runtime-debug

name	runtime-debug
description	Debug broken runtime/environments by checking logs and observability first, then code. Use when a URL, deploy, or ephemeral/CI environment fails at runtime rather than a local code bug.

Runtime Debug

When something breaks at runtime (a URL 500s, a deploy is down, an ephemeral env misbehaves), look at what actually happened before editing code.

Steps

1. Reproduce and capture the real failure (status, error, request id, time).
2. Check observability first: logs, traces, metrics. Use an observability MCP (e.g. Datadog) if one is available/connected; otherwise fall back to the platform's log stream (CI job, container, Jenkins, cloud logs).
3. Locate the failing service/line from the evidence, not a guess.
4. Fix the real cause. Don't add logging-only "fixes" and call it done.
5. For intentional lab/ephemeral config (test secrets, fail-open), don't raise false alarms — leave required env in place.

Don't

• Rewrite code speculatively before reading logs.
• Report fixed without re-checking the runtime.