Pester Failure Analysis
PowerShell/PowerShell
Investigates failing Pester tests in PowerShell CI jobs by following a six-step workflow from pull request status to documented fix recommendations.
A skill your agent uses when encountering bugs, test failures, runtime errors, unexpected behavior, broken builds, or "this doesn't work" reports.
Install Trace
$ npx skills add ccplugins/awesome-claude-code-plugins --skill trace -a claude-codeProject install by default; add -g for ~/.claude/skills/.
$ gh skill install ccplugins/awesome-claude-code-plugins trace --agent claude-codeProject scope by default; add --scope user for a personal install. Needs GitHub CLI 2.90.0 or later (public preview).
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/ccplugins/awesome-claude-code-plugins.git skills-src && mkdir -p .claude/skills && cp -r skills-src/plugins/hyperflow/skills/trace .claude/skills/trace && rm -rf skills-srcUse ~/.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/
Install the "trace" agent skill from https://github.com/ccplugins/awesome-claude-code-plugins/tree/main/plugins/hyperflow/skills/trace into .claude/skills/trace/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "trace", 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 install https://github.com/ccplugins/awesome-claude-code-plugins/tree/main/plugins/hyperflow/skills/traceType 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.
$ npx skills add ccplugins/awesome-claude-code-plugins --skill trace -a codexProject install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.codex/skills/.
$ gh skill install ccplugins/awesome-claude-code-plugins trace --agent codexProject scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/ccplugins/awesome-claude-code-plugins.git skills-src && mkdir -p .agents/skills && cp -r skills-src/plugins/hyperflow/skills/trace .agents/skills/trace && rm -rf skills-srcUse ~/.agents/skills/ instead of .agents/skills for a personal install.
Codex skills documentation · loads skills from .agents/skills/
Install the "trace" agent skill from https://github.com/ccplugins/awesome-claude-code-plugins/tree/main/plugins/hyperflow/skills/trace into .agents/skills/trace/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "trace", 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.
$ npx skills add ccplugins/awesome-claude-code-plugins --skill trace -a cursorProject install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.cursor/skills/.
$ gh skill install ccplugins/awesome-claude-code-plugins trace --agent cursorProject scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/ccplugins/awesome-claude-code-plugins.git skills-src && mkdir -p .cursor/skills && cp -r skills-src/plugins/hyperflow/skills/trace .cursor/skills/trace && rm -rf skills-srcUse ~/.cursor/skills/ instead of .cursor/skills for a personal install.
Cursor skills documentation · loads skills from .cursor/skills/, .agents/skills/, .claude/skills/, .codex/skills/
Install the "trace" agent skill from https://github.com/ccplugins/awesome-claude-code-plugins/tree/main/plugins/hyperflow/skills/trace into .cursor/skills/trace/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "trace", 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 https://github.com/ccplugins/awesome-claude-code-plugins.git --path plugins/hyperflow/skills/trace--scope user (default) or --scope workspace; --path is the subfolder of the repo that holds the skill; --consent skips the security confirmation prompt.
$ npx skills add ccplugins/awesome-claude-code-plugins --skill trace -a gemini-cliProject install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.gemini/skills/.
$ gh skill install ccplugins/awesome-claude-code-plugins trace --agent gemini-cliProject scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/ccplugins/awesome-claude-code-plugins.git skills-src && mkdir -p .gemini/skills && cp -r skills-src/plugins/hyperflow/skills/trace .gemini/skills/trace && rm -rf skills-srcUse ~/.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/
Install the "trace" agent skill from https://github.com/ccplugins/awesome-claude-code-plugins/tree/main/plugins/hyperflow/skills/trace into .gemini/skills/trace/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "trace", 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.
$ gh skill install ccplugins/awesome-claude-code-plugins traceInstalls 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).
$ npx skills add ccplugins/awesome-claude-code-plugins --skill trace -a github-copilotProject install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.copilot/skills/.
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/ccplugins/awesome-claude-code-plugins.git skills-src && mkdir -p .github/skills && cp -r skills-src/plugins/hyperflow/skills/trace .github/skills/trace && rm -rf skills-srcUse ~/.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/
Install the "trace" agent skill from https://github.com/ccplugins/awesome-claude-code-plugins/tree/main/plugins/hyperflow/skills/trace into .github/skills/trace/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "trace", 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.
$ npx skills add ccplugins/awesome-claude-code-plugins --skill trace -a opencodeOpenCode documents no install command of its own. Project install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.config/opencode/skills/.
$ gh skill install ccplugins/awesome-claude-code-plugins trace --agent opencodeProject scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/ccplugins/awesome-claude-code-plugins.git skills-src && mkdir -p .opencode/skills && cp -r skills-src/plugins/hyperflow/skills/trace .opencode/skills/trace && rm -rf skills-srcUse ~/.config/opencode/skills/ instead of .opencode/skills for a personal install.
OpenCode skills documentation · loads skills from .opencode/skills/, .claude/skills/, .agents/skills/
Install the "trace" agent skill from https://github.com/ccplugins/awesome-claude-code-plugins/tree/main/plugins/hyperflow/skills/trace into .opencode/skills/trace/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "trace", 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- GitHub stars
- 967
- Token cost
- ~1.4k tokens
- SKILL.md length
- 637 words
- Files
- 1
- Skills in repo
- 68
- Repo updated
- First seen
- Licence
- Apache-2.0
At a glance
A skill your agent uses when encountering bugs, test failures, runtime errors, unexpected behavior, broken builds, or "this doesn't work" reports.
- Works in 7 steps: Reproduce → Gather Evidence (parallel) → Hypothesize → …
- Encountering bugs
- SKILL.md covers Per-Step Agent Map (DOCTRINE…, Step 1 — Reproduce, Step 2 — Gather Evidence… and Step 3 — Hypothesize, plus 8 more sections
- Instructions only: no scripts, shell commands, URLs or credentials in SKILL.md
What it does
Trace is an agent skill from ccplugins/awesome-claude-code-plugins. Use when encountering bugs, test failures, runtime errors, unexpected behavior, broken builds, or "this doesn't work" reports. Systematic root-cause analysis before any patch — never blind-patches symptoms. Standalone (off the spec → scope → dispatch chain). Ends with a thinking-tier review of the fix.
Its SKILL.md is about 1.4k tokens, which your agent loads only when the skill is triggered. It is a single SKILL.md file with no bundled scripts.
It sits in Testing & QA, covering Failing and flaky tests and Root cause analysis. The repository describes itself as: Awesome Claude Code plugins — a curated list of slash commands, subagents, MCP servers, and hooks for Claude Code. The licence is Apache-2.0.
When your agent uses it
- Encountering bugs
- Unexpected behavior
- This doesnt work reports
Example prompts
- “this doesn”
- “/trace”
Workflow steps
7 steps, taken from the step headings in SKILL.md.
What it can do on your machine
Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit 5bd4f16. 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
No scripts in the folder and no shell commands in SKILL.md.
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 loads about 1.4k tokens when it runs. Until then it costs about 77 tokens; SKILL.md has 637 words of instructions outside code blocks.
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); files beside SKILL.md are not scanned.
SKILL.md
The full file from ccplugins/awesome-claude-code-plugins at commit 5bd4f16, republished under its Apache-2.0 licence (© ccplugins). 637 words, ~1,433 tokens.
Download SKILL.mdSave it as
.claude/skills/trace/SKILL.md (or your agent's skills folder).- name
- trace
- description
- Use when encountering bugs, test failures, runtime errors, unexpected behavior, broken builds, or "this doesn't work" reports. Systematic root-cause analysis before any patch — never blind-patches symptoms. Standalone (off the spec → scope → dispatch chain). Ends with a thinking-tier review of the fix.
Trace
Root cause, not symptom. Never patch over a bug without understanding why it happened.
Dispatcher and reviewer — Opus 4.7 (thinking-tier). Implementer/Searcher/Writer — Sonnet 4.6.
Per-Step Agent Map (DOCTRINE rule 12)
Every substantive step dispatches at least one Agent.
| Step | Worker tier | Thinking tier | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 — Reproduce | Searcher (Sonnet) if repro missing | Reviewer (Opus) confirms repro is valid | Both tiers if dispatched |
| 2 — Gather evidence | Searcher × 3 (Sonnet) parallel | Reviewer (Opus) verifies evidence coverage | Both tiers |
| 3 — Hypothesize | — | Debugger (Opus) produces ranked hypotheses | Pure thinking |
| 4 — Verify | Implementer (Sonnet) minimal change | Debugger (Opus) re-evaluates against evidence | Both tiers · loop |
| 5 — Fix at root | Implementer (Sonnet) | Reviewer (Opus) checks no error-swallow / no symptom-patch | Both tiers |
| 6 — Regression test | Writer (Sonnet) | Reviewer (Opus) confirms test fails-without / passes-with | Both tiers |
| 7 — Memory + final | Writer (Sonnet) appends pitfall | Reviewer (Opus) final validation | Both tiers |
Step 1 — Reproduce
Agents — Searcher (Sonnet, if needed) ⇒ Reviewer (Opus).
- Confirm the bug is reproducible.
- If repro steps missing — dispatch
Searcher — locating bug reproduction in recent changes/tests. - Dispatch
**Reviewer** — confirming reproduction is validto validate the repro actually fails for the stated reason (not a flake). - If environmental (CI-only, intermittent, time-dependent) — flag explicitly before proceeding.
Step 2 — Gather Evidence (parallel)
Agents — Searcher × 3 (Sonnet) parallel ⇒ Reviewer (Opus).
- Dispatch simultaneously in a single message:
Searcher — reading error stack traces and logsSearcher — mapping the code paths involvedSearcher — finding related tests (passing and failing)
- Dispatch
**Reviewer** — verifying evidence coverageto confirm the three Searchers actually triangulate the failure surface. If gaps remain, redispatch.
Step 3 — Hypothesize
Agents — Debugger (Opus, thinking-tier).
Dispatch **Debugger** — root cause analysis: <bug-summary> — model: opus.
Apply 5 Whys + hypothesis testing + bisect mindset:
- Why does this fail? → because X → why X? → because Y → continue to root
- Output 1–3 hypotheses ranked by likelihood, each with:
- What — suspected root cause
- Evidence — what supports it
- Counter-evidence — what would falsify it
- Test — minimal change to verify
Step 4 — Verify
Agents — Implementer (Sonnet) ⇒ Debugger (Opus).
- Pick highest-ranked hypothesis.
- Dispatch
Implementer — verifying hypothesis: <hypothesis>— make the minimal change needed to confirm/falsify. - Dispatch
**Debugger** — re-evaluating hypothesis against test resultto re-check against the evidence from Step 2. - Confirmed → proceed to Step 5. Falsified → return to Step 3 with next hypothesis.
Show full SKILL.md (264 more words)Show less
Step 5 — Fix at Root
Agents — Implementer (Sonnet) ⇒ Reviewer (Opus).
- Dispatch
Implementer — fixing root cause: <root-cause>with full context: the bug, the verified root cause, the minimal fix. - Dispatch
**Reviewer** — checking fix is at rootto verify the fix actually addresses the cause and doesn't patch the symptom.
Constraints (non-negotiable):
- No error swallowing
- No defensive try/catch around the symptom
- No flags or feature gates to hide the bug
Step 6 — Regression Test
Agents — Writer (Sonnet) ⇒ Reviewer (Opus).
- Dispatch
Writer — adding regression test for <bug>. - Dispatch
**Reviewer** — confirming regression test fails-without and passes-with the fix. - If existing suite had gaps that allowed this bug → note in
.hyperflow/memory/pitfalls.md.
Step 7 — Memory + Final Review
Agents — Writer (Sonnet) ⇒ Reviewer (Opus).
- Dispatch
Writer — appending pitfall to .hyperflow/memory/pitfalls.mdper memory-system.md: the bug pattern, why tests missed it, prevention strategy. Tags —pitfallplus domain tags. - Dispatch
**Reviewer** — final validation of fix + test + memory entry. This is the integration review for the trace flow.
Anti-Patterns (refuse these)
| Symptom patch | Why it's wrong |
|---|---|
| "Just catch the exception" | Find why it threw |
| "Add a null check" | Find why it was null |
| "Increase the timeout" | Find why it's slow |
| "Retry on failure" | Understand the failure mode first |
Output Format
── Debug Result ─────────────────────
Bug: <one-line>
Reproducible: yes / no / intermittent
Root cause: <one-line>
Fix: <one-line summary>
Files changed: <list>
Regression test: <path>
─────────────────────────────────────End with usage summary (model names, agent count, token totals) per output-style.md.
Hand-off
Debug is off the auto-chain — it's standalone. After Step 7 reviewer passes, stop and suggest /hyperflow:deploy to run pre-push gates and commit the fix + regression test together. Do not auto-invoke ship — push requires explicit user opt-in.
Doctrine
Full rules in DOCTRINE.md. See also worker-prompt.md and reviewer-prompt.md.
© ccplugins, Apache-2.0. Rendered from Markdown: HTML in the file is shown as text, images as links, and headings moved down two levels. Raw file
Files
Just SKILL.md in plugins/hyperflow/skills/trace of ccplugins/awesome-claude-code-plugins.
Open the folder on GitHubat commit 5bd4f16
Compare with similar skills
Trace 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.
| Skill | Stars | Used in | Tokens | Auto-check | Licence | Repo updated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trace this skillccplugins/awesome-claude-code-plugins | 967 | — | ~1.4k | Automated safety check: Pass | Apache-2.0 | |
| Pester Failure AnalysisPowerShell/PowerShell | 56k | — | ~5.1k | Automated safety check: Pass | MIT | |
| Diagnoseavibebuilder/claude-prime | 120 | 1 repos | ~1.2k | Automated safety check: Pass | MIT | |
| Diagnose a Red Rundifferent-ai/openwork | 24k | — | ~779 | Automated safety check: Pass | Custom licence | |
| Eval Triage And Improvementmicrosoft/eval-guide | 138 | — | ~5.9k | Automated safety check: Pass | MIT | |
| cmux Package Test Bisectmanaflow-ai/cmux | 28k | — | ~1.5k | Automated safety check: Pass | Custom licence |
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Diagnose
avibebuilder/claude-prime
Investigate unexpected behavior and mysterious bugs. An agent skill from avibebuilder/claude-prime.
Diagnose a Red Run
different-ai/openwork
Classifies a failing test, typecheck or CI job before any code changes, by recording the failure and running a clean control to show whether it was already broken.
- Official
Eval Triage And Improvement
microsoft/eval-guide
A skill your agent uses when the user's Copilot Studio agent evaluations have come back and they need to interpret scores, diagnose root causes of underperforming test cases, find remediation steps…
cmux Package Test Bisect
manaflow-ai/cmux
Finds which commit broke a failing Swift package suite in the cmux repo by bisecting on CI, then judges per test whether it went stale or the code regressed.
Map Debug
azalio/map-framework
Structured MAP debugging via decomposer, actor, and monitor agents.
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Categories
Questions about Trace
What does Trace do?
A skill your agent uses when encountering bugs, test failures, runtime errors, unexpected behavior, broken builds, or "this doesn't work" reports. Trace is an agent skill from ccplugins/awesome-claude-code-plugins. Use when encountering bugs, test failures, runtime errors, unexpected behavior, broken builds, or "this doesn't work" reports.
When should I use Trace?
Trace fits situations like: encountering bugs; unexpected behavior; this doesnt work reports.
How do I install Trace in Claude Code?
Run `npx skills add ccplugins/awesome-claude-code-plugins --skill trace -a claude-code`. Or copy the skill folder (plugins/hyperflow/skills/trace in ccplugins/awesome-claude-code-plugins) into .claude/skills/trace in your project. Claude Code loads it when a task matches its description.
How do I install Trace in Codex?
Run `npx skills add ccplugins/awesome-claude-code-plugins --skill trace -a codex`. Or copy the skill folder (plugins/hyperflow/skills/trace in ccplugins/awesome-claude-code-plugins) into .agents/skills/trace in your project. Codex loads it when a task matches its description.
Can I use Trace 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 ccplugins/awesome-claude-code-plugins --skill trace -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, .gemini/skills/trace, .github/skills/trace and .opencode/skills/trace in your project.
What does Trace need to run?
SKILL.md names no scripts, command-line tools or credentials: Trace is instructions for the agent only.
Does Trace 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 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. Review the folder before installing.
What licence does Trace use?
Trace 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 use?
About 1.4k tokens (SKILL.md is roughly 5.7k characters). Agents keep only the skill's name and description in context until a task matches; then they load SKILL.md in full.
What are the alternatives to Trace?
Skills that share tags, products or a category with Trace: Pester Failure Analysis (PowerShell/PowerShell, 56k stars), Diagnose (avibebuilder/claude-prime, 120 stars), Diagnose a Red Run (different-ai/openwork, 24k stars) and Eval Triage And Improvement (microsoft/eval-guide, 138 stars). The comparison table on this page puts their stars, adoption, token cost, safety result and licence side by side.
Who maintains Trace?
ccplugins (a GitHub organization) maintains it in ccplugins/awesome-claude-code-plugins, which has 967 GitHub stars. The repository holds 68 skills in this directory. The repository was last updated on August 12, 2026.
Source: ccplugins/awesome-claude-code-plugins on GitHub. Facts on this page come from the repository at the commit we read; the author's words are quoted as theirs.