diagnosing-bugs

Diagnose hard bugs and performance regressions through a structured six-phase feedback-loop workflow.

1|Updated Jun 2, 2026
One-click install
npx skills add https://github.com/SevWren/Daily-Motivation-Brain-Helper --skill diagnosing-bugs-sevwren
Or copy as Structured Prompt for Agent▼
Please help me install this Agent Skill.
Skill: diagnosing-bugs
Source: https://github.com/SevWren/Daily-Motivation-Brain-Helper/tree/main/CLAUDE/skills/engineering/diagnosing-bugs
Command: npx skills add https://github.com/SevWren/Daily-Motivation-Brain-Helper --skill diagnosing-bugs-sevwren

SYSTEM DOCUMENTATION & REQUIREMENTS

💡 This Skill includes scripts (resource) components.

What problem does it solve? Hard bugs and flaky performance regressions resist casual code reading; without a reproducible red signal, debugging devolves into guessing. This Skill enforces a disciplined diagnosis loop that builds a tight pass/fail feedback signal before any hypothesis is tested. ## Core Features & Use Cases - Feedback Loop Construction: Ten ranked techniques for building a red-capable repro, from failing tests and curl scripts to bisection harnesses, differential loops, and property-based fuzzing. - Structured Six-Phase Process: Build a loop, reproduce and minimise, generate 3-5 falsifiable ranked hypotheses, instrument with tagged debug logs, fix with a regression test, then clean up and post-mortem. - Non-Deterministic Bug Handling: Strategies to raise reproduction rates via looped triggers, parallelisation, and stress so flaky bugs become debuggable. - Use Case: A user reports an intermittent export failure. The Skill guides building a CLI replay harness from a captured request, minimising the failing input, ranking hypotheses, and landing a fix with a regression test. ## Quick Start Ask the assistant to diagnose the bug where the export endpoint intermittently returns empty files, following the diagnosing-bugs workflow.

Frequently Asked Questions about diagnosing-bugs

High-intent search queries and answers about installing and using this skill.

FAQPage Schema
How do I debug a bug that only happens sometimes?▼

Non-deterministic bugs require raising the reproduction rate rather than finding a clean repro. Loop the trigger 100 times, parallelise execution, add stress, and narrow timing windows until the failure rate is high enough to debug against.

How to reproduce a bug before fixing it?▼

Build a tight feedback loop first: a failing test, curl script, CLI invocation with fixture input, or headless browser script that asserts the user's exact symptom. The loop must be deterministic, fast, and able to go red on this specific bug.

What is the best way to debug performance regressions?▼

For performance regressions, establish a baseline measurement first using a timing harness, profiler, or query plan, then bisect between known states. Logging is usually the wrong tool; measure first and fix second.

When should I write a regression test for a bug fix?▼

Write the regression test before the fix, but only if a correct seam exists where the test exercises the real bug pattern as it occurs at the call site. If no correct seam exists, document that architectural gap as a finding.

Why does debugging fail when jumping straight to hypotheses?▼

Forming theories before a red-capable reproduction command exists leads to unfalsifiable guesses and anchoring on the first plausible idea. A tight feedback loop makes bisection, hypothesis testing, and instrumentation actually converge on the cause.