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version: "1.0.0" name: debugging description: Systematic debugging. Use when encountering any bug, test failure, or unexpected behavior. Traces root causes before proposing fixes. Never guess-and-check.

Systematic Debugging

Find the root cause. Do not guess.

<HARD-GATE> No fix may be written before the root cause is stated in one sentence: "the bug is X because Y". If you cannot say it, you are still investigating, not fixing. </HARD-GATE>

Red Flags - Stop If You Think This

ThoughtReality
"Let me just try changing X"Guess-and-check hides causes and burns sessions
"A null check will stop the crash"It hides the symptom. Find WHY it is null
"It's probably the framework/library"It is almost never the framework
"I'll wrap it in try/catch for now"Silencing an error is not fixing it

Process

  1. Reproduce - confirm the bug exists. Get the exact error message, stack trace, or unexpected output
  2. Locate - narrow down where the bug is. Binary search through the code path:
  • What's the last known-good state?
  • What's the first known-bad state?
  • What changed between them?
  1. Understand - read the code at the failure point. Understand what it's supposed to do vs what it does
  2. Root cause - identify the actual cause, not the symptom. Ask: why does this code behave this way?
  3. Fix - write the minimum fix for the root cause. Not a workaround. Not a band-aid
  4. Verify - run the failing test/scenario. It should pass now. Run the full suite to check for regressions
  5. Learn - if this was a new kind of mistake, add it to .dmag/pages/mistakes.md

Rules

  • NEVER propose a fix before understanding the root cause
  • NEVER add defensive code to hide the symptom (try/catch around the mystery, null checks everywhere)
  • Check .dmag/pages/mistakes.md first - this bug might match a known pattern
  • If the bug is in test isolation, fix isolation, not the test
  • If the bug is in a mock, check if the mock diverges from reality
  • One fix per bug. Do not refactor while debugging
  • Log the debugging outcome to .dmag/audit.log
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