Official agent skill

Debugging

Debugging techniques and tools for IntelliJ development. An agent skill from JetBrains/MPS.

OfficialApache-2.0Auto-check passedDevelopment

Install Debugging

skills CLI

$ npx skills add JetBrains/MPS --skill debugging -a claude-code

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

GitHub CLI

$ gh skill install JetBrains/MPS debugging --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/JetBrains/MPS.git skills-src && mkdir -p .claude/skills && cp -r skills-src/.agents/skills/debugging .claude/skills/debugging && 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 "debugging" agent skill from https://github.com/JetBrains/MPS/tree/master/.agents/skills/debugging into .claude/skills/debugging/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "debugging", 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/JetBrains/MPS/tree/master/.agents/skills/debugging

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 JetBrains/MPS --skill debugging -a codex

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

GitHub CLI

$ gh skill install JetBrains/MPS debugging --agent codex

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

Manual copy

$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/JetBrains/MPS.git skills-src && mkdir -p .agents/skills && cp -r skills-src/.agents/skills/debugging .agents/skills/debugging && 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 "debugging" agent skill from https://github.com/JetBrains/MPS/tree/master/.agents/skills/debugging into .agents/skills/debugging/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "debugging", 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 JetBrains/MPS --skill debugging -a cursor

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

GitHub CLI

$ gh skill install JetBrains/MPS debugging --agent cursor

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

Manual copy

$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/JetBrains/MPS.git skills-src && mkdir -p .cursor/skills && cp -r skills-src/.agents/skills/debugging .cursor/skills/debugging && 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 "debugging" agent skill from https://github.com/JetBrains/MPS/tree/master/.agents/skills/debugging into .cursor/skills/debugging/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "debugging", 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/JetBrains/MPS.git --path .agents/skills/debugging

--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 JetBrains/MPS --skill debugging -a gemini-cli

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

GitHub CLI

$ gh skill install JetBrains/MPS debugging --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/JetBrains/MPS.git skills-src && mkdir -p .gemini/skills && cp -r skills-src/.agents/skills/debugging .gemini/skills/debugging && 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 "debugging" agent skill from https://github.com/JetBrains/MPS/tree/master/.agents/skills/debugging into .gemini/skills/debugging/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "debugging", 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 JetBrains/MPS debugging

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 JetBrains/MPS --skill debugging -a github-copilot

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

Manual copy

$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/JetBrains/MPS.git skills-src && mkdir -p .github/skills && cp -r skills-src/.agents/skills/debugging .github/skills/debugging && 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 "debugging" agent skill from https://github.com/JetBrains/MPS/tree/master/.agents/skills/debugging into .github/skills/debugging/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "debugging", 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 JetBrains/MPS --skill debugging -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 JetBrains/MPS debugging --agent opencode

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

Manual copy

$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/JetBrains/MPS.git skills-src && mkdir -p .opencode/skills && cp -r skills-src/.agents/skills/debugging .opencode/skills/debugging && 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 "debugging" agent skill from https://github.com/JetBrains/MPS/tree/master/.agents/skills/debugging into .opencode/skills/debugging/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "debugging", 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: debugging
GitHub stars: 1.7k
Token cost: ~434 tokens
SKILL.md length: 137 words
Files: 1
Skills in repo: 40
Repo updated: Oct 7, 2026
First seen: Oct 8, 2026
Licence: Apache-2.0

At a glance

Debugging techniques and tools for IntelliJ development. An agent skill from JetBrains/MPS.

Works in 4 steps: Trace the full execution chain from… → Identify all layers that handle the… → Verify the fix at the entry point the… → …
Debugging IDE issues
SKILL.md covers Documentation, Searching idea.log and End-to-End Behavior
Instructions only: no scripts, shell commands, URLs or credentials in SKILL.md

What it does

Debugging is an agent skill from JetBrains/MPS, published by the product's own GitHub organization. Debugging techniques and tools for IntelliJ development. Use when debugging IDE issues or investigating failures.

Its SKILL.md is about 430 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 Development, covering Debugging. It works with JetBrains IDEs. The repository describes itself as: JetBrains Meta programming System. The licence is Apache-2.0.

When your agent uses it

Debugging IDE issues
Investigating failures

Example prompts

“/debugging”

Workflow steps

4 steps, taken from the first numbered list in SKILL.md.

Trace the full execution chain from entry point to actual executor before making changes
Identify all layers that handle the relevant behavior - each layer may swallow, transform, or ignore it
Verify the fix at the entry point the user actually invokes, not just at the layer you modified
Add debugging output if still unsure - add to all layers to trace the issue

What it can do on your machine

Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit a92f944. 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 (its code samples are bash).
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

Debugging loads about 434 tokens when it runs. Until then it costs about 31 tokens; SKILL.md has 137 words of instructions outside code blocks.

Always · name and description, kept in context so the agent knows when to use it: ~31
When it runs · the whole SKILL.md, loaded when a task matches: ~434

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 JetBrains/MPS at commit a92f944, republished under its Apache-2.0 licence (© JetBrains). 137 words, ~434 tokens.

Download SKILL.mdSave it as .claude/skills/debugging/SKILL.md (or your agent's skills folder).

name: debugging
description: Debugging techniques and tools for IntelliJ development. Use when debugging IDE issues or investigating failures.

Debugging

Documentation

Logger FAQ - Frequently asked questions about logging
How to Investigate Freezes - Diagnosing IDE freezes
Exception Analyzing FAQ - Analyzing and categorizing exceptions

Searching idea.log

When debugging IntelliJ code, search idea.log using these patterns:

Log Levels:

FINE = debug level (from LOG.debug { })
INFO = info level (from LOG.info())

Category Format: #<abbreviated.package.path>.<ClassName>

Example: com.intellij.openapi.wm.impl.status.IdeStatusBarImpl → #c.i.o.w.i.s.IdeStatusBarImpl

Search Examples:

bash

# Debug logs from IdeStatusBarImpl
grep "FINE - #c.i.o.w.i.s.IdeStatusBarImpl" idea.log

# Info logs from IdeStatusBarImpl
grep "INFO - #c.i.o.w.i.s.IdeStatusBarImpl" idea.log

# All logs from a class
grep "#c.i.o.w.i.s.IdeStatusBarImpl" idea.log

End-to-End Behavior

When fixing issues where a user-facing entry point (script, command, API) doesn't behave as expected:

Trace the full execution chain from entry point to actual executor before making changes
Identify all layers that handle the relevant behavior - each layer may swallow, transform, or ignore it
Verify the fix at the entry point the user actually invokes, not just at the layer you modified
Add debugging output if still unsure - add to all layers to trace the issue

Files

Just SKILL.md in .agents/skills/debugging of JetBrains/MPS.

Open the folder on GitHubat commit a92f944

Used in 1 other repository

We found 3 copies of this SKILL.md (exact, near-identical or edited) in other folders. This page covers the copy in JetBrains/MPS, which our catalogue first saw on October 8, 2026.

JetBrains/intellij-community.agents/skills/debugging .claude/skills/debugging

Compare with similar skills

Debugging 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.

Debugging compared with similar skills
Skill	Stars	Used in	Tokens	Auto-check	Licence	Repo updated
Debugging this skillJetBrains/MPS	1.7k	—	~434	Automated safety check: Pass	Apache-2.0	today
Java DebugAmplicode/spring-skills	126	—	~2.7k	Automated safety check: Pass	None	1 mo ago
Debug Surefireeclipse-rdf4j/rdf4j	420	—	~2.4k	Automated safety check: Pass	BSD-3-Clause	today
Trellis Session Insightmindfold-ai/Trellis	15k	4 repos	~1.7k	Automated safety check: Pass	AGPL-3.0	8 days ago
Native Data FetchingCherryHQ/cherry-studio-app	4k	6 repos	~2.9k	Automated safety check: Notes	MIT	today
Doc SyncJetBrains/ideavim	10k	2 repos	~2.6k	Automated safety check: Pass	MIT	today

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Works with

JetBrains IDEs

Questions about Debugging

What does Debugging do?

Debugging techniques and tools for IntelliJ development. An agent skill from JetBrains/MPS. Debugging is an agent skill from JetBrains/MPS, published by the product's own GitHub organization. Debugging techniques and tools for IntelliJ development.

When should I use Debugging?

Debugging fits situations like: debugging IDE issues; investigating failures.

How do I install Debugging in Claude Code?

Run `npx skills add JetBrains/MPS --skill debugging -a claude-code`. Or copy the skill folder (.agents/skills/debugging in JetBrains/MPS) into .claude/skills/debugging in your project. Claude Code loads it when a task matches its description.

How do I install Debugging in Codex?

Run `npx skills add JetBrains/MPS --skill debugging -a codex`. Or copy the skill folder (.agents/skills/debugging in JetBrains/MPS) into .agents/skills/debugging in your project. Codex loads it when a task matches its description.

Can I use Debugging 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 JetBrains/MPS --skill debugging -a cursor` (or -a gemini-cli, github-copilot or opencode for the others). To copy it by hand, put the folder in .cursor/skills/debugging, .gemini/skills/debugging, .github/skills/debugging and .opencode/skills/debugging in your project.

What does Debugging need to run?

SKILL.md names no scripts, command-line tools or credentials: Debugging is instructions for the agent only.

Does Debugging 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 Debugging 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 Debugging use?

Debugging 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 Debugging use?

About 434 tokens (SKILL.md is roughly 1.7k 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 Debugging?

Skills that share tags, products or a category with Debugging: Java Debug (Amplicode/spring-skills, 126 stars), Debug Surefire (eclipse-rdf4j/rdf4j, 420 stars), Trellis Session Insight (mindfold-ai/Trellis, 15k stars) and Native Data Fetching (CherryHQ/cherry-studio-app, 4k stars). The comparison table on this page puts their stars, adoption, token cost, safety result and licence side by side.

Who maintains Debugging?

JetBrains (a GitHub organization, an official publisher) maintains it in JetBrains/MPS, which has 1,660 GitHub stars. The repository holds 40 skills in this directory. The repository was last updated on October 7, 2026.

Source: JetBrains/MPS on GitHub. Facts on this page come from the repository at the commit we read; the author's words are quoted as theirs.

Install Debugging

Facts

At a glance

What it does

When your agent uses it

Example prompts

Workflow steps

What it can do on your machine

Tool permissions

Runs code

Network

Credentials

Context cost

Safety

SKILL.md

Debugging

Documentation

Searching idea.log

End-to-End Behavior

Files

Used in 1 other repository

Compare with similar skills

Similar skills

More from JetBrains/MPS

Related

Questions about Debugging