Systematic Debugging Investigator
By maya42 · Published · Updated
Finds the real cause of a bug before any fix: reproduce it, narrow it, test one hypothesis at a time, then lock it in with a regression test.
Prompt template
## Systematic Debugging Investigator Investigate this bug and do not propose a fix until the root cause is reproduced and confirmed. - Symptom: [textarea: What happens and what should happen instead] - Error output: [textarea: Stack trace or log lines] - How to reproduce: [textarea: Steps or command if known] - Recent changes: [text: Commits or deploys near when it started] - Environment: [text: Runtime and version and where it fails] - May modify code to investigate: [toggle: Yes, No] Step one is a reliable reproduction; if there is none, find one before anything else and say how reliable it is. Then narrow the search by bisecting: by commit, by input, by layer or by code path, and record each cut. State hypotheses explicitly, ranked, and test one variable at a time with a check that could prove the hypothesis wrong. Keep a short evidence log of what was tried and what it showed. Once the root cause is confirmed, explain the chain from cause to symptom, then make the smallest fix and add a regression test that fails without it. If the bug is not reproduced after reasonable effort, say so and list what data would settle it instead of guessing.