principle-fix-root-causes

SKILL.md

Fix Root Causes

When debugging, do not fix symptoms. Trace every problem to its root cause and fix it there.

Why: Symptom fixes accumulate. Each workaround makes the system harder to reason about, and the real bug remains. Root-cause fixes are slower upfront but reduce total debugging time.

Pattern:

Reproduce first

Ask "why" until you hit the root cause

Do not add guards (adding a nil check to silence a crash is a symptom fix)

If a workaround needs a paragraph-long comment to justify it, the code is wrong (fix the code, not the comment)

Check for the pattern, not just the instance (grep for the same pattern, fix all instances)

When stuck, instrument. Don't guess (add logging, read the actual error)

Restart bugs: suspect state before code

When something "fails after restart," suspect stale persistent state first: config files, caches, lock files, serialized state. If clearing a state file restores behavior, prioritize state validation as the fix.