How does the Systematic Debugging skill work?

It guides Claude through four distinct phases: gathering evidence, comparing working vs. broken states, forming a testable hypothesis, and finally implementing a verified fix.

What is included in the Debugging Report?

The report includes a detailed breakdown of the symptom, exact error messages, stack traces, recent changes, data state, and the results of the hypothesis testing.

What is the 3+ Fix Rule?

The 3+ Fix Rule is a safeguard that triggers a mandatory pause after three failed attempts to fix a bug, forcing a transition from trial-and-error to systematic root cause investigation.

When should I use the nexus-orchestrator debugging skill?

This skill is best used for complex failures where the cause is not immediately obvious, or when initial attempts to resolve an error have failed to fix the underlying problem.

Can this skill prevent regression bugs?

Yes, the implementation phase requires writing a failing test that demonstrates the bug and running the full test suite to verify the fix doesn't break other parts of the system.

Systematic Debugging Orchestrator

Name: Systematic Debugging Orchestrator
Author: BaxterCooper

byBaxterCooper

0•

Security & Testing

Enforces a structured root-cause investigation workflow to resolve complex software failures and prevent repetitive fix attempts.

The Systematic Debugging skill is a specialized utility for Claude Code designed to break the cycle of unsuccessful hotfixes. It implements a mandatory four-phase protocol—Investigate, Analyze, Hypothesize, and Implement—whenever a problem persists beyond three attempts. By requiring diagnostic evidence, comparative analysis, and testable hypotheses before any code changes are made, it ensures that Claude identifies the actual root cause of architectural or deep-seated bugs rather than just treating symptoms.

Key Features

01Standardized YAML Debugging Reports for documenting symptoms, state, and findings.

020 GitHub stars

03Four-phase structured workflow: Investigate, Analyze, Hypothesize, and Implement.

04Specific hypothesis testing to ensure one change is validated at a time.

05Built-in regression verification to ensure fixes don't introduce new issues.

06Mandatory '3+ Fix Rule' that halts automated loops to prevent the sunk cost fallacy.

Use Cases

01Standardizing the debugging process across automated AI coding agents to ensure architectural integrity.

02Conducting deep-dive root cause analysis on unfamiliar or complex legacy codebases.

03Resolving persistent or intermittent bugs that have survived multiple previous fix attempts.

What are Skills?·How to Install

Install with 🐟 Skill.Fish

npx skillfish add baxtercooper/nexus systematic-debugging

For use in Claude.ai and ChatGPT

Download Skill