---
title: "Systematic Debugging - Air Market"
description: "Something broke and the temptation is to try a fix and see if it sticks. This gives you a set way of working through a bug, a failing test, or behavior you did not expect, before any fix gets propose…"
canonical: "https://airmarket.ai/app/systematic-debugging"
---

[Air Market](/) / [Developer Tools](/category/devtools) / Systematic Debugging

Skill by [Jesse Vincent](/@obra)

# Systematic Debugging

Work out what is actually broken before you start changing code

## What this does

Something broke and the temptation is to try a fix and see if it sticks. This gives you a set way of working through a bug, a failing test, or behavior you did not expect, before any fix gets proposed. Reach for it the moment something goes wrong and you are not sure why.

### Top 3 things it does for you

- Investigate a failing test before guessing at a fix
- Track down why something behaves unexpectedly
- Slow down a bug hunt that keeps going in circles

## Information

**Systematic Debugging at a glance**

|  |  |
| --- | --- |
| Kind | Skill |
| Publisher | [Jesse Vincent](/@obra) |
| Category | [Developer Tools](/category/devtools) |
| Works with | Agent Skills - an open standard supported by 40+ agents |
| Languages | en |
| Size | 40 KB |
| Licence | MIT |
| Repository | [obra/superpowers](https://github.com/obra/superpowers/tree/3dcbd5c4b48e02263fbf4a3c01e3fe4f81d584d9/skills/systematic-debugging) |
| GitHub stars | 314,834 (as of Nov 2026) |
| Installs | 328,161, counted by skills.sh (Nov 2026) |

## Security report

**Verified.** AIR scanned this exact version of Systematic Debugging and recorded 0 findings and 2 flagged items. AIR's verdict: **safe**.

**What Systematic Debugging's check was run against**

|  |  |
| --- | --- |
| Commit | 3dcbd5c4b48e02263fbf4a3c01e3fe4f81d584d9 |
| Content hash | a81ddcc932a382b375dcf4f129568526ff4497326f424c3ce90bdbbd4975e006 |
| Files read | [Browse the files at this exact commit](https://github.com/obra/superpowers/blob/3dcbd5c4b48e02263fbf4a3c01e3fe4f81d584d9/skills/systematic-debugging/SKILL.md) |

A scan is named by the exact content it read, not by a version number. A different version is a different artifact, and nothing here applies to a version AIR has not scanned.

[Read the full security report for Systematic Debugging](/security/systematic-debugging)

## About Systematic Debugging

When a bug shows up, a test fails, or something behaves in a way you did not expect, this gives you a way to work through it rather than reaching straight for a fix.

It is meant to come first. The point is to hold off on proposing a fix until the problem has actually been investigated, which is the step most easily skipped when the pressure is to get things working again.

## What's inside

- SKILL.md - instructions
- condition-based-waiting-example.ts - script
- condition-based-waiting.md - reference
- CREATION-LOG.md - reference
- defense-in-depth.md - reference
- find-polluter.sh - script
- root-cause-tracing.md - reference
- test-academic.md - reference
- test-pressure-1.md - reference
- test-pressure-2.md - reference
- test-pressure-3.md - reference

## Questions

### Is Systematic Debugging safe to install?

AIR scanned this exact version of Systematic Debugging and recorded 0 findings and 2 flagged items. AIR's verdict: safe. The verdict is named by the content that was read, at commit 3dcbd5c4b48e, so it cannot drift onto a version nobody scanned. The full report is at https://airmarket.ai/security/systematic-debugging.

### How do I install Systematic Debugging?

Open https://airmarket.ai/app/systematic-debugging on Air Market and use the install action: Air Market hands Claude a prompt naming this exact skill, and Claude sets it up. Source, pinned to the exact commit this listing describes: https://github.com/obra/superpowers/tree/3dcbd5c4b48e02263fbf4a3c01e3fe4f81d584d9/skills/systematic-debugging. Install from that link, not the branch.

## Related on Air Market

- [More Developer Tools listings](/category/devtools)
- [Everything by Jesse Vincent](/@obra)

---

Canonical URL: <https://airmarket.ai/app/systematic-debugging>