debugging-wizard
Parses error messages, traces execution flow through stack traces, correlates log entries to identify failure points, and applies systematic hypothesis-driven methodology to isolate and resolve bugs. Use when investigating errors, analyzing stack traces, finding root causes of unexpected behavior, troubleshooting crashes, or performing log analysis, error investigation, or root cause analysis.
92
82%
Does it follow best practices?
Impact
98%
1.07xAverage score across 6 eval scenarios
Passed
No known issues
Quality
Discovery
92%Based on the skill's description, can an agent find and select it at the right time? Clear, specific descriptions lead to better discovery.
This is a strong skill description that clearly articulates specific capabilities and provides explicit trigger guidance via a 'Use when...' clause with good keyword coverage. The main weakness is a slight risk of overlap with general coding or code review skills, though the focus on error investigation and log analysis provides reasonable distinctiveness.
| Dimension | Reasoning | Score |
|---|---|---|
Specificity | Lists multiple specific concrete actions: 'parses error messages', 'traces execution flow through stack traces', 'correlates log entries to identify failure points', and 'applies systematic hypothesis-driven methodology to isolate and resolve bugs'. | 3 / 3 |
Completeness | Clearly answers both 'what' (parses error messages, traces execution flow, correlates log entries, applies hypothesis-driven methodology) and 'when' with an explicit 'Use when...' clause listing multiple trigger scenarios. | 3 / 3 |
Trigger Term Quality | Excellent coverage of natural terms users would say: 'errors', 'stack traces', 'root causes', 'unexpected behavior', 'crashes', 'log analysis', 'error investigation', 'root cause analysis', 'troubleshooting'. These are all terms users naturally use when debugging. | 3 / 3 |
Distinctiveness Conflict Risk | While the debugging/error analysis niche is reasonably specific, terms like 'errors', 'unexpected behavior', and 'resolve bugs' could overlap with general coding assistance or code review skills. The stack trace and log analysis focus helps distinguish it, but there's moderate overlap risk with broader development skills. | 2 / 3 |
Total | 11 / 12 Passed |
Implementation
72%Reviews the quality of instructions and guidance provided to agents. Good implementation is clear, handles edge cases, and produces reliable results.
A well-structured debugging skill with strong progressive disclosure and actionable code examples across multiple languages. The main weaknesses are some verbosity in the constraints section (advice Claude already knows) and missing explicit validation/feedback loops in the workflow steps. The reference table is a particularly effective pattern for organizing supplementary material.
Suggestions
Add explicit validation checkpoints to the core workflow, e.g., 'Verify fix resolves the reproduction case from step 1 before proceeding to prevention'
Trim the MUST DO/MUST NOT DO lists to only non-obvious constraints — remove items like 'Assume you know the cause' and 'Guess without testing' that Claude already understands
| Dimension | Reasoning | Score |
|---|---|---|
Conciseness | Mostly efficient but includes some unnecessary content. The MUST DO/MUST NOT DO constraints contain advice Claude already knows (e.g., 'Assume you know the cause', 'Guess without testing'). The debugging commands section, while useful, includes inline comments explaining basic debugger operations that Claude would already know. | 2 / 3 |
Actionability | Provides fully executable commands for multiple languages (Python pdb, Node.js inspector, git bisect, Go delve) that are copy-paste ready. The output template gives a concrete structure for debugging reports. The workflow steps are specific and actionable. | 3 / 3 |
Workflow Clarity | The 5-step core workflow is clearly sequenced and logical, but lacks explicit validation checkpoints between steps. For a debugging skill involving potentially destructive operations (fixing code), there's no feedback loop for verifying the fix works before moving to prevention, and no explicit 'if hypothesis is wrong, return to step 3' guidance. | 2 / 3 |
Progressive Disclosure | Excellent use of progressive disclosure with a clear reference table that specifies exactly when to load each detailed reference file. The main skill provides a concise overview while pointing to five one-level-deep reference files with clear 'Load When' guidance for each. | 3 / 3 |
Total | 10 / 12 Passed |
Validation
100%Checks the skill against the spec for correct structure and formatting. All validation checks must pass before discovery and implementation can be scored.
Validation — 11 / 11 Passed
Validation for skill structure
No warnings or errors.
- Repository
- jeffallan/claude-skills
- Commit
3d95bb1
- Reviewed
Table of Contents
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