Can this skill help with flaky or polluting tests?

Yes, it includes strategies for using bisection scripts and instrumentation to identify exactly which test is causing side effects or environment pollution.

When should I use this skill over standard debugging?

Use this skill when an error occurs deep in execution, when a stack trace is exceptionally long, or when it's unclear where invalid data originally entered the system.

Does it provide instrumentation patterns?

Yes, it provides specific patterns for adding stack trace logging and context-aware debugging code that works even when standard loggers are suppressed.

What is the core principle of Root Cause Tracing?

The core principle is to trace backward through the call chain until you find the original trigger of a bug, rather than fixing the symptom where the error appears.

Root Cause Tracing

Name: Root Cause Tracing
Author: franroa

byfranroa

0•

Security & Testing

Systematically traces software bugs back to their original trigger points through call stack analysis and strategic instrumentation.

The Root Cause Tracing skill empowers Claude to move beyond fixing symptoms by identifying the actual source of deep-seated execution errors. It provides a structured methodology for navigating complex call chains, adding defensive instrumentation when manual tracing fails, and isolating test pollution. By implementing defense-in-depth layers and validating data at every step of the stack, this skill ensures that bugs are eliminated at the source rather than being patched at the point of failure.

Key Features

01Systematic backward call-stack navigation and analysis

020 GitHub stars

03Strategic instrumentation using high-context debug logging

04Execution context analysis including CWD and environment variables

05Test bisection for identifying environment and state pollution

06Defense-in-depth validation layering to prevent regression

Use Cases

01Identifying the specific test case responsible for leaking state or polluting the file system

02Debugging errors that occur deep within complex library or framework execution

03Tracing the origin of invalid parameters passed through multiple abstraction layers

What are Skills?·How to Install

Install with 🐟 Skill.Fish

npx skillfish add franroa/chezmoi root-cause-tracing

For use in Claude.ai and ChatGPT

Download Skill