Debugging and Error Recovery
addyosmani/agent-skills
Applies a stop-the-line rule and a step-by-step triage when tests fail, builds break or something stops working, aiming at the root cause instead of guesses.
Structured debugging methodology — reproduce, isolate, hypothesize, verify.
Install Systematic Debugging
$ npx skills add spencerpauly/awesome-cursor-skills --skill systematic-debugging -a claude-codeProject install by default; add -g for ~/.claude/skills/.
$ gh skill install spencerpauly/awesome-cursor-skills systematic-debugging --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/spencerpauly/awesome-cursor-skills.git skills-src && mkdir -p .claude/skills && cp -r skills-src/resources/systematic-debugging .claude/skills/systematic-debugging && 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 "systematic-debugging" agent skill from https://github.com/spencerpauly/awesome-cursor-skills/tree/main/resources/systematic-debugging into .claude/skills/systematic-debugging/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "systematic-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 install https://github.com/spencerpauly/awesome-cursor-skills/tree/main/resources/systematic-debuggingType 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 spencerpauly/awesome-cursor-skills --skill systematic-debugging -a codexProject install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.codex/skills/.
$ gh skill install spencerpauly/awesome-cursor-skills systematic-debugging --agent codexProject scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/spencerpauly/awesome-cursor-skills.git skills-src && mkdir -p .agents/skills && cp -r skills-src/resources/systematic-debugging .agents/skills/systematic-debugging && rm -rf skills-srcUse ~/.agents/skills/ instead of .agents/skills for a personal install.
Codex skills documentation · loads skills from .agents/skills/
Install the "systematic-debugging" agent skill from https://github.com/spencerpauly/awesome-cursor-skills/tree/main/resources/systematic-debugging into .agents/skills/systematic-debugging/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "systematic-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.
$ npx skills add spencerpauly/awesome-cursor-skills --skill systematic-debugging -a cursorProject install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.cursor/skills/.
$ gh skill install spencerpauly/awesome-cursor-skills systematic-debugging --agent cursorProject scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/spencerpauly/awesome-cursor-skills.git skills-src && mkdir -p .cursor/skills && cp -r skills-src/resources/systematic-debugging .cursor/skills/systematic-debugging && 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 "systematic-debugging" agent skill from https://github.com/spencerpauly/awesome-cursor-skills/tree/main/resources/systematic-debugging into .cursor/skills/systematic-debugging/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "systematic-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 https://github.com/spencerpauly/awesome-cursor-skills.git --path resources/systematic-debugging--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 spencerpauly/awesome-cursor-skills --skill systematic-debugging -a gemini-cliProject install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.gemini/skills/.
$ gh skill install spencerpauly/awesome-cursor-skills systematic-debugging --agent gemini-cliProject scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/spencerpauly/awesome-cursor-skills.git skills-src && mkdir -p .gemini/skills && cp -r skills-src/resources/systematic-debugging .gemini/skills/systematic-debugging && 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 "systematic-debugging" agent skill from https://github.com/spencerpauly/awesome-cursor-skills/tree/main/resources/systematic-debugging into .gemini/skills/systematic-debugging/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "systematic-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.
$ gh skill install spencerpauly/awesome-cursor-skills systematic-debuggingInstalls 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 spencerpauly/awesome-cursor-skills --skill systematic-debugging -a github-copilotProject install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.copilot/skills/.
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/spencerpauly/awesome-cursor-skills.git skills-src && mkdir -p .github/skills && cp -r skills-src/resources/systematic-debugging .github/skills/systematic-debugging && 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 "systematic-debugging" agent skill from https://github.com/spencerpauly/awesome-cursor-skills/tree/main/resources/systematic-debugging into .github/skills/systematic-debugging/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "systematic-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.
$ npx skills add spencerpauly/awesome-cursor-skills --skill systematic-debugging -a opencodeOpenCode documents no install command of its own. Project install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.config/opencode/skills/.
$ gh skill install spencerpauly/awesome-cursor-skills systematic-debugging --agent opencodeProject scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/spencerpauly/awesome-cursor-skills.git skills-src && mkdir -p .opencode/skills && cp -r skills-src/resources/systematic-debugging .opencode/skills/systematic-debugging && 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 "systematic-debugging" agent skill from https://github.com/spencerpauly/awesome-cursor-skills/tree/main/resources/systematic-debugging into .opencode/skills/systematic-debugging/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "systematic-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
systematic-debugging- GitHub stars
- 842
- Token cost
- ~856 tokens
- SKILL.md length
- 423 words
- Files
- 1
- Skills in repo
- 57
- Repo updated
- First seen
- Licence
- CC0-1.0
At a glance
Structured debugging methodology — reproduce, isolate, hypothesize, verify.
- Works in 5 steps: Reproduce → Isolate → Hypothesize → …
- Tasks that involve Debugging
- SKILL.md covers The Process, Debugging Tools, Common Bug Patterns and Rules
- Calls git
What it does
Systematic Debugging is an agent skill from spencerpauly/awesome-cursor-skills. Structured debugging methodology — reproduce, isolate, hypothesize, verify. Covers git bisect, binary search, logging, and minimal reproduction.
Its SKILL.md is about 860 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 Git. The repository describes itself as: A curated list of awesome skills for Cursor. The licence is CC0-1.0.
When your agent uses it
- Tasks that involve Debugging
Example prompts
- “/systematic-debugging”
Workflow steps
5 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 99cd265. 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
Shell commands in SKILL.md call:
git
From the folder's file list and the shell code blocks in SKILL.md.
Network
No URLs in SKILL.md. Its commands use git, which can reach the network depending on how they are called.
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
Systematic Debugging loads about 856 tokens when it runs. Until then it costs about 41 tokens; SKILL.md has 423 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 spencerpauly/awesome-cursor-skills at commit 99cd265, republished under its CC0-1.0 licence (© spencerpauly). 423 words, ~856 tokens.
Download SKILL.mdSave it as
.claude/skills/systematic-debugging/SKILL.md (or your agent's skills folder).- name
- systematic-debugging
- description
- Structured debugging methodology — reproduce, isolate, hypothesize, verify. Covers git bisect, binary search, logging, and minimal reproduction.
- user-invocable
- true
Systematic Debugging
Debug methodically instead of randomly changing code.
The Process
1. Reproduce
Before anything else, reproduce the bug reliably:
- Get the exact steps to trigger the issue
- Note the expected vs actual behavior
- Confirm it happens consistently (not intermittent)
- Record the environment (OS, Node version, browser, etc.)
If you can't reproduce it, you can't fix it. Ask for more details.
2. Isolate
Narrow down where the bug lives:
Binary search the codebase:
- Comment out half the system → does the bug persist?
- If yes, the bug is in the remaining half → repeat
- If no, the bug is in the commented-out half → repeat
Git bisect:
git bisect start
git bisect bad # current commit is broken
git bisect good <sha> # this commit was working
# Git checks out the midpoint — test it
git bisect good # or git bisect bad
# Repeat until it finds the first bad commit
git bisect reset # when doneIsolate by layer:
- Is it frontend or backend? (Check network tab)
- Is it the database? (Query directly)
- Is it the API? (curl the endpoint)
- Is it the component? (Render it in isolation)
3. Hypothesize
Form a specific, testable hypothesis:
- "The bug is caused by X because Y"
- Not "something is wrong with the data"
- Good: "The
userIdis null because the auth middleware doesn't run on this route"
4. Test the Hypothesis
Write the smallest possible test that proves/disproves your hypothesis:
- Add a
console.logor breakpoint at the suspected location - Check the value of the suspected variable
- If your hypothesis is wrong, go back to step 3 with new information
- If it's right, you've found the bug
5. Fix and Verify
- Apply the minimal fix
- Verify the original reproduction steps no longer trigger the bug
- Check for regressions — did the fix break anything else?
- Write a test that would have caught this bug
Show full SKILL.md (166 more words)Show less
Debugging Tools
| Scenario | Tool |
|---|---|
| "It worked before" | git bisect |
| "I don't know where this runs" | Add logging at entry/exit of suspect functions |
| "The data looks wrong" | Inspect at each transformation step |
| "It only fails in production" | Compare env vars, check logs, try to reproduce with prod data locally |
| "It's intermittent" | Look for race conditions, timing issues, or uninitialized state |
| "The error message is useless" | Search the codebase for where that error is thrown |
Common Bug Patterns
- Off-by-one: Array indices, pagination, date ranges
- Null/undefined: Missing optional chaining, uninitialized state
- Race condition: Async operations completing in unexpected order
- Stale closure: React useEffect/useCallback capturing old values
- Type coercion:
==vs===, string vs number comparisons - Missing await: Forgetting
awaiton async functions - Environment mismatch: Works locally, fails in CI/prod due to different env vars or versions
Rules
- Never guess — always verify with evidence
- Fix the root cause, not the symptom
- If you've spent 15 minutes without progress, step back and re-isolate
- Document what you tried so you don't repeat failed approaches
© spencerpauly, CC0-1.0. 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 resources/systematic-debugging of spencerpauly/awesome-cursor-skills.
Open the folder on GitHubat commit 99cd265
Compare with similar skills
Systematic 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.
| Skill | Stars | Used in | Tokens | Auto-check | Licence | Repo updated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Systematic Debugging this skillspencerpauly/awesome-cursor-skills | 842 | — | ~856 | Automated safety check: Pass | CC0-1.0 | |
| Debugging and Error Recoveryaddyosmani/agent-skills | 103k | 1 repos | ~2.6k | Automated safety check: Pass | MIT | |
| Git History Bug Auditben-manes/caffeine | 18k | — | ~3.3k | Automated safety check: Pass | Apache-2.0 | |
| Leon Coding Agentleon-ai/leon | 18k | — | ~1.1k | Automated safety check: Pass | MIT | |
| Adk Setupgoogle/adk-python | 22k | — | ~993 | Automated safety check: Notes | Apache-2.0 | |
| Debug Tuitrasta298/keifu | 811 | — | ~1.3k | Automated safety check: Pass | MIT |
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Git History Bug Audit
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Audits a module by walking its git history commit by commit, tracking unresolved issues forward, and reporting the ones that survive to HEAD as findings.
Leon Coding Agent
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Has Leon's agent investigate, change and verify code in a repository with its file, search and shell tools, staying inside the scope the owner authorized.
- Official
Adk Setup
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Sets up a local ADK Python development environment in a git clone of the open-source adk-python repository: a uv virtual environment, all dependency extras, pre-commit hooks, and a first unit-test…
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Drive and debug the real keifu TUI autonomously via its remote-control debug server (--debug-listen) — launch headlessly, inject keys/mouse, dump the rendered screen as text, and inspect app state.
Superplane Changelog
superplanehq/superplane
When generating a SuperPlane changelog from merged commits. An agent skill from superplanehq/superplane.
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Related
Works with
Categories
Questions about Systematic Debugging
What does Systematic Debugging do?
Structured debugging methodology — reproduce, isolate, hypothesize, verify. Systematic Debugging is an agent skill from spencerpauly/awesome-cursor-skills. Structured debugging methodology — reproduce, isolate, hypothesize, verify.
When should I use Systematic Debugging?
Systematic Debugging fits situations like: tasks that involve Debugging.
How do I install Systematic Debugging in Claude Code?
Run `npx skills add spencerpauly/awesome-cursor-skills --skill systematic-debugging -a claude-code`. Or copy the skill folder (resources/systematic-debugging in spencerpauly/awesome-cursor-skills) into .claude/skills/systematic-debugging in your project. Claude Code loads it when a task matches its description.
How do I install Systematic Debugging in Codex?
Run `npx skills add spencerpauly/awesome-cursor-skills --skill systematic-debugging -a codex`. Or copy the skill folder (resources/systematic-debugging in spencerpauly/awesome-cursor-skills) into .agents/skills/systematic-debugging in your project. Codex loads it when a task matches its description.
Can I use Systematic 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 spencerpauly/awesome-cursor-skills --skill systematic-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/systematic-debugging, .gemini/skills/systematic-debugging, .github/skills/systematic-debugging and .opencode/skills/systematic-debugging in your project.
What does Systematic Debugging need to run?
Going by SKILL.md and its folder, Systematic Debugging needs the command-line tools its instructions call (git).
Does Systematic Debugging access the network?
SKILL.md contains no URLs. Its commands use git, which can reach the network depending on how they are called. This is read from the text; nothing was executed.
Is Systematic 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 Systematic Debugging use?
Systematic Debugging is published under the CC0-1.0 licence (the repository's licence). It allows redistribution, so the full SKILL.md is shown on this page.
How many tokens does Systematic Debugging use?
About 856 tokens (SKILL.md is roughly 3.4k 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 Systematic Debugging?
Skills that share tags, products or a category with Systematic Debugging: Debugging and Error Recovery (addyosmani/agent-skills, 103k stars), Git History Bug Audit (ben-manes/caffeine, 18k stars), Leon Coding Agent (leon-ai/leon, 18k stars) and Adk Setup (google/adk-python, 22k stars). The comparison table on this page puts their stars, adoption, token cost, safety result and licence side by side.
Who maintains Systematic Debugging?
spencerpauly (a GitHub user) maintains it in spencerpauly/awesome-cursor-skills, which has 842 GitHub stars. The repository holds 57 skills in this directory. The repository was last updated on August 2, 2026.
Source: spencerpauly/awesome-cursor-skills on GitHub. Facts on this page come from the repository at the commit we read; the author's words are quoted as theirs.