debugging-workflow

description	Systematic debugging workflow with parallel agent exploration, root cause analysis, and fix verification. Adapted from feature-dev methodology for bug investigation.
name	debugging-workflow
allowed-tools	["Read","Grep","Glob","Bash","Task","AskUserQuestion","TodoWrite"]

Debugging Workflow Rules

Core Philosophy

Understand before you fix.

Debugging is not about quick patches - it's about:

1. Deep understanding of the bug's manifestation
2. Systematic tracing to root cause
3. Strategic fix design considering side effects
4. Thorough verification of the fix

---

6-Phase Debugging Workflow

Phase	Name	Purpose	Agents
1	Discovery	Understand bug symptoms	-
2	Exploration	Trace execution paths	2-3 debug-explorer
3	Root Cause	Identify true cause	Analysis synthesis
4	Strategy	Design fix approach	2-3 debug-strategist
5	Implementation	Apply the fix	User-approved
6	Verification	Confirm fix works	2-3 debug-verifier

---

Phase Details

Phase 1: Bug Discovery

Gather complete information about the bug:

BugReport:
  symptoms: What is happening?
  expected: What should happen?
  reproduction: Steps to reproduce
  frequency: Always / Sometimes / Rare
  context: Environment, version, user actions
  error_output: Error messages, stack traces, logs

Key Questions:

• When did this start happening?
• What changed recently?
• Is it environment-specific?
• Can it be reliably reproduced?

---

Phase 2: Codebase Exploration

Launch 2-3 debug-explorer agents in parallel with different focuses:

Focus	Investigation Target
Execution Path	Trace the failing code path step by step
Data Flow	Track data transformations and mutations
Dependencies	Check related components and integrations

Serena MCP Integration:

# Symbol-level tracing
find_symbol: Locate relevant functions/classes
find_referencing_symbols: Find all callers
search_for_pattern: Search for error patterns

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Phase 3: Root Cause Analysis

Synthesize exploration findings:

RootCauseAnalysis:
  immediate_cause: What directly triggers the error?
  underlying_cause: Why does this condition exist?
  contributing_factors: What else enables this bug?
  timeline: When was this introduced?

Common Root Cause Categories:

Category	Examples
Logic Error	Wrong condition, off-by-one, null check missing
State Management	Race condition, stale data, unexpected mutation
Integration	API contract mismatch, version incompatibility
Resource	Memory leak, connection exhaustion, timeout
Configuration	Wrong settings, missing env vars, path issues

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Phase 4: Fix Strategy Design

Launch 2-3 debug-strategist agents with different approaches:

Approach	Strategy
Minimal	Smallest change to fix the symptom
Comprehensive	Address root cause and prevent recurrence
Defensive	Add guards, validation, error handling

Strategy Evaluation Criteria:

• Risk of regression
• Impact on related functionality
• Code quality improvement
• Testing feasibility

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Phase 5: Implementation

Requires explicit user approval before proceeding.

Implementation checklist:

• Apply the chosen fix strategy
• Update related code if needed
• Add defensive checks where appropriate
• Document the fix rationale

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Phase 6: Verification

Launch 2-3 debug-verifier agents with different focuses:

Focus	Verification Target
Direct	Does the original bug no longer occur?
Regression	Are there any new issues introduced?
Edge Cases	Does it handle boundary conditions?

Verification Methods:

• Manual reproduction attempt
• Related test execution
• Code review for side effects
• Static analysis check

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Confidence Scoring

All agents use confidence scoring (0-100):

Score	Meaning	Action
0-25	Speculation	Do not report
26-50	Possible	Mention if relevant
51-79	Likely	Report with caveats
80-100	Confident	Report as finding

Only report findings with confidence ≥ 80%

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Integration with Serena MCP

Task	Serena Tool
Find function definition	find_symbol
Trace all callers	find_referencing_symbols
Search error patterns	search_for_pattern
Get file overview	get_symbols_overview
Read specific symbol	find_symbol with include_body=true

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Output Templates

Exploration Report

## Exploration: [Focus Area]

### Entry Points Found
- `file.ts:123` - `functionName` - [description]

### Execution Path
1. [Step 1 description]
2. [Step 2 description]

### Key Components
| Component | File | Responsibility |
|-----------|------|----------------|

### Architecture Insights
- [Insight 1]
- [Insight 2]

### Critical Files to Review
1. `path/to/file.ts` - [reason]

Strategy Report

## Fix Strategy: [Approach Name]

### Proposed Change
[Description of the fix]

### Files to Modify
| File | Change Type | Description |
|------|-------------|-------------|

### Risk Assessment
- Regression risk: Low/Medium/High
- Impact scope: [affected areas]

### Implementation Steps
1. [Step 1]
2. [Step 2]

Verification Report

## Verification: [Focus Area]

### Test Results
| Test | Status | Notes |
|------|--------|-------|

### Issues Found
- Severity: Critical/Important
- Confidence: [score]%
- Location: `file:line`
- Description: [issue]
- Suggested Fix: [fix]

### Final Assessment
[Pass/Fail with reasoning]

Detailed templates: Read("references/debug-patterns.md")