Skills anthropics knowledge-work-plugins
debug
- Use it when:
- You have an error or stack trace, something broke after a deploy, or it works in staging but not in production.
- It does:
- Reproduces the problem, narrows it to a component and recent changes, tests hypotheses down to the root cause, then proposes a fix.
- You get:
- A debug report: expected versus actual behavior, reproduction steps, root cause, the fix, and tests and guards to prevent a repeat.
- With connectors:
- It pulls logs, metrics and recent deploys, finds commits that touched the code, searches known bugs, and creates a ticket for the fix.
- Runs:
- As /debug with the error or problem, or when the cause of a bug isn't obvious.
- Part of:
- The engineering plugin of Anthropic's knowledge-work plugins.
TL;DR
A debugging command from the engineering plugin of Anthropic's knowledge-work plugins. It asks for whatever you have: the exact error or stack trace, steps to reproduce, what changed recently, logs or screenshots, and expected versus actual behavior. It then works in four steps. Reproduce pins down the behavior, the exact steps and the scope: when it started and who is affected. Isolate narrows it to a component, service or code path and checks recent deploys, config and dependency changes, and the logs. Diagnose forms and tests hypotheses and traces the code path to a root cause rather than a symptom. Fix proposes a change with an explanation, weighs side effects and edge cases, and suggests regression tests. The report covers reproduction, root cause, the fix and prevention. With monitoring connected it pulls logs, error rates, metrics and recent deploys around the time of the issue; with source control, the commits and PRs that touched the affected code; with a project tracker, related bug reports, and it creates a ticket for the fix.
Summarizes the skill at ab4cb1c.
npx skills add https://github.com/anthropics/knowledge-work-plugins --skill debug skills.sh pageSource on GitHubAll skills from anthropics/knowledge-work-plugins
- Total Downloads
- 6,000 on skills.sh, Nov 9, 2026
- Repo stars
- 35,234 anthropics/knowledge-work-plugins
- First seen
- Mar 13, 2026 on skills.sh
Weekly values
| Week to | Installs |
|---|---|
| Sep 21 | 106 |
| Sep 28 | 87 |
| Oct 5 | 66 |
| Oct 12 | 82 |
| Oct 19 | 88 |
| Oct 26 | 82 |
| Nov 2 | 65 |
| Nov 9 | 65 |
| Category |
Find root causes, review code and test what you built. Everything for building software: planning, coding, debugging, design, frameworks, cloud, agents and skills. |
|---|---|
| Type |
A multi-step process the agent follows: interview, debug, run a TDD loop, review. |
| Effect |
Its own steps change something outside your machine: post, send, deploy, provision, file issues, drive a website, or upload data to a service. |
| Needs |
Instructions only. Works in any agent that supports skills. |
| Publisher |
A verified publisher on skills.sh, or the company or maintainer behind the product the skill operates. |
| Topics |
SKILL.md
From anthropics/knowledge-work-plugins at ab4cb1c. Checked daily, last changed Nov 6, 2026.
Frontmatter
name: debug
description: Structured debugging session — reproduce, isolate, diagnose, and fix. Trigger with an error message or stack trace, "this works in staging but not prod", "something broke after the deploy", or when behavior diverges from expected and the cause isn't obvious.
argument-hint: "<error message or problem description>"/debug
If you see unfamiliar placeholders or need to check which tools are connected, see CONNECTORS.md.
Run a structured debugging session to find and fix issues systematically.
Usage
/debug $ARGUMENTS
How It Works
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ DEBUG │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ Step 1: REPRODUCE │
│ ✓ Understand the expected vs. actual behavior │
│ ✓ Identify exact reproduction steps │
│ ✓ Determine scope (when did it start? who is affected?) │
│ │
│ Step 2: ISOLATE │
│ ✓ Narrow down the component, service, or code path │
│ ✓ Check recent changes (deploys, config changes, dependencies) │
│ ✓ Review logs and error messages │
│ │
│ Step 3: DIAGNOSE │
│ ✓ Form hypotheses and test them │
│ ✓ Trace the code path │
│ ✓ Identify root cause (not just symptoms) │
│ │
│ Step 4: FIX │
│ ✓ Propose a fix with explanation │
│ ✓ Consider side effects and edge cases │
│ ✓ Suggest tests to prevent regression │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
What I Need From You
Tell me about the problem. Any of these help:
- Error message or stack trace
- Steps to reproduce
- What changed recently
- Logs or screenshots
- Expected vs. actual behavior
Output
## Debug Report: [Issue Summary]
### Reproduction
- **Expected**: [What should happen]
- **Actual**: [What happens instead]
- **Steps**: [How to reproduce]
### Root Cause
[Explanation of why the bug occurs]
### Fix
[Code changes or configuration fixes needed]
### Prevention
- [Test to add]
- [Guard to put in place]
If Connectors Available
If ~~monitoring is connected:
- Pull logs, error rates, and metrics around the time of the issue
- Show recent deploys and config changes that may correlate
If ~~source control is connected:
- Identify recent commits and PRs that touched affected code paths
- Check if the issue correlates with a specific change
If ~~project tracker is connected:
- Search for related bug reports or known issues
- Create a ticket for the fix once identified
Tips
- Share error messages exactly — Don't paraphrase. The exact text matters.
- Mention what changed — Recent deploys, dependency updates, and config changes are top suspects.
- Include context — "This works in staging but not prod" or "Only affects large payloads" narrows things fast.