systematic-debugging

Follow a four-phase process: investigate the root cause by reading errors and reproducing the issue, analyze patterns against working examples, form and test a single hypothesis, then implement one verified fix. Never propose fixes before completing the investigation phase.

Replace setTimeout or sleep calls with condition-based waiting that polls for the actual condition you care about, such as an event appearing or state changing. Poll every 10ms with a clear timeout error, and only use arbitrary delays when testing documented timing behavior.

Stop after three failed fixes and question the architecture rather than attempting a fourth fix. Repeated failures where each fix reveals new problems elsewhere indicate a structural issue that requires architectural discussion, not another patch.

Use the find-polluter.sh bisection script, which runs each test file individually and checks whether the unwanted file or directory appears afterward. It stops at the first polluting test and reports the file for investigation.

Never. Simple bugs have root causes too, and the process is fast for simple issues. Skipping investigation under time pressure leads to symptom fixes that fail and cause more rework than the systematic approach.