error-reading

name	error-reading
description	Use when the user pastes any error output, stack trace, log, or failure message — structured interpretation before diagnosis

Error Reading

Works In Both Modes

This skill works entirely from pasted content. No local files needed.

Process

Step 1 — Identify the error type

Classify what you're looking at:

• Stack trace (application crash — Python, Node, Java, Go, etc.)
• Build/compile failure (CI, Docker build, npm/pip/cargo error)
• K8s/container error (CrashLoopBackOff, OOMKilled, ImagePullBackOff, etc.)
• Infrastructure error (Terraform, Ansible, Pulumi)
• Cloud provider error (AWS, GCP, Azure API error codes)
• Network/proxy error (502, 503, 504, connection refused, timeout)
• CI pipeline failure (GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, Jenkins)

Step 2 — Read the full output

Never stop at the first error line. Scan for:

• The actual root error (often buried after a chain of caused-by lines)
• The line number or resource where it originated
• Any preceding warnings that hint at the cause

Step 3 — Extract key facts

State clearly:

• What failed
• Where it failed (service, file, line, resource)
• What the error code or message means
• What it implies about the root cause

Step 4 — Hand off to systematic-debugging

Error reading identifies the problem. Systematic debugging finds the root cause and fixes it. After reading the error, invoke systematic-debugging if a fix is needed.

Quick Reference: Common Errors

Kubernetes

Error	Meaning
CrashLoopBackOff	Container keeps crashing on start — check kubectl logs --previous
OOMKilled	Container exceeded memory limit
ImagePullBackOff	Can't pull the image — wrong name, tag, or registry auth
Pending	No node has enough resources or matching node selector
CreateContainerConfigError	Bad env var, missing secret or configmap

Docker

Error	Meaning
no space left on device	Disk full — run docker system prune
port is already allocated	Port conflict — find and stop the other process
exec format error	Wrong architecture (e.g., ARM image on AMD64)

Nginx / Proxy

Error	Meaning
502 Bad Gateway	Upstream is down or not responding
503 Service Unavailable	No healthy upstream servers
504 Gateway Timeout	Upstream took too long — check proxy_read_timeout
upstream connect error	Wrong upstream address, port, or firewall blocking

Terraform

Error	Meaning
Error acquiring the state lock	Another process holds the lock — check for stuck runs
ResourceAlreadyExists	Resource exists outside Terraform state — import it
UnauthorizedOperation	IAM permissions missing
InvalidInstanceType	Instance type not available in that region

AWS

Error	Meaning
AccessDenied	IAM policy missing required action
ThrottlingException	API rate limit — add retry logic with backoff
InvalidClientTokenId	Wrong AWS credentials or region

GitHub Actions

Error	Meaning
Process completed with exit code 1	A step failed — read that step's logs
Context access might be invalid	Wrong secret name or env var reference
Resource not accessible by integration	Missing permissions in workflow YAML