How does this skill help with defense-in-depth?

It provides patterns for adding validation and guards at every layer of the call chain, making the system more resilient to future regressions.

What is a 'polluter' in this context?

A polluter is a test or code block that leaves the system in an invalid state (like creating a file in the wrong directory), causing subsequent, unrelated code to fail.

When should I use the instrumentation feature?

Use it when manual tracing hits a dead end or when dealing with complex asynchronous call chains that do not provide clear, automatic stack traces.

How does this differ from standard debugging?

Standard debugging often focuses on where an error crashes; this skill emphasizes finding the original trigger of a bug to ensure the fix happens at the source.

Root Cause Tracing

Name: Root Cause Tracing
Author: NickCrew

byNickCrew

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Security & Testing

Systematically traces software bugs back through the call stack to identify and fix the original trigger rather than just the symptoms.

About

Root Cause Tracing provides a structured methodology for debugging complex issues that manifest deep within an application's execution path. Instead of patching symptoms, this skill guides Claude through a backward tracing process—utilizing call stack analysis, manual instrumentation, and test bisection—to pinpoint where invalid data or incorrect state first originated. By implementing defense-in-depth validation at multiple layers, it ensures that once a bug is fixed at its source, it remains impossible to reproduce.

Key Features

Automated test bisection to identify environment pollution
7 GitHub stars
Multi-layer defense-in-depth validation patterns
Strategic instrumentation and debug logging techniques
Systematic backward call-stack tracing methodology
Comprehensive stack trace analysis and interpretation

Use Cases

Validating data integrity across multiple service layers or complex workflows
Identifying which specific test case is polluting the global environment
Debugging silent failures where errors occur far from the actual logic error

About

Key Features

Automated test bisection to identify environment pollution
7 GitHub stars
Multi-layer defense-in-depth validation patterns
Strategic instrumentation and debug logging techniques
Systematic backward call-stack tracing methodology
Comprehensive stack trace analysis and interpretation

Use Cases

Validating data integrity across multiple service layers or complex workflows
Identifying which specific test case is polluting the global environment
Debugging silent failures where errors occur far from the actual logic error