Skills systematic-debugging
📦

systematic-debugging

Content revision r1 Medium Risk ⚙️ External commands📁 Filesystem access🔑 Env variables

Debug With Root Cause Discipline

Random fixes can waste time and create new defects. This skill guides Claude, Codex, and Claude Code through evidence-based debugging before fixes.

Supports: Claude Codex Code(CC)
📊 71 Adequate

Install with my Agent

Copy this request to your Agent. It includes the canonical Skill page and manifest.

Agent request
Review the Skillstore skill "systematic-debugging" from https://skillstore.io/skills/zhanlincui-systematic-debugging.md and its manifest at https://skillstore.io/api/skills/zhanlincui-systematic-debugging/manifest. Verify the artifact. You may proceed after verification, subject to the environment's own policy.

Your Agent should still show its plan and request any confirmation required by the security policy.

Agent-readable resources

Use these links when an AI agent, crawler, or script needs clean context instead of reading the full page.

Markdown detail GET /skills/zhanlincui-systematic-debugging.md Signed manifest GET /api/skills/zhanlincui-systematic-debugging/manifest Signed lockfile GET /api/skills/zhanlincui-systematic-debugging/lockfile

Test it

Using "systematic-debugging". A payment test intermittently stays pending after several sleep increases.

Expected outcome:

The skill would stop further sleep changes, inspect status update flow, reproduce the failure, and define the real completion condition.

Using "systematic-debugging". A test run creates repository state in the wrong directory.

Expected outcome:

The skill would trace the directory value from the failing operation back through each caller until the first invalid value is found.

Using "systematic-debugging". A proposed fix passed once but failed on the next run.

Expected outcome:

The skill would reject adding more changes on top, record the failed hypothesis, and return to evidence gathering.

Security Audit

Medium Risk
v4 • 7/8/2026 Open versioned report

I reviewed the static findings in context. The Ruby backtick, reconnaissance, environment-file, and device-file hits are false positives from Markdown fences, TypeScript template literals, safe NODE_ENV checks, and a manual test helper. One medium semantic issue remains because a debugging example can encourage logging environment and keychain state without redaction.

11
Files scanned
1,262
Lines analyzed
0
Review items
0
False positives ignored

Confirmed security concerns (1)

Medium
SKILL.md:90-105
Diagnostic Logging May Expose Sensitive CI Context
The debugging example tells users to inspect environment variables matching IDENTITY and keychain identity state. If copied into CI logs without redaction, this can expose signing or deployment metadata.
The commands are documentation examples and not auto-run, but the example explicitly logs environment and keychain state during signing diagnostics.

Risk Factors

⚙️ External commands (20)
condition-based-waiting-example.ts:36 condition-based-waiting-example.ts:79 condition-based-waiting-example.ts:128 condition-based-waiting.md:74-80 defense-in-depth.md:31-34 defense-in-depth.md:34-38 defense-in-depth.md:64-70 find-polluter.sh:22 find-polluter.sh:23 find-polluter.sh:30 SKILL.md:18-20 SKILL.md:20-77 SKILL.md:77-87 SKILL.md:87-90 SKILL.md:90-106 SKILL.md:106-114 SKILL.md:114-179 SKILL.md:179-282 SKILL.md:282-283 SKILL.md:283-284
📁 Filesystem access (3)
condition-based-waiting.md:55 CREATION-LOG.md:7 find-polluter.sh:42
🔑 Env variables (4)
defense-in-depth.md:58 defense-in-depth.md:58 root-cause-tracing.md:77 root-cause-tracing.md:77
Audited by: codex View Audit History →
Share & cite this report

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Open versioned report
Security Assessment

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Academic citations (APA · BibTeX · CFF)

APA citation

ZhanlinCui. (2026). systematic-debugging security audit report (audit version 4) [Author version unspecified]. Skillstore. https://skillstore.io/skills/zhanlincui-systematic-debugging/audits/4

BibTeX citation

@techreport{zhanlincui-zhanlincui-systematic-debugging-2026, author = {ZhanlinCui}, title = {systematic-debugging security audit report (audit version 4)}, institution = {Skillstore}, year = {2026}, number = {4}, url = {https://skillstore.io/skills/zhanlincui-systematic-debugging/audits/4}, note = {Author version unspecified} }

CITATION.cff

cff-version: 1.2.0 message: "If you use this Skill, cite its author and this versioned security audit report." title: "systematic-debugging security audit report (audit version 4)" version: "unspecified" type: report authors: - name: "ZhanlinCui" date-released: "2026-07-08" url: "https://skillstore.io/skills/zhanlincui-systematic-debugging/audits/4" identifiers: - type: other value: "skillstore:zhanlincui-systematic-debugging:audit:4" description: "Skillstore immutable audit report identifier"

Compare variants

12 installable variants

Each author remains a separate installable skill. The recommended variant is ranked by Skillstore evidence.

Why this variant is first

Highest Skillstore Score
Asmayaseen Recommended

asmayaseen-systematic-debugging

Skillstore Score 81
Evidence Confidence High
Skillstore usage 20
Updated

2026-08-21

ChrisWiles

chriswiles-systematic-debugging

Skillstore Score 79
Evidence Confidence High
Skillstore usage 11
Updated

2026-08-21

Doyajin174

doyajin174-systematic-debugging

Skillstore Score 79
Evidence Confidence High
Skillstore usage 9
Updated

2026-08-21

DMJGilbert

dmjgilbert-systematic-debugging

Skillstore Score 79
Evidence Confidence High
Skillstore usage 9
Updated

2026-08-21

CodingCossack

codingcossack-systematic-debugging

Skillstore Score 74
Evidence Confidence High
Skillstore usage 59
Updated

2026-08-21

ZhanlinCui Current

zhanlincui-systematic-debugging

Skillstore Score 71
Evidence Confidence High
Skillstore usage 90
Updated

2026-08-21

obra

obra-systematic-debugging

Skillstore Score 71
Evidence Confidence High
Skillstore usage 14
Updated

2026-08-21

Cycleaddict

cycleaddict-systematic-debugging

Skillstore Score 71
Evidence Confidence High
Skillstore usage 5
Updated

2026-08-21

davila7

davila7-systematic-debugging

Skillstore Score 70
Evidence Confidence High
Skillstore usage 5
Updated

2026-08-21

DYAI2025

dyai2025-systematic-debugging

Skillstore Score 70
Evidence Confidence Medium
Skillstore usage 45
Updated

2026-08-21

Cygnusfear

cygnusfear-systematic-debugging

Skillstore Score 50
Evidence Confidence High
Skillstore usage 5
Updated

2026-08-21

sickn33

sickn33-systematic-debugging

Skillstore Score 38
Evidence Confidence Medium
Skillstore usage 12
Updated

2026-08-21

Skillstore Score

Why this score Evidence Confidence: High
55
Architecture
85
Maintainability
87
Content
70
Community
91
Spec Compliance

What You Can Build

Investigate Test Failures

Use the checklist to reproduce a failing test, inspect errors, and form one evidence-backed hypothesis before editing code.

Reduce Flaky Async Tests

Replace guess-based sleeps with condition-based waiting after identifying the actual state or event the test needs.

Review Incident Fixes

Check whether a proposed production fix addresses the root cause or only hides the visible symptom.

Try These Prompts

Start a Bug Investigation 
Use systematic debugging on this failure. Read the error, list the evidence we have, and tell me the next investigation step before any fix: [failure details].
Trace a Bad Value 
Trace this bad value backward through the call chain. Identify the immediate cause, each caller, and the original trigger before recommending a fix: [trace or logs].
Replace Flaky Waiting 
Analyze this flaky test. Find the condition it should wait for, explain why current timing is unreliable, and propose a condition-based waiting plan: [test behavior].
Audit a Failed Fix Sequence 
We have tried multiple fixes and each failed. Apply the systematic debugging process, identify untested assumptions, and decide whether the architecture should be questioned: [attempt history].

Best Practices

  • Collect logs, errors, recent changes, and reproduction steps before editing code.
  • Change one variable at a time so each hypothesis has a clear result.
  • After finding the root cause, add tests and validation at relevant layers.

Avoid

  • Applying a familiar fix before proving it matches the current failure.
  • Increasing timeouts to hide flaky behavior without identifying the awaited condition.
  • Bundling refactors with the bug fix before the hypothesis is verified.

Frequently Asked Questions

When should I use this skill?
Use it for bugs, failing tests, build errors, performance issues, and unexpected behavior before proposing fixes.
Does this skill write code for me?
It guides the debugging process. Code changes should come after the root cause and hypothesis are clear.
Can it help with flaky tests?
Yes. It includes condition-based waiting guidance for replacing arbitrary sleeps with reliable state checks.
Is it useful during production incidents?
Yes, but urgent mitigation may come first when safety requires it. The root-cause process should still follow.
What information should I provide?
Provide the exact error, logs, reproduction steps, recent changes, and any fixes already attempted.
What tools does it support?
The report lists support for Claude, Codex, and Claude Code.

Developer Details

Author

ZhanlinCui

License

MIT

Skillstore revision

r1

Version notice

The author did not declare a version.

Repository

https://github.com/ZhanlinCui/Ultimate-Agent-Skills-Collection/tree/main/systematic-debugging

Ref

88a205c7f635a966e31156313b590d59007c5caa

Maintenance freshness

7/20/2026

Usage

89 downloads · 227 views

File structure

📄 condition-based-waiting-example.ts

📄 condition-based-waiting.md

📄 CREATION-LOG.md

📄 defense-in-depth.md

📄 find-polluter.sh

📄 root-cause-tracing.md

📄 SKILL.md

📄 test-academic.md

📄 test-pressure-1.md

📄 test-pressure-2.md

📄 test-pressure-3.md

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