debug

name

debug

description

Start a debug session - load the CANONIFY.md index, route the error you paste (text, screenshot, or a log-file reference) to the canon for that area so Claude debugs with the right context, then after the fix suggest capturing the footgun via /canonify:update-canon or /canonify:create-canon. Run when the user types /canonify:debug, or says "help me debug this error", "I'm getting this exception", "here's an error log / stack trace", "why is this failing".

Debug - route an error to its canon, then feed the fix back

Canonify's reactive gate - the twin of /canonify:build. Build routes a task forward to its canons; Debug routes a failure to the canon for the area it lives in, so Claude diagnoses with the documented patterns and gotchas already in context instead of grepping the project cold. Then, once the bug is fixed, it closes the loop: the lesson goes back into the canon so the same class of bug cannot recur.

Canonify does not do the debugging. This gate front-loads the right context and, at the end, points you at the capture command - the diagnosis and fix in between are normal work.

How to run

1. Load the index, set intent. Read CANONIFY.md (the manifest of one-line canon summaries). If the user typed /canonify:debug alone, acknowledge and wait for the error; if they included it, go on.

2. Take the error in. Accept any form: pasted text, a screenshot (read it via vision and transcribe the message + stack), or a referenced log file (read it). Pull out the routing signal: the file paths + line numbers in the stack frames, the exception / error type, and the symbols / methods named.

3. Route the error against the index. Walk the CANONIFY.md summaries and ask which canon's area the error falls in. A stack trace is a precise routing signal - it names exact files and symbols, a stronger match than a prose task. If a canon's area matches, load it in full, paying special attention to its Gotchas section (the known footguns for that area). If nothing matches, proceed on breadth alone and say so - do not shoehorn the error into an unrelated canon.

4. Debug normally. With the right canon (and its gotchas) in context, find the cause and propose/apply the fix in the user's usual flow. This step is ordinary debugging - the gate's value is the context it loaded around it.

5. Close the loop - suggest, never write. Judge whether the bug carries a durable, reusable lesson (a footgun worth documenting), then point at the right command:

   • a reusable footgun + a canon was loaded -> "worth a gotcha in <canon> - run /canonify:update-canon", and state the rule/gotcha you would add.
   • a reusable footgun + no canon covers the area -> "this area is undocumented - run /canonify:create-canon".
   • the loaded canon ALREADY warns about this -> surface it: the gotcha exists but the bug happened anyway, so either it needs to be sharper (/canonify:update-canon to tighten it) or /canonify:build never loaded that canon for the original task. This is feedback on the canon, not a new entry.
   • a one-off slip with no general lesson -> say so and suggest nothing. Don't nag.

   The user confirms by running the suggested command. The capture itself is owned by /canonify:update-canon and /canonify:create-canon - this gate never writes a canon.

Don't do

• Don't write or edit a canon here. Debug routes and suggests; /canonify:update-canon (add / revise) and /canonify:create-canon (new) own the capture. Zero duplication.
• Don't claim Canonify fixed the bug. It front-loads context and closes the loop; the diagnosis and fix are normal work.
• Don't capture noise. No durable, reusable lesson -> no suggestion. A typo teaches the canon nothing.
• Don't force a match. If the error's area isn't in any canon, debug on breadth and say nothing matched - never route it into an unrelated canon.

Output template

## /canonify:debug

Index loaded: CANONIFY.md (<N> canons)
Error: <the exception / message + where it surfaced>
Routing signal: <files / symbols / type pulled from the error>

Routed to: <canon>.md  (matched summary: "<line>")
           (or) no canon matches this area - debugging on breadth only

[diagnosis + fix - normal work]

Fix: <one-line what changed> @ `path:line`

Capture: <update | create | sharpen | none>
- update   Worth a gotcha in <canon>.md: "<the rule>". Run /canonify:update-canon.
- create   This area has no canon. Run /canonify:create-canon.
- sharpen  <canon>.md already warns about this - it happened anyway. Sharpen it
           (/canonify:update-canon), or it wasn't loaded at build time.
- none     One-off slip, no reusable lesson - nothing to capture.