Agent skill
crash-instrumentation
Set up crash instrumentation with actionable context. Use when configuring crash capture, error boundaries, or breadcrumb strategies.
Install this agent skill to your Project
npx add-skill https://github.com/nexus-labs-automation/mobile-observability/tree/main/skills/crash-instrumentation
SKILL.md
Crash Instrumentation
Capture crashes with the context needed to debug them.
Core Principle
A crash report without context is useless. Every crash should include:
| Context | Why | Example |
|---|---|---|
screen |
Where it happened | "CheckoutScreen" |
job_name |
What user was doing | "checkout" |
job_step |
Where in the flow | "payment" |
breadcrumbs |
What led here | Last 20 user actions |
app_version |
Release correlation | "1.2.3" |
user_segment |
Who's affected | "premium", "trial" |
Breadcrumb Strategy
Breadcrumbs are the trail leading to a crash. Capture:
| Category | What to Log | Example |
|---|---|---|
navigation |
Screen transitions | "HomeScreen → CartScreen" |
user |
Taps, inputs, gestures | "Tapped checkout button" |
network |
API calls (not payloads) | "POST /api/orders started" |
state |
Key state changes | "Cart updated: 3 items" |
error |
Non-fatal errors | "Retry #2 for payment" |
Limit: Keep last 20-50 breadcrumbs. More is noise.
Error Boundaries
Catch errors before they crash the app:
// iOS - capture context before crash
func captureError(_ error: Error, screen: String, job: String?) {
Observability.captureError(error, context: [
"screen": screen,
"job_name": job ?? "unknown",
"session_duration": sessionDuration(),
"memory_pressure": memoryPressure()
])
}
// Android - uncaught exception handler
Thread.setDefaultUncaughtExceptionHandler { thread, throwable ->
Observability.captureError(throwable, mapOf(
"thread" to thread.name,
"screen" to currentScreen,
"job_name" to currentJob
))
previousHandler?.uncaughtException(thread, throwable)
}
What NOT to Attach
| Don't | Why |
|---|---|
| Full stack traces in breadcrumbs | Redundant, SDK captures this |
| User input text | PII risk |
| Full request/response bodies | Size limits, PII |
| Entire app state | Unbounded, noise |
Crash Types to Handle
| Platform | Type | Instrumentation |
|---|---|---|
| iOS | EXC_BAD_ACCESS |
Breadcrumbs, memory context |
| iOS | SIGKILL (watchdog) |
Background task tracking |
| Android | ANR |
Main thread breadcrumbs |
| Android | OutOfMemoryError |
Memory tracking |
| React Native | JS exceptions | Error boundaries |
Implementation
See references/crash-reporting.md for:
- Platform-specific crash capture setup
- Breadcrumb implementation patterns
- Vendor SDK configuration
See skills/symbolication-setup for readable stack traces.
Recommended Agent Skills
Expand your agent's capabilities with these related and highly-rated skills.
symbolication-setup
Configure crash symbolication for readable stack traces. Use when setting up dSYMs (iOS), ProGuard/R8 mappings (Android), or source maps (React Native).
network-tracing
Instrument API requests with spans and distributed tracing. Use when tracking request latency, correlating client-backend traces, or debugging API issues.
user-journey-tracking
Track user journeys with intent context and friction signals. Use when instrumenting onboarding, checkout, or any multi-step flow where you need to understand WHY users fail.
navigation-latency
Measure time from navigation tap to screen fully loaded and interactive. Use when tracking screen transitions, deep links, or tab switches.
interaction-latency
Measure time from user tap to action completion. Use when tracking button response times, form submissions, add-to-cart, or any tap-triggered operation.
instrumentation-planning
Plan what to measure in mobile apps. Use when starting observability, prioritizing instrumentation, or asking "what should I track?"
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