principle-fix-root-causes

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Translated

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.

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Sourcecursor/plugins

Added on2026-05-29

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npx skill4agent add cursor/plugins principle-fix-root-causes

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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.

principle-fix-root-causes

NPX Install

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SKILL.md Content

Fix Root Causes