduce it, you can't verify your fix)
- Ask "why" until you hit the root cause
- Resist the urge to add guards (adding a nil check to silence a crash is a symptom fix)
- If a workaround needs a paragraph-long comment to justify it, the code is wrong (fix the code, not the comment)
- Check for the pattern, not just the instance (grep for the same pattern, fix all instances)
- When stuck, instrument. Don't guess (add logging, read the actual error)

**Restart bugs: suspect state before code**

Code doesn't change between runs. State does. When something "fails after restart," suspect stale persistent state first: config files, caches, lock files, serialized state. If clearing a state file restores behavior, prioritize state validation as the fix.

Read the whole file at its exact version.

How to install

The exact contents, by fingerprint

mdr add shiwenbin1617/pstack/principle-fix-root-causes@sha256:cfae13b5a3e27bc8

The line at the top of this page pins the label git:20260827.f7b391a, 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_bn5eqyhuz2hf5unh.svg)](https://markdownregistry.com/a/art_bn5eqyhuz2hf5unh)

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

Versions

The registry has recorded 1 version of this file, committed on Aug 27, 2026.

version	committed	commit	size	audit
git:20260827.f7b391a latest	2026-08-27	f7b391a	1,366 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 (1366 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

shiwenbin1617/pstack · 3 stars · license a license file GitHub does not identify · pushed 2026-09-07 · branch main

API

GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/artifacts/art_bn5eqyhuz2hf5unh
GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/resolve?ref=shiwenbin1617/pstack/principle-fix-root-causes
GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/blob/cfae13b5a3e27bc88d069092cae97b3e95246879d5bf14f0e9a4db719c781952

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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