systematic-debugging SKILL.md skillA
systematic-debugging from blackbelttechnology/pi-agent-dashboard is an agent skill: a SKILL.md folder an AI agent loads when a task calls for it.
mdr add blackbelttechnology/pi-agent-dashboard/systematic-debugging@git:20260716.a5e1107Pins git:20260716.a5e1107 in mdr.lock. Pin the fingerprint instead.
- Audit grade
- A, 17 of 17 checks passed
- Kind
- SKILL.md skill
- Repository
- blackbelttechnology/pi-agent-dashboard
- Path
packages/eng-disciplines/.pi/skills/systematic-debugging/SKILL.md- Versions recorded
- 2
- Latest version
- git:20260716.a5e1107, committed Jul 16, 2026
- First version recorded
- Jul 4, 2026
- Size
- 7,476 bytes
- Repository stars
- 341
- License
- MIT
Root-cause a bug already in front of you, instead of guessing at fixes. Use on triggers like "root cause this", "why is this failing", "debug systematically", "this test is flaky", "it works locally but not in CI", or when a fix attempt has already failed once. Enforces a phased evidence-first process before any code change. Not a feature-build or ship workflow.
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
A bug is a gap between what the code does and what you believe it does. Guessing at fixes closes the gap by accident, if at all — and each blind edit adds a new variable that hides the real cause. Systematic debugging is the discipline of **gathering evidence until the cause is known**, then changing exactly one thing.
The failure mode this skill prevents: reading a stack trace, forming an instant theory, editing code to match the theory, re-running, and repeating. That loop feels like progress and usually is not — it mutates the system faster than it explains it.
## When to Use
- A test fails and the message doesn't immediately tell you why
- Behaviour differs between environments ("works locally, fails in CI", "works in dev mode, not production")
- A fix you already tried didn't work (you are now on attempt ≥ 2 — stop guessing)
- An intermittent / flaky failure you can't reproduce on demand
- A regression: something that worked now doesn't, and you don't know which change broke it
**When NOT to use:**
- The cause is already obvious and proven (typo, off-by-one you can see, wrong constant)
…Read the whole file at its exact version.
How to install
mdr add blackbelttechnology/pi-agent-dashboard/systematic-debugging@sha256:d978a8f081e0fe17The line at the top of this page pins the label git:20260716.a5e1107, 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_izwfvkkyn7ywyc6e)
6 badge image fetches in 30 days. What the badge shows.
Versions
The registry has recorded 2 versions of this file, between Jul 4, 2026 and Jul 16, 2026, about one every 13 days.
| version | committed | commit | size | audit | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| git:20260716.a5e1107 latest | 2026-07-16 | a5e1107 | 7,476 B | A | view · diff |
| git:20260704.d05f748 | 2026-07-04 | d05f748 | 7,476 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 (7476 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
blackbelttechnology/pi-agent-dashboard · 341 stars · license MIT · pushed 2026-11-06 · branch develop
API
GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/artifacts/art_izwfvkkyn7ywyc6e GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/resolve?ref=blackbelttechnology/pi-agent-dashboard/systematic-debugging GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/blob/d978a8f081e0fe17c6d33c43dfa91b9ca6d4bb51535e192fe5d07e2bdab72fb0
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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