AI agent skill · by @ifiokjr

Debug Helper

Debug assistant for error analysis, log interpretation, and performance profiling. Use when user encounters errors, crashes, or performance issues.

Archived 2026-10-23 · Source updated 2026-09-13 · License: MIT. Check the original repository for the latest version.

SKILL.md instructions

# Debug Helper

Systematic debugging workflow.

## Error Analysis

1. **Read the error**: full stack trace and error message
2. **Locate**: find the source file and line
   ```bash
   # Search for the error origin
   grep -rn "ErrorClass\|error_function" src/
   ```
3. **Context**: read surrounding code (±30 lines)
4. **Reproduce**: identify minimal reproduction steps
5. **Root cause**: trace the data flow to find where it goes wrong
6. **Fix**: minimal change that addresses the root cause
7. **Verify**: run the failing case to confirm the fix

## Log Analysis

1. Read the log file or output
2. Identify patterns: timestamps, error levels, request IDs
3. Correlate events across log lines
4. Summarize: what happened, when, and why

## Performance Profiling

1. **Measure**: get baseline numbers first
   ```bash
   time <command>
   ```
2. **Profile**: use language-appropriate tools:
   - Node.js: `--prof`, `clinic.js`
   - Python: `cProfile`, `py-spy`
   - Go: `pprof`
3. **Identify**: find the hotspot (usually 1-2 functions)
4. **Optimize**: fix the bottleneck
5. **Verify**: measure again, compare with baseline