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name: bug-investigation description: Systematic bug investigation and root cause analysis phases: [E, V]

Bug Investigation

When to Use

Use this skill when investigating bugs or unexpected behavior.

Investigation Process

1. Reproduce

• Get exact steps to reproduce
• Identify environment (OS, version, config)
• Create minimal reproduction case

2. Isolate

• Binary search through code/commits
• Disable features to narrow scope
• Check if issue exists in isolation

3. Understand

• Read the relevant code carefully
• Check recent changes (git log, blame)
• Review related tests

4. Hypothesize

• Form theories about root cause
• Rank by likelihood
• Design tests for each hypothesis

5. Verify

• Add logging/debugging
• Write failing test
• Confirm fix addresses root cause

Debugging Checklist

• Can I reproduce consistently?
• When did it start? (git bisect)
• What changed recently?
• Are there related error logs?
• Does it happen in all environments?
• Is it data-dependent?

Root Cause Categories

• Logic error
• Race condition
• Resource leak
• Configuration issue
• Dependency problem
• Data corruption

Report Format

Copy## Bug: [Title]

### Symptoms
[What the user sees]

### Root Cause
[Technical explanation]

### Fix
[What was changed and why]

### Prevention
[How to prevent similar bugs]