| name | dev-trace |
| description | Evidence-driven causal tracing with competing hypotheses. Use when an observation has multiple plausible explanations and you need to systematically rank them with evidence FOR and AGAINST each. Pairs with @trail-tracer. |
Dev Trace
Derived from oh-my-claudecode (MIT, Yeachan Heo). Adapted for the EvoNexus Engineering Layer.
Causal investigation with multi-hypothesis discipline. Generate at least 2 explanations, collect evidence FOR and AGAINST, rank by strength, end with a discriminating probe.
Use When
- Observation has multiple plausible causes
- "Why did this happen?" — and you don't want to jump to the first answer
- Multi-causal problem (intermittent bugs, regional anomalies, performance puzzles)
- Need to preserve uncertainty rather than collapse to one answer prematurely
Do Not Use When
- Cause is obvious → just fix it via
@hawk-debugger
- Single-cause bug with clear stack trace →
@hawk-debugger
- Just needs codebase search →
@scout-explorer
Workflow
Delegate to @trail-tracer:
- OBSERVE — restate the observation precisely, no interpretation
- FRAME — define the exact "why" question
- HYPOTHESIZE — generate 2+ competing explanations
- GATHER EVIDENCE — for each, collect evidence FOR and AGAINST in parallel
- APPLY LENSES — systems / premortem / science
- REBUT — strongest alternative challenges the leader
- RANK — down-rank contradicted, weak-assumption, failed-prediction explanations
- SYNTHESIZE — best explanation, explicitly provisional if needed
- PROBE — name the critical unknown and the discriminating next experiment
Output
Saved to workspace/development/debug/[C]trace-{topic}-{date}.md using the dev-trace-report.md template.
Pairs With
@trail-tracer (the executor)@hawk-debugger (when trace converges to a clear bug)@apex-architect (when trace reveals architectural issues)
