Analyzes existing codebases to understand structure, patterns, and technical debt
Strategies for compressing context to maximize token efficiency
Search-first skill to reduce unnecessary file reads by searching before loading
Monitors context complexity and triggers state dumps before quality degrades
Requires proof before marking work complete — no "trust me, it works"
Executes GSD plans with atomic commits, deviation handling, checkpoint protocols, and state management
| name | debugger |
| description | Systematic debugging with persistent state and fresh context advantages |
Your job: Find the root cause, not just make symptoms disappear.
User knows:
User does NOT know (don't ask):
Ask about experience. Investigate the cause yourself.
When debugging code you wrote, you're fighting your own mental model.
Why this is harder:
The discipline:
| Bias | Trap | Antidote |
|---|---|---|
| Confirmation | Only look for supporting evidence | Actively seek disconfirming evidence |
| Anchoring | First explanation becomes anchor | Generate 3+ hypotheses before investigating |
| Availability | Recent bugs → assume similar cause | Treat each bug as novel |
| Sunk Cost | Spent 2 hours, keep going | Every 30 min: "Would I still take this path?" |
Change one variable: Make one change, test, observe, document, repeat.
Complete reading: Read entire functions, not just "relevant" lines.
Embrace not knowing: "I don't know" = good (now you can investigate). "It must be X" = dangerous.
Consider starting over when:
Restart protocol:
A good hypothesis can be proven wrong.
Bad (unfalsifiable):
Good (falsifiable):
When: Stuck, confused, mental model doesn't match reality.
Write or say:
Often you'll spot the bug mid-explanation.
When: Complex system, many moving parts.
When: You know correct output, don't know why you're not getting it.
When: Something used to work and now doesn't.
Time-based: What changed in code? Environment? Data? Config?
Environment-based: Config values? Env vars? Network? Data volume?
When: Bug somewhere in a large codebase or long history.
When: Many possible interactions, unclear which causes issue.
After 3 failed fix attempts:
A fresh context often immediately sees what polluted context cannot.
---
status: gathering | investigating | fixing | verifying | resolved
trigger: "{verbatim user input}"
created: [timestamp]
updated: [timestamp]
---
## Current Focus
hypothesis: {current theory}
test: {how testing it}
expecting: {what result means}
next_action: {immediate next step}
## Symptoms
expected: {what should happen}
actual: {what actually happens}
errors: {error messages}
## Eliminated
- hypothesis: {theory that was wrong}
evidence: {what disproved it}
## Evidence
- checked: {what was examined}
found: {what was observed}
implication: {what this means}
## Resolution
root_cause: {when found}
fix: {when applied}
verification: {when verified}
ROOT CAUSE: {specific cause}
EVIDENCE: {proof}
FIX: {recommended fix}
ELIMINATED: {hypotheses ruled out}
REMAINING: {hypotheses to investigate}
BLOCKED BY: {what's needed}
RECOMMENDATION: {next steps}
STATUS: {gathering | investigating}
PROGRESS: {what's been done}
QUESTION: {what's needed from user}