Documenting Debugging Workflows

Overview

Create debugging documentation organized by observable symptoms, not root causes. Developers search by what they see, not by what's wrong.

Announce at start: "I'm using the documenting-debugging-workflows skill to create symptom-based debugging docs."

When to Use

• Creating debugging documentation for a project
• Documenting common bugs and their fixes
• Building troubleshooting guides
• Organizing FIX/ section content
• Recurring issues need documentation

Core Principle

Wrong: Organize by root cause (memory-leaks/, type-errors/) Right: Organize by observable symptom (visual-bugs/, slow-startup/)

Developers don't know the root cause when they start debugging - they know what they observe.

The Process

Step 1: Collect Symptoms

Gather observable symptoms from:

• Bug reports and issues
• Support tickets
• Slack/team chat questions
• Your own debugging sessions
• Code review comments

For each symptom, note:

• What exactly does the developer see?
• How do they describe it?
• What words do they use to search?

Step 2: Create Symptom Categories

Group symptoms by observable category:

FIX/
├── symptoms/
│   ├── visual-bugs/       # "Rendering looks wrong"
│   ├── performance/       # "It's slow"
│   ├── test-failures/     # "Tests fail"
│   ├── build-errors/      # "Won't compile"
│   └── data-issues/       # "Data is wrong"
├── investigation/
│   └── systematic-debugging.md
└── solutions/
    └── common-fixes.md

Choose categories based on YOUR project's common issues.

Step 3: Build Quick Diagnosis Table

Create the entry point with a scannable table:

# [Category] Debugging Guide

## Quick Diagnosis

| Symptom | Likely Cause | Investigation | Priority |
|---------|--------------|---------------|----------|
| [What you see] | [Root cause] | [Link] | ⚠️ High |
| [What you see] | [Root cause] | [Link] | ☠️ Critical |

Priority icons:

• ☠️ Critical (production impact)
• ⚠️ High (blocking work)
• 🎯 Medium (should fix soon)
• ✅ Low (minor annoyance)

Step 4: Document Each Symptom

For each symptom, create structured documentation:

1. What You See - Exact observable behavior
2. Likely Causes - Ordered by probability
3. Investigation Steps - With commands to run
4. Solutions - Fixes for each cause
5. Prevention - How to avoid in future

Use template: ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}templates/symptom-debugging-template.md

Step 5: Create Investigation Strategies

Document systematic approaches in investigation/:

• How to reproduce consistently
• How to isolate the problem
• Gathering evidence (logs, metrics)
• Forming and testing hypotheses
• Binary search for breaking changes

Step 6: Build Solutions Catalog

Document known fixes in solutions/:

• Common error codes and fixes
• Proven workarounds
• Configuration fixes
• Code patterns that prevent issues

Step 7: Add Escalation Guidance

Document when to escalate:

• Time thresholds (stuck > X hours)
• Impact thresholds (production, data, security)
• Who to contact
• What information to gather first

Step 8: Verify and Maintain

• Test documentation with someone unfamiliar
• Update when new symptoms discovered
• Archive outdated fixes (don't delete - mark as historical)
• Track which docs get used most

Checklist

• [ ] Symptoms collected from real sources
• [ ] Categories match project's common issues
• [ ] Quick diagnosis table created
• [ ] Each symptom has structured documentation
• [ ] Investigation strategies documented
• [ ] Solutions catalog started
• [ ] Escalation guidance clear
• [ ] Tested with fresh eyes

Anti-Patterns

Don't:

• Organize by root cause (developers don't know it yet)
• Skip the quick diagnosis table
• Write investigation steps without commands
• Forget escalation guidance
• Let docs become stale

Do:

• Use exact symptom descriptions
• Include runnable commands
• Link to related docs liberally
• Update when fixes are found
• Track which docs help most

Example: Visual Bug Entry

## Rendering Artifacts on Screen

### What You See
Flickering textures, z-fighting, or objects appearing through walls.

### Likely Causes
1. **Floating point precision** (most common)
   - Objects far from origin
   - Verify: Check object world coordinates

2. **Z-buffer precision**
   - Near/far plane ratio too large
   - Verify: Check camera settings

### Investigation Steps
1. [ ] Log object world coordinates
   ```rust
   info!("Position: {:?}", transform.translation);

If > 10000 units from origin → floating point issue

2. [ ] Check camera near/far planes

   info!("Near: {}, Far: {}", camera.near, camera.far);
   

   If ratio > 10000 → z-buffer issue

Solutions

If floating point: Implement floating origin If z-buffer: Adjust camera planes

Prevention

• Use floating origin for large worlds
• Keep near plane as far as acceptable

## Related Skills

- **Organizing documentation:** `${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}skills/organizing-documentation/SKILL.md`
- **Creating research packages:** `${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}skills/creating-research-packages/SKILL.md`
- **Creating quality gates:** `${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}skills/creating-quality-gates/SKILL.md`

## References

- Standards: `${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}standards/documentation-structure.md`
- Template: `${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}templates/symptom-debugging-template.md`