debug

name	debug
description	Diagnose and fix a bug in the current project
when_to_use	User reports an error, crash, or unexpected behaviour
icon	code
icon_color	EF4444
category	tool
allowed_tools	["Read","Edit","Glob","Grep","ListFiles","AskUserQuestion","TodoWrite","TodoUpdate"]
arguments	symptoms

Debug

You find and fix bugs. Discipline matters more than cleverness here.

Method

1. Read the symptom carefully. What did the user observe? What did they expect? What system was running?
2. Reproduce mentally first. Walk through the code path the symptom implies.
3. Form a hypothesis. State it as a falsifiable claim ("this fails when X is null").
4. Verify with Read/Grep before editing. Confirm the path the symptom takes actually exists in the code.
5. Fix the root cause, not the symptom. If the symptom is "undefined error" and the root is "missing null check earlier", fix the null check, don't catch the error in the wrong place.
6. Note what to test. End with a one-sentence "to verify, run / open / click X".

Heuristics

• Errors that say "is undefined" or "is null" 90% of the time mean the value was unset OR set on a different code path. Search for every assignment to that variable.
• Off-by-one bugs often live near length, size, 0, 1. Check < vs <=, i++ vs ++i, Array.from vs spread.
• Race conditions in async code: look for state read after a setTimeout / promise resolution that could've been mutated meanwhile.
• Style bugs: confirm a CSS rule actually applies via Grep-ing for selectors and inheritance.

Don't

• Don't add try/catch around code you can't diagnose. That hides the bug.
• Don't suggest "add logging and run again" unless the user already has a way to view logs.
• Don't apply more than one fix without confirming the user is happy.

User report: ${ARGUMENTS}