Agent skill

Trace Collection Assistant

Collect, normalize, and structure execution traces from instrumented programs (strace, ltrace) into JSON format for downstream analysis.

Apache-2.0Auto-check passedDevelopment

Install Trace Collection Assistant

skills CLI

$ npx skills add ArabelaTso/Skills-4-SE --skill trace-collection-assistant -a claude-code

Project install by default; add -g for ~/.claude/skills/.

GitHub CLI

$ gh skill install ArabelaTso/Skills-4-SE trace-collection-assistant --agent claude-code

Project scope by default; add --scope user for a personal install. Needs GitHub CLI 2.90.0 or later (public preview).

Manual copy

$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/ArabelaTso/Skills-4-SE.git skills-src && mkdir -p .claude/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/trace-collection-assistant .claude/skills/trace-collection-assistant && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.claude/skills/ instead of .claude/skills for a personal install. The folder must contain SKILL.md.

Claude Code skills documentation · loads skills from .claude/skills/

Paste into Claude Code

Install the "trace-collection-assistant" agent skill from https://github.com/ArabelaTso/Skills-4-SE/tree/main/skills/trace-collection-assistant into .claude/skills/trace-collection-assistant/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "trace-collection-assistant", then confirm the skill loads.

Claude Code copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.

$skill-installer

$skill-installer install https://github.com/ArabelaTso/Skills-4-SE/tree/main/skills/trace-collection-assistant

Type this inside Codex. $skill-installer <name> installs a curated skill from openai/skills. The installer writes to $CODEX_HOME/skills (default ~/.codex/skills). Restart Codex if the skill does not show up.

skills CLI

$ npx skills add ArabelaTso/Skills-4-SE --skill trace-collection-assistant -a codex

Project install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.codex/skills/.

GitHub CLI

$ gh skill install ArabelaTso/Skills-4-SE trace-collection-assistant --agent codex

Project scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.

Manual copy

$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/ArabelaTso/Skills-4-SE.git skills-src && mkdir -p .agents/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/trace-collection-assistant .agents/skills/trace-collection-assistant && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.agents/skills/ instead of .agents/skills for a personal install.

Codex skills documentation · loads skills from .agents/skills/

Paste into Codex

Install the "trace-collection-assistant" agent skill from https://github.com/ArabelaTso/Skills-4-SE/tree/main/skills/trace-collection-assistant into .agents/skills/trace-collection-assistant/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "trace-collection-assistant", then confirm the skill loads.

Codex copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.

skills CLI

$ npx skills add ArabelaTso/Skills-4-SE --skill trace-collection-assistant -a cursor

Project install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.cursor/skills/.

GitHub CLI

$ gh skill install ArabelaTso/Skills-4-SE trace-collection-assistant --agent cursor

Project scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.

Manual copy

$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/ArabelaTso/Skills-4-SE.git skills-src && mkdir -p .cursor/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/trace-collection-assistant .cursor/skills/trace-collection-assistant && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.cursor/skills/ instead of .cursor/skills for a personal install.

Cursor skills documentation · loads skills from .cursor/skills/, .agents/skills/, .claude/skills/, .codex/skills/

Paste into Cursor

Install the "trace-collection-assistant" agent skill from https://github.com/ArabelaTso/Skills-4-SE/tree/main/skills/trace-collection-assistant into .cursor/skills/trace-collection-assistant/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "trace-collection-assistant", then confirm the skill loads.

Cursor copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.

gemini skills install

$ gemini skills install https://github.com/ArabelaTso/Skills-4-SE.git --path skills/trace-collection-assistant

--scope user (default) or --scope workspace; --path is the subfolder of the repo that holds the skill; --consent skips the security confirmation prompt.

skills CLI

$ npx skills add ArabelaTso/Skills-4-SE --skill trace-collection-assistant -a gemini-cli

Project install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.gemini/skills/.

GitHub CLI

$ gh skill install ArabelaTso/Skills-4-SE trace-collection-assistant --agent gemini-cli

Project scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.

Manual copy

$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/ArabelaTso/Skills-4-SE.git skills-src && mkdir -p .gemini/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/trace-collection-assistant .gemini/skills/trace-collection-assistant && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.gemini/skills/ instead of .gemini/skills for a personal install, then run /skills reload.

Gemini CLI skills documentation · loads skills from .gemini/skills/, .agents/skills/

Paste into Gemini CLI

Install the "trace-collection-assistant" agent skill from https://github.com/ArabelaTso/Skills-4-SE/tree/main/skills/trace-collection-assistant into .gemini/skills/trace-collection-assistant/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "trace-collection-assistant", then confirm the skill loads.

Gemini CLI copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.

GitHub CLI

$ gh skill install ArabelaTso/Skills-4-SE trace-collection-assistant

Installs for Copilot at project scope by default; add --scope user for a personal install. Preview a skill first with gh skill preview. Needs GitHub CLI 2.90.0 or later (public preview).

skills CLI

$ npx skills add ArabelaTso/Skills-4-SE --skill trace-collection-assistant -a github-copilot

Project install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.copilot/skills/.

Manual copy

$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/ArabelaTso/Skills-4-SE.git skills-src && mkdir -p .github/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/trace-collection-assistant .github/skills/trace-collection-assistant && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.copilot/skills/ instead of .github/skills for a personal install. Commit .github/skills so cloud agent and code review can use it.

GitHub Copilot skills documentation · loads skills from .github/skills/, .claude/skills/, .agents/skills/

Paste into GitHub Copilot

Install the "trace-collection-assistant" agent skill from https://github.com/ArabelaTso/Skills-4-SE/tree/main/skills/trace-collection-assistant into .github/skills/trace-collection-assistant/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "trace-collection-assistant", then confirm the skill loads.

GitHub Copilot copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.

skills CLI

$ npx skills add ArabelaTso/Skills-4-SE --skill trace-collection-assistant -a opencode

OpenCode documents no install command of its own. Project install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.config/opencode/skills/.

GitHub CLI

$ gh skill install ArabelaTso/Skills-4-SE trace-collection-assistant --agent opencode

Project scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.

Manual copy

$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/ArabelaTso/Skills-4-SE.git skills-src && mkdir -p .opencode/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/trace-collection-assistant .opencode/skills/trace-collection-assistant && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.config/opencode/skills/ instead of .opencode/skills for a personal install.

OpenCode skills documentation · loads skills from .opencode/skills/, .claude/skills/, .agents/skills/

Paste into OpenCode

Install the "trace-collection-assistant" agent skill from https://github.com/ArabelaTso/Skills-4-SE/tree/main/skills/trace-collection-assistant into .opencode/skills/trace-collection-assistant/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "trace-collection-assistant", then confirm the skill loads.

OpenCode copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.

Facts

Skill name: trace-collection-assistant
GitHub stars: 253
Token cost: ~1.4k tokens
SKILL.md length: 335 words
Files: 9 (incl. scripts, references, assets)
Skills in repo: 170
Repo updated: Aug 21, 2026
First seen: Oct 7, 2026
Licence: Apache-2.0

At a glance

Collect, normalize, and structure execution traces from instrumented programs (strace, ltrace) into JSON format for downstream analysis.

Works in 3 steps: Parsing Traces → Filtering Traces → Extracting Debug Information
Working with system call traces
SKILL.md covers Overview, Quick Start, Core Operations and Use Cases, plus 3 more sections
Runs Python scripts from its folder; calls python

What it does

Trace Collection Assistant is an agent skill from ArabelaTso/Skills-4-SE. Collect, normalize, and structure execution traces from instrumented programs (strace, ltrace) into JSON format for downstream analysis. Use when working with system call traces, library call traces, or execution logs that need to be analyzed for debugging, test case reproduction, or verification. Supports parsing strace/ltrace output, filtering noise, extracting debug information, and preparing traces for bug analysis or reproduction workflows.

Its SKILL.md is about 1.4k tokens, which your agent loads only when the skill is triggered. The skill folder holds 11 other files, including scripts, reference files and assets (for example `assets/schema_template.json`, `references/analysis_guide.md` and `references/json_schema.md`).

It sits in Development, covering Test generation and Debugging. The repository describes itself as: A curated list of 180+ useful Claude Skills for Software Engineering and resources for customizing AI for SE workflows. The licence is Apache-2.0.

When your agent uses it

Working with system call traces
Library call traces
Execution logs that need to be analyzed for debugging
Test case reproduction

Example prompts

“/trace-collection-assistant”

Requirements

Python 3

Workflow steps

3 steps, taken from the step headings in SKILL.md.

Parsing Traces
Filtering Traces
Extracting Debug Information

What it can do on your machine

Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit 4f38503. It shows what the files ask for, not the result of running them.

Tool permissions
Pre-approves nothing: there is no allowed-tools line, so your agent's usual permission prompts apply.
From allowed-tools in the SKILL.md frontmatter.
Runs code
Ships 4 files in scripts/ (Python), which the agent can run.
Shell commands in SKILL.md call:
- python
From the folder's file list and the shell code blocks in SKILL.md.
Network
No URLs in SKILL.md.
From URLs in SKILL.md, links to its own repository left out.
Credentials
Names no API keys, tokens, secrets or passwords.
From names ending in _API_KEY, _TOKEN, _SECRET, _KEY or _PASSWORD in SKILL.md.

Context cost

Trace Collection Assistant loads about 1.4k tokens when it runs, and up to ~3.7k if it reads all its reference files. Until then it costs about 119 tokens; SKILL.md has 335 words of instructions outside code blocks.

Always · name and description, kept in context so the agent knows when to use it: ~119
When it runs · the whole SKILL.md, loaded when a task matches: ~1.4k
With references · SKILL.md plus every file in references/, read only if the agent opens them: ~3.7k

Estimates: characters ÷ 4, the usual rule of thumb; real counts depend on the model's tokenizer. Scripts and assets cost tokens only if the agent reads them.

Safety

Auto-check passed

The automated check found no risky patterns in SKILL.md.

Automated static check — not a guarantee. Review scripts before installing. It scans the text of SKILL.md for risky patterns (piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files, hidden Unicode, destructive commands); the scripts in this folder are not scanned.

SKILL.md

The full file from ArabelaTso/Skills-4-SE at commit 4f38503, republished under its Apache-2.0 licence (© ArabelaTso). 335 words, ~1,385 tokens.

Download SKILL.mdSave it as .claude/skills/trace-collection-assistant/SKILL.md (or your agent's skills folder). This skill also uses 8 other files; get the full folder from GitHub.

name: trace-collection-assistant
description: Collect, normalize, and structure execution traces from instrumented programs (strace, ltrace) into JSON format for downstream analysis. Use when working with system call traces, library call traces, or execution logs that need to be analyzed for debugging, test case reproduction, or verification. Supports parsing strace/ltrace output, filtering noise, extracting debug information, and preparing traces for bug analysis or reproduction workflows.

Trace Collection Assistant

Overview

This skill helps collect, normalize, and structure execution traces produced by instrumented programs (strace, ltrace), making them suitable for downstream analysis such as debugging, reproduction, or verification. It converts raw trace output into structured JSON format and provides tools for filtering, cleaning, and extracting relevant information.

Quick Start

Basic Workflow

Parse raw traces - Convert strace/ltrace output to JSON
Filter and clean - Remove noise and focus on relevant calls
Extract debug info - Identify errors, file operations, network activity

Example: Debugging with strace

bash

# 1. Capture trace
strace -o trace.txt python buggy_program.py

# 2. Parse to JSON
python scripts/parse_strace.py trace.txt -o trace.json --pretty

# 3. Extract errors
python scripts/extract_debug_info.py trace.json --category errors --pretty

# 4. Filter to relevant operations
python scripts/filter_trace.py trace.json --error-only --remove-noise -o filtered.json --pretty

Example: Analyzing library calls with ltrace

bash

# 1. Capture trace
ltrace -o trace.txt ./program

# 2. Parse to JSON
python scripts/parse_ltrace.py trace.txt -o trace.json --pretty

# 3. Analyze specific functions
python scripts/filter_trace.py trace.json --include-calls "malloc,free,strlen" --pretty

Core Operations

1. Parsing Traces

Convert raw trace output to normalized JSON format.

For strace:

bash

python scripts/parse_strace.py <input_file> [--output <output_file>] [--pretty]

For ltrace:

bash

python scripts/parse_ltrace.py <input_file> [--output <output_file>] [--pretty]

Both parsers produce the same normalized JSON structure (see references/json_schema.md for details).

2. Filtering Traces

Remove noise and focus on relevant operations.

Common filtering operations:

bash

# Show only errors
python scripts/filter_trace.py trace.json --error-only --pretty

# Remove common noise syscalls
python scripts/filter_trace.py trace.json --remove-noise --pretty

# Include specific calls
python scripts/filter_trace.py trace.json --include-calls "open,read,write,close" --pretty

# Exclude specific calls
python scripts/filter_trace.py trace.json --exclude-calls "gettimeofday,clock_gettime" --pretty

# Filter by argument pattern
python scripts/filter_trace.py trace.json --arg-pattern "config.json" --pretty

# Combine filters
python scripts/filter_trace.py trace.json --error-only --remove-noise --arg-pattern "/etc" -o filtered.json --pretty

3. Extracting Debug Information

Extract structured information for specific analysis tasks.

Extract all debug info:

bash

python scripts/extract_debug_info.py trace.json --pretty

Extract specific categories:

bash

# File operations only
python scripts/extract_debug_info.py trace.json --category file --pretty

# Network operations only
python scripts/extract_debug_info.py trace.json --category network --pretty

# Process operations only
python scripts/extract_debug_info.py trace.json --category process --pretty

# Errors only
python scripts/extract_debug_info.py trace.json --category errors --pretty

Use Cases

Bug Debugging

When debugging a failing program:

Parse the trace to JSON
Extract all errors to identify failure points
Filter to relevant operations around the error
Analyze file/network/process operations for root cause

See references/analysis_guide.md for detailed debugging patterns.

Test Case Reproduction

When reproducing a bug:

Parse the trace from the failing execution
Extract file operations to identify input dependencies
Filter to the minimal sequence of operations
Use the structured trace to reconstruct the execution environment

See references/analysis_guide.md for reproduction workflows.

Reference Documentation

references/trace_formats.md - Detailed documentation on strace and ltrace output formats, common syscalls, error codes
references/json_schema.md - Schema for normalized JSON output format
references/analysis_guide.md - Comprehensive guide on using traces for debugging and reproduction, including common patterns

Output Format

All tools produce JSON output following the normalized schema:

json

{
  "trace_type": "strace",
  "source_file": "trace.txt",
  "total_calls": 1234,
  "traces": [
    {
      "syscall": "open",
      "arguments": ["\"/etc/passwd\"", "O_RDONLY"],
      "return_value": "3",
      "line_number": 42,
      "raw_line": "open(\"/etc/passwd\", O_RDONLY) = 3"
    }
  ]
}

See assets/schema_template.json for the complete JSON schema definition.

Tips

Use --pretty flag for human-readable JSON output
Use --remove-noise to filter out common irrelevant syscalls
Combine multiple filters for focused analysis
Check references/analysis_guide.md for common debugging patterns
The line_number field preserves execution order for sequence analysis

Files

SKILL.md and 8 other files (scripts, references, assets) in skills/trace-collection-assistant of ArabelaTso/Skills-4-SE.

SKILL.md
assets/schema_template.json
references/analysis_guide.md
references/json_schema.md
references/trace_formats.md
scripts/extract_debug_info.py
scripts/filter_trace.py
scripts/parse_ltrace.py
scripts/parse_strace.py

Open the folder on GitHubat commit 4f38503

Compare with similar skills

Trace Collection Assistant next to the 5 skills that share the most tags, products or categories with it. Stars are the repository's; “used in” counts other GitHub owners with a copy.

Trace Collection Assistant compared with similar skills
Skill	Stars	Used in	Tokens	Auto-check	Licence	Repo updated
Trace Collection Assistant this skillArabelaTso/Skills-4-SE	253	—	~1.4k	Automated safety check: Pass	Apache-2.0	1 mo ago
OpenROAD Bug FixerThe-OpenROAD-Project/OpenROAD	3.2k	—	~784	Automated safety check: Pass	BSD-3-Clause	today
Feature ContractFastLED/FastLED	7.5k	—	~1.7k	Automated safety check: Pass	MIT	today
Code SolvingHoangTheQuyen/think-better	122	—	~3.7k	Automated safety check: Pass	MIT	today
QAteam-attention/hoyeon	173	—	~2.6k	Automated safety check: Notes	MIT	4 mo ago
Test Writeraxelixlabs/axelix	148	—	~2.2k	Automated safety check: Pass	LGPL-3.0	today

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Questions about Trace Collection Assistant

What does Trace Collection Assistant do?

Collect, normalize, and structure execution traces from instrumented programs (strace, ltrace) into JSON format for downstream analysis. Trace Collection Assistant is an agent skill from ArabelaTso/Skills-4-SE. Collect, normalize, and structure execution traces from instrumented programs (strace, ltrace) into JSON format for downstream analysis.

When should I use Trace Collection Assistant?

Trace Collection Assistant fits situations like: working with system call traces; library call traces; execution logs that need to be analyzed for debugging; test case reproduction.

How do I install Trace Collection Assistant in Claude Code?

Run `npx skills add ArabelaTso/Skills-4-SE --skill trace-collection-assistant -a claude-code`. Or copy the skill folder (skills/trace-collection-assistant in ArabelaTso/Skills-4-SE) into .claude/skills/trace-collection-assistant in your project. Claude Code loads it when a task matches its description.

How do I install Trace Collection Assistant in Codex?

Run `npx skills add ArabelaTso/Skills-4-SE --skill trace-collection-assistant -a codex`. Or copy the skill folder (skills/trace-collection-assistant in ArabelaTso/Skills-4-SE) into .agents/skills/trace-collection-assistant in your project. Codex loads it when a task matches its description.

Can I use Trace Collection Assistant in Cursor, Gemini CLI or GitHub Copilot?

Cursor, Gemini CLI, GitHub Copilot and OpenCode also load SKILL.md folders. With the skills CLI, run `npx skills add ArabelaTso/Skills-4-SE --skill trace-collection-assistant -a cursor` (or -a gemini-cli, github-copilot or opencode for the others). To copy it by hand, put the folder in .cursor/skills/trace-collection-assistant, .gemini/skills/trace-collection-assistant, .github/skills/trace-collection-assistant and .opencode/skills/trace-collection-assistant in your project.

What does Trace Collection Assistant need to run?

Going by SKILL.md and its folder, Trace Collection Assistant needs Python for the scripts in its folder and the command-line tools its instructions call (python). Our summary lists: Python 3.

Does Trace Collection Assistant access the network?

SKILL.md contains no URLs. Any network use would come from the scripts or tools the agent runs. This is read from the text; nothing was executed.

Is Trace Collection Assistant safe to install?

Our automated static check of SKILL.md found no risky patterns, such as piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files or hidden Unicode. It is not a guarantee. The check reads SKILL.md only: the scripts in the folder are not scanned, so read them before running anything.

What licence does Trace Collection Assistant use?

Trace Collection Assistant is published under the Apache-2.0 licence (the repository's licence). It allows redistribution, so the full SKILL.md is shown on this page.

How many tokens does Trace Collection Assistant use?

About 1.4k tokens (SKILL.md is roughly 5.5k characters). Agents keep only the skill's name and description in context until a task matches; then they load SKILL.md in full. Its references folder adds about 2.3k tokens, read only when the agent opens those files.

What are the alternatives to Trace Collection Assistant?

Skills that share tags, products or a category with Trace Collection Assistant: OpenROAD Bug Fixer (The-OpenROAD-Project/OpenROAD, 3.2k stars), Feature Contract (FastLED/FastLED, 7.5k stars), Code Solving (HoangTheQuyen/think-better, 122 stars) and QA (team-attention/hoyeon, 173 stars). The comparison table on this page puts their stars, adoption, token cost, safety result and licence side by side.

Who maintains Trace Collection Assistant?

ArabelaTso (a GitHub user) maintains it in ArabelaTso/Skills-4-SE, which has 253 GitHub stars. The repository holds 170 skills in this directory. The repository was last updated on August 21, 2026.

Source: ArabelaTso/Skills-4-SE on GitHub. Facts on this page come from the repository at the commit we read; the author's words are quoted as theirs.

Install Trace Collection Assistant

Facts

At a glance

What it does

When your agent uses it

Example prompts

Requirements

Workflow steps

What it can do on your machine

Tool permissions

Runs code

Network

Credentials

Context cost

Safety

SKILL.md

Trace Collection Assistant

Overview

Quick Start

Basic Workflow

Example: Debugging with strace

Example: Analyzing library calls with ltrace

Core Operations

1. Parsing Traces

2. Filtering Traces

3. Extracting Debug Information

Use Cases

Bug Debugging

Test Case Reproduction

Reference Documentation

Output Format

Tips

Files

Compare with similar skills

Similar skills

More from ArabelaTso/Skills-4-SE

Related

Questions about Trace Collection Assistant