git:20260601.da7723a to git:20260605.09bdbf7

6 added, 0 removed. Audit A to A.

---

name: systematic-debugging

description: Structured debugging methodology using hypothesis-driven investigation, log analysis, and bisection to isolate and resolve defects.

allowed-tools: Read, Write, Edit, Bash, Grep, Glob, WebFetch, WebSearch, Agent, AskUserQuestion

graph:

domains: [domain:software-engineering]

skillAreas: [skill-area:agentic-loops, skill-area:orchestration-loop]

workflows: [workflow:feature-development]

topics: [topic:developer-experience]

roles: [role:tech-lead, role:backend-engineer]

---

- Unexpected behavior discovered during testing

- Bug reports require investigation

- Performance issues need root cause analysis

## Process

1. **Reproduce** - Confirm the defect with a minimal reproduction

2. **Hypothesize** - Form theories about the root cause

3. **Investigate** - Systematically test hypotheses (logs, breakpoints, bisection)

4. **Isolate** - Narrow to the specific component/line

5. **Fix** - Apply targeted fix addressing root cause

6. **Verify** - Confirm fix resolves the issue without regression

## Key Rules

- Never apply fixes without understanding the root cause

+ - For Strike-3/post-instrumentation handoffs, do not apply a source-code fix

+ until you enumerate at least 3 candidate root-cause hypotheses, give each

+ hypothesis a falsifying log line or observation, and cite concrete log

+ evidence for the selected fix. Use seq number when present; otherwise cite

+ timestamp, log-id, or artifact path plus the exact log line. If no proposed

+ fix cites a specific log line or log record, mark `needs-more-data`.

- Use web-researcher agent for unfamiliar error patterns

- Document the investigation path for future reference

- Verify that the fix does not introduce regressions

## Tool Use

Integrated into `methodologies/rpikit/rpikit-implement` (failure handling)