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Guides root cause investigation before proposing fixes. Use when debugging, diagnosing failures, investigating test errors, or tracing unexpected behaviour.
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Based on SOC occupation classification
Delegates a task to OpenAI Codex running as an interactive session in a herdr pane - uses the user's ChatGPT subscription, visible in herdr, steerable mid-session. Use when delegating work to codex, offloading a task to a GPT model (sol, terra, luna), or running a second opinion from a non-Claude frontier model. Not for Claude Code's own Agent tool or local-LLM delegation (delegating-to-local-llm).
Delegates a task to a local LLM running as a Pi coding-agent session in a herdr pane - the subagent is visible in herdr, can be steered mid-session, and costs no cloud tokens. Use when delegating work to a local model, spawning a Pi subagent, offloading a task to omlx (qwen, gemma), or running agent work offline. Not for Claude Code's own Agent tool or subagents inside Pi.
Loads the rageatc-code-oss operating rules directly from the plugin when the SessionStart hook has not delivered them. Use when the rageatc-code-oss failsafe line appears in session-start hook output, when the plugin's operating rules are absent from context, or when the injected rules look truncated.
Loads the rageatc-core-oss operating rules directly from the plugin when the SessionStart hook has not delivered them. Use when the rageatc-core-oss failsafe line appears in session-start hook output, when the plugin's operating rules are absent from context, or when the injected rules look truncated.
Raises an artefact's signal-to-noise ratio by removing text that earns nothing for its reader — filler, repetition, over-explanation, ornamental phrasing — and relocating conditional detail to references. Use to slim a skill, agent, or document, cut bloat, tighten prose, or shrink a file that has grown too long. Tuned for SKILL.md files.
Creates a design system for software with a UI. Use when a project has a user interface and architecture is confirmed — whether creating from scratch or extracting patterns from existing code.
| name | systematic-debugging |
| description | Guides root cause investigation before proposing fixes. Use when debugging, diagnosing failures, investigating test errors, or tracing unexpected behaviour. |
Random fixes waste time and create new bugs. Quick patches mask underlying issues.
Core principle: ALWAYS find root cause before attempting fixes. Symptom fixes are failure.
Violating the letter of this process is violating the spirit of debugging.
NO FIXES WITHOUT ROOT CAUSE INVESTIGATION FIRST
If you haven't completed Phase 1, you cannot propose fixes.
Use for ANY technical issue:
Use this ESPECIALLY when:
Don't skip when:
You MUST complete each phase before proceeding to the next.
BEFORE attempting ANY fix:
Read Error Messages Carefully
Reproduce Consistently
Check Recent Changes
Gather Evidence in Multi-Component Systems
WHEN system has multiple components (CI → build → signing, API → service → database):
BEFORE proposing fixes, add diagnostic instrumentation:
For EACH component boundary:
- Log what data enters component
- Log what data exits component
- Verify environment/config propagation
- Check state at each layer
Run once to gather evidence showing WHERE it breaks
THEN analyse evidence to identify failing component
THEN investigate that specific component
Trace Data Flow
WHEN error is deep in call stack:
See references/root-cause-tracing.md for the complete backward tracing technique.
Quick version:
Find the pattern before fixing:
Find Working Examples
Compare Against References
Identify Differences
Understand Dependencies
Scientific method:
Form Single Hypothesis
Test Minimally
Verify Before Continuing
When You Don't Know
Fix the root cause, not the symptom:
Create Failing Test Case
Implement Single Fix
Verify Fix
If Fix Doesn't Work
If 3+ Fixes Failed: Question Architecture
Pattern indicating architectural problem:
STOP and question fundamentals:
Report BLOCKED to orchestrator with evidence before attempting more fixes.
This is NOT a failed hypothesis - this is a wrong architecture.
If you catch yourself thinking:
ALL of these mean: STOP. Return to Phase 1.
If 3+ fixes failed: Question the architecture (see Phase 4, Step 5)
| Excuse | Reality |
|---|---|
| "Issue is simple, don't need process" | Simple issues have root causes too. Process is fast for simple bugs. |
| "Emergency, no time for process" | Systematic debugging is FASTER than guess-and-check thrashing. |
| "Just try this first, then investigate" | First fix sets the pattern. Do it right from the start. |
| "I'll write test after confirming fix works" | Untested fixes don't stick. Test first proves it. |
| "Multiple fixes at once saves time" | Can't isolate what worked. Causes new bugs. |
| "Reference too long, I'll adapt the pattern" | Partial understanding guarantees bugs. Read it completely. |
| "I see the problem, let me fix it" | Seeing symptoms ≠ understanding root cause. |
| "One more fix attempt" (after 2+ failures) | 3+ failures = architectural problem. Question pattern, don't fix again. |
If systematic investigation reveals issue is truly environmental, timing-dependent, or external:
But: 95% of "no root cause" cases are incomplete investigation.
These techniques are available in this skill's references directory:
references/root-cause-tracing.md - Trace bugs backward through call stack to find original triggerreferences/defence-in-depth.md - Add validation at multiple layers after finding root causereferences/condition-based-waiting.md - Replace arbitrary timeouts with condition pollingRelated skills: