Source: wshobson/agents Original Plugin: developer-essentials
Debugging Strategies
Transform debugging from frustrating guesswork into systematic problem-solving with proven strategies, powerful tools, and methodical approaches.
When to Use This Skill
- Tracking down elusive bugs
- Investigating performance issues
- Understanding unfamiliar codebases
- Debugging production issues
- Analyzing crash dumps and stack traces
- Profiling application performance
- Investigating memory leaks
- Debugging distributed systems
Core Principles
1. The Scientific Method
1. Observe: What's the actual behavior? 2. Hypothesize: What could be causing it? 3. Experiment: Test your hypothesis 4. Analyze: Did it prove/disprove your theory? 5. Repeat: Until you find the root cause
2. Debugging Mindset
Don't Assume:
- "It can't be X" - Yes it can
- "I didn't change Y" - Check anyway
- "It works on my machine" - Find out why
Do:
- Reproduce consistently
- Isolate the problem
- Keep detailed notes
- Question everything
- Take breaks when stuck
3. Rubber Duck Debugging
Explain your code and problem out loud (to a rubber duck, colleague, or yourself). Often reveals the issue.
Systematic Debugging Process
Phase 1: Reproduce
## Reproduction Checklist
1. **Can you reproduce it?**
   - Always? Sometimes? Randomly?
   - Specific conditions needed?
   - Can others reproduce it?
2. **Create minimal reproduction**
   - Simplify to smallest example
   - Remove unrelated code
   - Isolate the problem
3. **Document steps**
   - Write down exact steps
   - Note environment details
   - Capture error messages
Phase 2: Gather Information
## Information Collection
1. **Error Messages**
   - Full stack trace
   - Error codes
   - Console/log output
2. **Environment**
   - OS version
   - Language/runtime version
   - Dependencies versions
   - Environment variables
3. **Recent Changes**
   - Git history
   - Deployment timeline
   - Configuration changes
4. **Scope**
   - Affects all users or specific ones?
   - All browsers or specific ones?
   - Production only or also dev?
Phase 3: Form Hypothesis
## Hypothesis Formation
Based on gathered info, ask:
1. **What changed?**
   - Recent code changes
   - Dependency updates
   - Infrastructure changes
2. **What's different?**
   - Working vs broken environment
   - Working vs broken user
   - Before vs after
3. **Where could this fail?**
   - Input validation
   - Business logic
   - Data layer
   - External services
Phase 4: Test & Verify
## Testing Strategies
1. **Binary Search**
   - Comment out half the code
   - Narrow down problematic section
   - Repeat until found
2. **Add Logging**
   - Strategic console.log/print
   - Track variable values
   - Trace execution flow
3. **Isolate Components**
   - Test each piece separately
   - Mock dependencies
   - Remove complexity
4. **Compare Working vs Broken**
   - Diff configurations
   - Diff environments
   - Diff data
Debugging Tools
JavaScript/TypeScript Debugging
// Chrome DevTools Debugger
function processOrder(order: Order) {
    debugger;  // Execution pauses here
    const total = calculateTotal(order);
    console.log('Total:', total);
    // Conditional breakpoint
    if (order.items.length > 10) {
        debugger;  // Only breaks if condition true
    }
    return total;
}
// Console debugging techniques
console.log('Value:', value);                    // Basic
console.table(arrayOfObjects);                   // Table format
console.time('operation'); /* code */ console.timeEnd('operation');  // Timing
console.trace();                                 // Stack trace
console.assert(value > 0, 'Value must be positive');  // Assertion
// Performance profiling
performance.mark('start-operation');
// ... operation code
performance.mark('end-operation');
performance.measure('operation', 'start-operation', 'end-operation');
console.log(performance.getEntriesByType('measure'));
VS Code Debugger Configuration:
// .vscode/launch.json
{
    "version": "0.2.0",
    "configurations": [
        {
            "type": "node",
            "request": "launch",
            "name": "Debug Program",
            "program": "${workspaceFolder}/src/index.ts",
            "preLaunchTask": "tsc: build - tsconfig.json",
            "outFiles": ["${workspaceFolder}/dist/**/*.js"],
            "skipFiles": ["<node_internals>/**"]
        },
        {
            "type": "node",
            "request": "launch",
            "name": "Debug Tests",
            "program": "${workspaceFolder}/node_modules/jest/bin/jest",
            "args": ["--runInBand", "--no-cache"],
            "console": "integratedTerminal"
        }
    ]
}
Python Debugging
# Built-in debugger (pdb)
import pdb
def calculate_total(items):
    total = 0
    pdb.set_trace()  # Debugger starts here
    for item in items:
        total += item.price * item.quantity
    return total
# Breakpoint (Python 3.7+)
def process_order(order):
    breakpoint()  # More convenient than pdb.set_trace()
    # ... code
# Post-mortem debugging
try:
    risky_operation()
except Exception:
    import pdb
    pdb.post_mortem()  # Debug at exception point
# IPython debugging (ipdb)
from ipdb import set_trace
set_trace()  # Better interface than pdb
# Logging for debugging
import logging
logging.basicConfig(level=logging.DEBUG)
logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
def fetch_user(user_id):
    logger.debug(f'Fetching user: {user_id}')
    user = db.query(User).get(user_id)
    logger.debug(f'Found user: {user}')
    return user
# Profile performance
import cProfile
import pstats
cProfile.run('slow_function()', 'profile_stats')
stats = pstats.Stats('profile_stats')
stats.sort_stats('cumulative')
stats.print_stats(10)  # Top 10 slowest
Go Debugging
// Delve debugger
// Install: go install github.com/go-delve/delve/cmd/dlv@latest
// Run: dlv debug main.go
import (
    "fmt"
    "runtime"
    "runtime/debug"
)
// Print stack trace
func debugStack() {
    debug.PrintStack()
}
// Panic recovery with debugging
func processRequest() {
    defer func() {
        if r := recover(); r != nil {
            fmt.Println("Panic:", r)
            debug.PrintStack()
        }
    }()
    // ... code that might panic
}
// Memory profiling
import _ "net/http/pprof"
// Visit http://localhost:6060/debug/pprof/
// CPU profiling
import (
    "os"
    "runtime/pprof"
)
f, _ := os.Create("cpu.prof")
pprof.StartCPUProfile(f)
defer pprof.StopCPUProfile()
// ... code to profile
Advanced Debugging Techniques
Technique 1: Binary Search Debugging
# Git bisect for finding regression
git bisect start
git bisect bad                    # Current commit is bad
git bisect good v1.0.0            # v1.0.0 was good
# Git checks out middle commit
# Test it, then:
git bisect good   # if it works
git bisect bad    # if it's broken
# Continue until bug found
git bisect reset  # when done
Technique 2: Differential Debugging
Compare working vs broken:
## What's Different?
| Aspect       | Working         | Broken          |
|--------------|-----------------|-----------------|
| Environment  | Development     | Production      |
| Node version | 18.16.0         | 18.15.0         |
| Data         | Empty DB        | 1M records      |
| User         | Admin           | Regular user    |
| Browser      | Chrome          | Safari          |
| Time         | During day      | After midnight  |
Hypothesis: Time-based issue? Check timezone handling.
Technique 3: Trace Debugging
// Function call tracing
function trace(target: any, propertyKey: string, descriptor: PropertyDescriptor) {
    const originalMethod = descriptor.value;
    descriptor.value = function(...args: any[]) {
        console.log(`Calling ${propertyKey} with args:`, args);
        const result = originalMethod.apply(this, args);
        console.log(`${propertyKey} returned:`, result);
        return result;
    };
    return descriptor;
}
class OrderService {
    @trace
    calculateTotal(items: Item[]): number {
        return items.reduce((sum, item) => sum + item.price, 0);
    }
}
Technique 4: Memory Leak Detection
// Chrome DevTools Memory Profiler
// 1. Take heap snapshot
// 2. Perform action
// 3. Take another snapshot
// 4. Compare snapshots
// Node.js memory debugging
if (process.memoryUsage().heapUsed > 500 * 1024 * 1024) {
    console.warn('High memory usage:', process.memoryUsage());
    // Generate heap dump
    require('v8').writeHeapSnapshot();
}
// Find memory leaks in tests
let beforeMemory: number;
beforeEach(() => {
    beforeMemory = process.memoryUsage().heapUsed;
});
afterEach(() => {
    const afterMemory = process.memoryUsage().heapUsed;
    const diff = afterMemory - beforeMemory;
    if (diff > 10 * 1024 * 1024) {  // 10MB threshold
        console.warn(`Possible memory leak: ${diff / 1024 / 1024}MB`);
    }
});
Debugging Patterns by Issue Type
Pattern 1: Intermittent Bugs
## Strategies for Flaky Bugs
1. **Add extensive logging**
   - Log timing information
   - Log all state transitions
   - Log external interactions
2. **Look for race conditions**
   - Concurrent access to shared state
   - Async operations completing out of order
   - Missing synchronization
3. **Check timing dependencies**
   - setTimeout/setInterval
   - Promise resolution order
   - Animation frame timing
4. **Stress test**
   - Run many times
   - Vary timing
   - Simulate load
Pattern 2: Performance Issues
## Performance Debugging
1. **Profile first**
   - Don't optimize blindly
   - Measure before and after
   - Find bottlenecks
2. **Common culprits**
   - N+1 queries
   - Unnecessary re-renders
   - Large data processing
   - Synchronous I/O
3. **Tools**
   - Browser DevTools Performance tab
   - Lighthouse
   - Python: cProfile, line_profiler
   - Node: clinic.js, 0x
Pattern 3: Production Bugs
## Production Debugging
1. **Gather evidence**
   - Error tracking (Sentry, Bugsnag)
   - Application logs
   - User reports
   - Metrics/monitoring
2. **Reproduce locally**
   - Use production data (anonymized)
   - Match environment
   - Follow exact steps
3. **Safe investigation**
   - Don't change production
   - Use feature flags
   - Add monitoring/logging
   - Test fixes in staging
Best Practices
- Reproduce First: Can't fix what you can't reproduce
- Isolate the Problem: Remove complexity until minimal case
- Read Error Messages: They're usually helpful
- Check Recent Changes: Most bugs are recent
- Use Version Control: Git bisect, blame, history
- Take Breaks: Fresh eyes see better
- Document Findings: Help future you
- Fix Root Cause: Not just symptoms
Common Debugging Mistakes
- Making Multiple Changes: Change one thing at a time
- Not Reading Error Messages: Read the full stack trace
- Assuming It's Complex: Often it's simple
- Debug Logging in Prod: Remove before shipping
- Not Using Debugger: console.log isn't always best
- Giving Up Too Soon: Persistence pays off
- Not Testing the Fix: Verify it actually works
Quick Debugging Checklist
## When Stuck, Check:
- [ ] Spelling errors (typos in variable names)
- [ ] Case sensitivity (fileName vs filename)
- [ ] Null/undefined values
- [ ] Array index off-by-one
- [ ] Async timing (race conditions)
- [ ] Scope issues (closure, hoisting)
- [ ] Type mismatches
- [ ] Missing dependencies
- [ ] Environment variables
- [ ] File paths (absolute vs relative)
- [ ] Cache issues (clear cache)
- [ ] Stale data (refresh database)
Resources
- references/debugging-tools-guide.md: Comprehensive tool documentation
- references/performance-profiling.md: Performance debugging guide
- references/production-debugging.md: Debugging live systems
- assets/debugging-checklist.md: Quick reference checklist
- assets/common-bugs.md: Common bug patterns
- scripts/debug-helper.ts: Debugging utility functions