Claude MarketplacesSubmit
obra avatar

Systematic Debugging

obra/superpowers

Forces you to investigate root causes before attempting any fixes through a rigid four-phase process: evidence gathering with diagnostic logging at component boundaries, pattern analysis against working examples, hypothesis testing with minimal changes, and proper test-driven implementation. Specifically prevents the "quick fix" trap by requiring you to trace data flow, add instrumentation to multi-layer systems, and stop after three failed attempts to question the underlying architecture. Most useful when you're under pressure and tempted to guess, or when dealing with complex systems where symptoms appear far from causes.

install copies · 90 days. Times the install command was copied on this site in the last 90 days, bots filtered.
142
skills.sh installs
326.7K
GitHub stars
315.2K
last updated
Aug 21, 2026
View on GitHub

Install

$ npx -y skills add obra/superpowers --skill systematic-debugging --agent claude-code

Installs into .claude/skills of the current project.

Files

Systematic Debugging

Overview

Core principle: ALWAYS find root cause before attempting fixes. Symptom fixes are failure.

Violating the letter of this process is violating the spirit of debugging.

The Iron Law

NO FIXES WITHOUT ROOT CAUSE INVESTIGATION FIRST

If you haven't completed Phase 1, you cannot propose fixes.

When to Use

Use for ANY technical issue:

  • Test failures
  • Bugs in production
  • Unexpected behavior
  • Performance problems
  • Build failures
  • Integration issues

Use this ESPECIALLY when:

  • Under time pressure (emergencies make guessing tempting)
  • "Just one quick fix" seems obvious
  • You've already tried multiple fixes
  • Previous fix didn't work
  • You don't fully understand the issue

Don't skip when:

  • Issue seems simple (simple bugs have root causes too)
  • You're in a hurry (rushing guarantees rework)
  • Manager wants it fixed NOW (systematic is faster than thrashing)

The Four Phases

You MUST complete each phase before proceeding to the next.

Phase 1: Root Cause Investigation

BEFORE attempting ANY fix:

SKILL.md on GitHub

Sponsors

Promote your product hereReach 125k+ visitors monthlyPromote your product hereReach 125k+ visitors monthlyAgent CaffeineSponsoredClose your lid, come back to finished workSnugSponsoredThe clipboard manager for the AI eraPromote your product hereReach 125k+ visitors monthlyWaxSponsoredBlock anything with supervision, without erasing your iPhonePromote your product hereReach 125k+ visitors monthlyknobsSponsoredSee your site on any phone, any day, in any language

Details

Repository
github.com/obra/superpowers
Categories
Testing & QA, Debugging

More from obra/superpowers

All 14

Recommended

More Testing & QA
1mattpocock avatardiagnosemattpocock/skillsDisciplined diagnosis loop for hard bugs and performance regressions. Reproduce → minimise → hypothesise → instrument → fix → regression-test. Use when user say227.6Kskills.sh installs
2antibrow avatarmulti-account-isolationantibrow/anti-detect-browser-skillsVerify that browser profiles are actually isolated from one another instead of assuming it - confirm each profile's timezone agrees with its own exit IP, that W123.9Kskills.sh installs
3inference-sh avataryoutube-thumbnail-designinference-sh/skillsYouTube thumbnail design with specific dimensions, contrast rules, and mobile preview optimization. Covers safe zones, text placement, face expression psycholog107.3Kskills.sh installs
4emilkowalski avatarbreak-uiemilkowalski/skillsTry to break a piece of UI by feeding it worst-case data — long names, unbreakable emails, one-letter names, missing fields, huge counts, zero items, long label100.1Kskills.sh installs
5cloudflare avatarsecurity-auditcloudflare/security-audit-skillSecurity audit of a codebase — web apps, APIs, services, CLI tools, libraries, daemons, and more. Use when asked to find security bugs, do a security review, au95.6Kskills.sh installs
6expo avatarexpo-dev-clientexpo/skillsFramework (OSS). Build and distribute Expo development clients locally or via TestFlight for internal testing. For production TestFlight releases and store subm74.6Kskills.sh installs