principle-fix-root-causes

Included with Lifetime

$97 forever

Apply when debugging. Trace each symptom to its root cause and fix it there; reproduce first, ask why until you reach it, resist nil-check guards that silence crashes.

Code Review

What this skill does


# Fix Root Causes

When debugging, do not paper over symptoms. Trace every problem to its root cause and fix it there.

**Why:** Symptom fixes accumulate. Each workaround makes the system harder to reason about, and the real bug remains. Root-cause fixes are slower upfront but reduce total debugging time.

**Pattern:**
- Reproduce first (if you can't reproduce it, you can't verify your fix)
- Ask "why" until you hit the root cause
- Resist the urge to add guards (adding a nil check to silence a crash is a symptom fix)
- Check for the pattern, not just the instance (grep for the same pattern, fix all instances)
- When stuck, instrument. Don't guess (add logging, read the actual error)

**Restart bugs: suspect state before code**

Code doesn't change between runs. State does. When something "fails after restart," suspect stale persistent state first: config files, caches, lock files, serialized state. If clearing a state file restores behavior, prioritize state validation as the fix.

Files: 2

Size: 2.4 KB

Complexity: 12/100

Category: Code Review

Source: https://github.com/v1truv1us/ai-eng-system/tree/main/plugins/ai-eng-core/skills/principle-fix-root-causes

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