Agent skill
debug
Structured debugging session — reproduce, isolate, diagnose, and fix. Trigger with an error message or stack trace, "this works in staging but not prod", "something broke after the deploy", or when behavior diverges from expected and the cause isn't obvious.
Install this agent skill to your Project
npx add-skill https://github.com/anthropics/knowledge-work-plugins/tree/main/engineering/skills/debug
SKILL.md
/debug
If you see unfamiliar placeholders or need to check which tools are connected, see CONNECTORS.md.
Run a structured debugging session to find and fix issues systematically.
Usage
/debug $ARGUMENTS
How It Works
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ DEBUG │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ Step 1: REPRODUCE │
│ ✓ Understand the expected vs. actual behavior │
│ ✓ Identify exact reproduction steps │
│ ✓ Determine scope (when did it start? who is affected?) │
│ │
│ Step 2: ISOLATE │
│ ✓ Narrow down the component, service, or code path │
│ ✓ Check recent changes (deploys, config changes, dependencies) │
│ ✓ Review logs and error messages │
│ │
│ Step 3: DIAGNOSE │
│ ✓ Form hypotheses and test them │
│ ✓ Trace the code path │
│ ✓ Identify root cause (not just symptoms) │
│ │
│ Step 4: FIX │
│ ✓ Propose a fix with explanation │
│ ✓ Consider side effects and edge cases │
│ ✓ Suggest tests to prevent regression │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
What I Need From You
Tell me about the problem. Any of these help:
- Error message or stack trace
- Steps to reproduce
- What changed recently
- Logs or screenshots
- Expected vs. actual behavior
Output
## Debug Report: [Issue Summary]
### Reproduction
- **Expected**: [What should happen]
- **Actual**: [What happens instead]
- **Steps**: [How to reproduce]
### Root Cause
[Explanation of why the bug occurs]
### Fix
[Code changes or configuration fixes needed]
### Prevention
- [Test to add]
- [Guard to put in place]
If Connectors Available
If ~~monitoring is connected:
- Pull logs, error rates, and metrics around the time of the issue
- Show recent deploys and config changes that may correlate
If ~~source control is connected:
- Identify recent commits and PRs that touched affected code paths
- Check if the issue correlates with a specific change
If ~~project tracker is connected:
- Search for related bug reports or known issues
- Create a ticket for the fix once identified
Tips
- Share error messages exactly — Don't paraphrase. The exact text matters.
- Mention what changed — Recent deploys, dependency updates, and config changes are top suspects.
- Include context — "This works in staging but not prod" or "Only affects large payloads" narrows things fast.
Recommended Agent Skills
Expand your agent's capabilities with these related and highly-rated skills.
anthropics/knowledge-work-plugins
view-pdf
Interactive PDF viewer. Use when the user wants to open, show, or view a PDF and collaborate on it visually — annotate, highlight, stamp, fill form fields, place signature/initials, or review markup together. Not for summarization or text extraction (use native Read instead).
anthropics/knowledge-work-plugins
signature-request
Prepare and route a document for e-signature — run a pre-signature checklist, configure signing order, and send for execution. Use when a contract is finalized and ready to sign, when verifying entity names, exhibits, and signature blocks before sending, or when setting up an envelope with sequential or parallel signers.
anthropics/knowledge-work-plugins
brief
Generate contextual briefings for legal work — daily summary, topic research, or incident response. Use when starting your day and need a scan of legal-relevant items across email, calendar, and contracts, when researching a specific legal question across internal sources, or when a developing situation (data breach, litigation threat, regulatory inquiry) needs rapid context.
anthropics/knowledge-work-plugins
legal-risk-assessment
Assess and classify legal risks using a severity-by-likelihood framework with escalation criteria. Use when evaluating contract risk, assessing deal exposure, classifying issues by severity, or determining whether a matter needs senior counsel or outside legal review.
anthropics/knowledge-work-plugins
triage-nda
Rapidly triage an incoming NDA and classify it as GREEN (standard approval), YELLOW (counsel review), or RED (full legal review). Use when a new NDA arrives from sales or business development, when screening for embedded non-solicits, non-competes, or missing carveouts, or when deciding whether an NDA can be signed under standard delegation.
anthropics/knowledge-work-plugins
compliance-check
Run a compliance check on a proposed action, product feature, or business initiative, surfacing applicable regulations, required approvals, and risk areas. Use when launching a feature that touches personal data, when marketing or product proposes something with regulatory implications, or when you need to know which approvals and jurisdictional requirements apply before proceeding.
Didn't find tool you were looking for?