debug-helper

name: debug-helper description: Debug assistant for error analysis, log interpretation, and performance profiling. Use when user encounters errors, crashes, or performance issues.

Debug Helper

Systematic debugging workflow.

Error Analysis

1. Read the error — Full stack trace and error message
2. Locate — Find the source file and line

   # Search for the error origin
   grep -rn "ErrorClass\|error_function" src/
   

3. Context — Read surrounding code (±30 lines)
4. Reproduce — Identify minimal reproduction steps
5. Root cause — Trace the data flow to find where it goes wrong
6. Fix — Minimal change that addresses the root cause
7. Verify — Run the failing case to confirm the fix

Log Analysis

1. Read the log file or output
2. Identify patterns: timestamps, error levels, request IDs
3. Correlate events across log lines
4. Summarize: what happened, when, and why

Performance Profiling

1. Measure — Get baseline numbers first

   time <command>
   

2. Profile — Use language-appropriate tools:
   • Node.js: --prof, clinic.js
   • Python: cProfile, py-spy
   • Go: pprof
3. Identify — Find the hotspot (usually 1-2 functions)
4. Optimize — Fix the bottleneck
5. Verify — Measure again, compare with baseline