Debug Orchestrator

Coordinate complex debugging investigations by spawning and managing specialized debug expert agents. Use this when a debugging issue spans multiple domains or requires deep expertise in specific areas.

When to Use

Invoke this skill when:

• Debugging issue involves multiple layers (UI, API, database, network)
• Root cause is unclear and requires systematic investigation
• Issue requires domain-specific expertise (e.g., React performance, SQL query optimization, network protocol analysis)
• Multiple hypotheses need to be tested in parallel
• Previous debugging attempts have failed or been incomplete

Do NOT Use For

• Simple, single-domain bugs (use direct debugging instead)
• Issues with obvious root causes
• Syntax errors or compilation failures
• Basic troubleshooting that doesn't require expert coordination

Orchestration Strategy

1. Issue Analysis

First, analyze the debugging request to understand:

• Symptoms: What's broken or behaving incorrectly?
• Context: What was the user doing when the issue occurred?
• Scope: Which systems/layers are potentially affected?
• Evidence: Logs, error messages, screenshots, network traces

2. Expert Agent Selection

Based on the analysis, spawn appropriate specialist agents:

Available Debug Experts

3. Investigation Protocol

For each spawned agent:

1. Assign clear scope: Define what the agent should investigate
2. Provide context: Share relevant logs, code, and reproduction steps
3. Set expectations: Specify what output format is needed (root cause analysis, fix recommendations, etc.)
4. Coordinate findings: Collect results from all agents

4. Synthesis and Resolution

After agents complete their investigations:

• Correlate findings across different domains
• Identify root cause from expert insights
• Propose comprehensive fix that addresses all identified issues
• Verify fix doesn't introduce regressions

Usage Pattern

# Debugging Investigation: [Issue Title]

## Issue Summary
[Brief description of the problem]

## Evidence
- Error messages: [paste errors]
- Logs: [relevant log excerpts]
- Screenshots: [paths to screenshots]
- Reproduction steps: [how to trigger the issue]

## Investigation Plan
1. [Domain 1]: Spawn [agent-type] to investigate [specific aspect]
2. [Domain 2]: Spawn [agent-type] to investigate [specific aspect]
3. [Domain 3]: Spawn [agent-type] to investigate [specific aspect]

## Agent Assignments
- Agent 1 (web-debugger): Investigate browser console errors and DOM state
- Agent 2 (network-inspection): Analyze failed API calls and response codes
- Agent 3 (django-expert): Check backend logs and ORM query performance

## Expected Outputs
- Root cause analysis from each domain
- Specific code locations causing the issue
- Recommended fixes with code examples

Parallel Execution

For independent investigations, spawn agents in parallel:

# Launch multiple debug agents concurrently
Task tool with multiple invocations:
1. web-debugger agent → investigate client-side errors
2. network-inspection agent → analyze API failures
3. django-expert agent → check backend logs

Sequential Investigation

For dependent investigations, proceed sequentially:

Step 1: Network inspection to identify failing endpoint
→ Result: POST /api/users/create returns 500

Step 2: Backend investigation (django-expert) on that specific endpoint
→ Result: Database constraint violation

Step 3: Database schema review to understand constraint
→ Result: Missing foreign key validation

Examples

See examples/ directory for complete debugging scenarios:

• examples/frontend-api-failure.md - UI component breaks due to API changes
• examples/performance-degradation.md - Multi-layer performance investigation
• examples/auth-flow-failure.md - Authentication issue spanning frontend and backend

Output Format

After investigation, provide:

# Debugging Results: [Issue Title]

## Root Cause
[Clear explanation of what's causing the issue]

## Contributing Factors
1. [Factor 1 from Agent A findings]
2. [Factor 2 from Agent B findings]
3. [Factor 3 from Agent C findings]

## Recommended Fix
[Step-by-step fix with code examples]

## Verification Steps
1. [How to verify the fix works]
2. [How to prevent regression]

## Prevention
[How to avoid this issue in the future]

Best Practices

1. Start broad, narrow down: Begin with high-level investigation, then drill into specifics
2. Share context freely: Give agents all relevant information upfront
3. Time-box investigations: Set reasonable timeouts for agent investigations
4. Document findings: Keep a running log of discoveries from each agent
5. Cross-validate: Have agents verify each other's findings when domains overlap
6. Consider race conditions: For timing-sensitive bugs, investigate sequencing and concurrency
7. Check recent changes: Review git history for related code changes that might have introduced the bug

Anti-Patterns

❌ Spawning too many agents at once: Limit to 3-4 parallel agents to avoid overwhelming coordination ❌ Vague agent instructions: Always provide specific investigation scope ❌ Ignoring obvious causes: Check simple explanations before orchestrating complex investigation ❌ Not sharing agent findings: Ensure all agents have access to collective knowledge ❌ Over-engineering simple bugs: Use direct debugging for straightforward issues

Integration with Existing Tools

This skill complements existing debugging tools:

• Use /product-design:console-debugging for immediate console analysis
• Use /product-design:network-inspection for quick network checks
• Use this skill when those tools reveal a need for deeper, multi-domain investigation

Workflow Example

User: "The checkout flow is broken - payment processing fails intermittently"

Orchestrator Analysis:
- Symptom: Intermittent payment failures
- Affected layers: Frontend (React), API (FastAPI), Payment Gateway (Stripe), Database
- Evidence needed: Console logs, network traces, backend logs, payment gateway logs

Investigation Plan:
1. Spawn web-debugger: Check for JavaScript errors during checkout
2. Spawn network-inspection: Analyze payment API calls and response codes
3. Spawn fastapi-expert: Review payment endpoint implementation and error handling
4. Spawn security-compliance: Verify API key handling and secure communication

Parallel Execution:
→ Launch all 4 agents with specific scopes
→ Wait for completion
→ Synthesize findings

Synthesis:
- Web-debugger: Found uncaught promise rejection in payment handler
- Network-inspection: Saw 429 rate limit errors from Stripe API
- FastAPI-expert: Confirmed missing retry logic for rate-limited requests
- Security: Verified API keys are properly secured

Root Cause: Missing retry logic + no error handling for rate limits

Fix: Implement exponential backoff retry logic with proper error handling