systematic-debugging

4-phase root cause debugging: understand bugs before fixing.

Quality

67%

Does it follow best practices?

Run evals on this skill

Adds up to 20 points to the overall score

View guide

Securityby

Passed

No findings from the security scan

Fix and improve this skill with Tessl

tessl review fix ./skills/software-development/systematic-debugging/SKILL.md

Quality

Content

77%

Reviews the quality of instructions and guidance provided to agents. Good implementation is clear, handles edge cases, and produces reliable results.

The content is highly actionable with clear, well-validated workflows, but it is a long single-file document that would benefit from splitting reference material out and trimming motivational padding.

Suggestions

Move the 10-item loop-construction catalog, Common Rationalizations table, and Hermes Agent Integration into separate reference files linked one level deep from SKILL.md.

Trim motivational prose such as the Real-World Impact statistics and the redundant Common Rationalizations table (which restates the Red Flags) to improve conciseness.

Consider condensing the Iron Law / Feedback Loop Rule framing into the phase descriptions so the overview stays lean.

Dimension	Reasoning	Score
Conciseness	The body is mostly actionable and assumes competence, but it is padded with motivational framing ("The Iron Law", "Real-World Impact" stats like "95% vs 40%") and the Common Rationalizations table largely restates the Red Flags list, so it could be tightened.	2 / 3
Actionability	It provides fully executable bash/python commands (pytest invocations, git log, search_files calls) and ten concrete, copy-paste-ready loop-construction strategies.	3 / 3
Workflow Clarity	The four phases are clearly sequenced with explicit completion checklists, STOP checkpoints, and feedback loops (Rule of Three, re-analyze on failure) for error recovery.	3 / 3
Progressive Disclosure	No bundle files exist and the ~400-line body is monolithic; the loop-construction catalog, rationalizations table, and Hermes integration could be split into one-level-deep references rather than kept inline.	2 / 3
	Total	10 / 12 Passed

Description

57%

Based on the skill's description, can an agent find and select it at the right time? Clear, specific descriptions lead to better discovery.

The description is concise and names a clear niche, but it omits an explicit use-when trigger clause and lists few concrete actions, leaving it terse rather than complete.

Suggestions

Add an explicit 'Use when …' clause listing common triggers (test failures, production bugs, build failures, unexpected behavior) to lift completeness and trigger-term coverage.

Name a few concrete actions (e.g. 'reproduce, isolate root cause, fix, and verify') to reach the score-3 specificity anchor.

Include natural-term variations such as 'troubleshooting', 'errors', and 'flake' to broaden trigger-term coverage.

Dimension	Reasoning	Score
Specificity	Names the domain ("root cause debugging") and a couple of actions ("understand bugs before fixing") but does not list multiple specific concrete actions like the score-3 anchor requires.	2 / 3
Completeness	It states what the skill does ("4-phase root cause debugging") but has no "Use when…" clause or equivalent explicit trigger guidance, which caps completeness at 2 per the rubric.	2 / 3
Trigger Term Quality	"debugging", "bugs", and "root cause" are natural terms a user would say, but coverage is thin and misses common variations such as "errors", "troubleshooting", or "test failures".	2 / 3
Distinctiveness Conflict Risk	"4-phase root cause debugging" carves out a clear niche that is unlikely to trigger for unrelated skills, matching the distinct-trigger anchor.	3 / 3
	Total	9 / 12 Passed

Validation

75%

Warnings & errors only

Checks the skill against the spec for correct structure and formatting. All validation checks must pass before discovery and implementation can be scored.

Validation — 12 / 16 Passed

Validation for skill structure

Criteria	Description	Result
metadata_version	'metadata.version' is missing	Warning
metadata_field	'metadata' should map string keys to string values	Warning
frontmatter_unknown_keys	Unknown frontmatter key(s) found; consider removing or moving to metadata	Warning
referenced_paths_exist	Referenced path issues: 1 missing	Warning

	Total	12 / 16 Passed

Repository: NousResearch/hermes-agent
Path: skills/software-development/systematic-debugging/SKILL.md
Commit: 74a56b7

Reviewed: 5 days ago

Table of Contents

Discovery Implementation Validation

Is this your skill?

If you maintain this skill, you can claim it as your own. Once claimed, you can manage eval scenarios, bundle related skills, attach documentation or rules, and ensure cross-agent compatibility.