principle-fix-root-causes SKILL.md skillA

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principle-fix-root-causes from j-star-films-studios/vibecode-protocol-suite is an agent skill: a SKILL.md folder an AI agent loads when a task calls for it.

mdr add j-star-films-studios/vibecode-protocol-suite/principle-fix-root-causes@git:20260821.1b830a3

Pins git:20260821.1b830a3 in mdr.lock. Pin the fingerprint instead.

Audit grade

A, 17 of 17 checks passed

Kind

SKILL.md skill

Repository

j-star-films-studios/vibecode-protocol-suite

Path

assets/.agent/skills/engineering-principles/fix-root-causes/SKILL.md

Versions recorded

1

Latest version

git:20260821.1b830a3, committed Aug 21, 2026

Size

1,366 bytes

Repository stars

26

License

ISC

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

mdr add j-star-films-studios/vibecode-protocol-suite/principle-fix-root-causes@sha256:cfae13b5a3e27bc8

[![mdr](https://markdownregistry.com/badge/art_ohia7d6dpuwuk2qq.svg)](https://markdownregistry.com/a/art_ohia7d6dpuwuk2qq)

Versions

The registry has recorded 1 version of this file, committed on Aug 21, 2026.

Audit of the latest version

Source

API

GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/artifacts/art_ohia7d6dpuwuk2qq
GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/resolve?ref=j-star-films-studios/vibecode-protocol-suite/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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