Observe Before Editing

When you hit a bug, your first instinct is to dive into the code and start fixing what you think is wrong. This skill enforces the opposite: check what the system actually produced first. Look at the directories, read the logs, run the failing command manually. The pattern comes from real debugging sessions where the issue wasn't what it seemed. A token limit error hiding in output, looking in the wrong cache path and assuming code didn't run, that kind of thing. It's basically "measure twice, cut once" for debugging. Check the filesystem and logs before you touch a single line of code, because outputs don't lie even when your assumptions do.

skills.sh installs: 483
GitHub stars: 3.9K
last updated: Aug 21, 2026

View on GitHub

Install

$ npx -y skills add parcadei/continuous-claude-v3 --skill observe-before-editing --agent claude-code

Installs into .claude/skills of the current project.

Files

Observe Before Editing

Before editing code to fix a bug, confirm what the system actually produced.

Pattern

Outputs don't lie. Code might. Check outputs first.

DO

Check if expected directories exist: ls -la .claude/cache/
Check if expected files were created: ls -la .claude/cache/learnings/
Check logs for errors: tail .claude/cache/*.log
Run the failing command manually to see actual error
Only then edit code

DON'T

Assume "hook didn't run" without checking outputs
Edit code based on what you think should happen
Confuse global vs project paths (check both: .claude/ and ~/.claude/)

Source Sessions

a541f08a: Token limit error was invisible until manual run revealed it
6a9f2d7a: Looked in wrong cache path (~/.claude/ vs .claude/), assumed hook failure
a8bd5cea: Confirmed hook worked by finding output files in project cache
1c21e6c8: Verified Artifact Index indexing by checking DB file exists

SKILL.md on GitHub