When to use it

Use debugging-discipline for intermittent failures, performance regressions, staging-only breakage, or problems that survived previous fixes. These cases often need a better way to observe the failure before another theory is useful.

How it works

Figure 01

Let observations distinguish the hypotheses.

  1. Observe

    Establish the safest useful way to see the failure.

  2. Predict

    Give each credible hypothesis a distinguishing prediction.

  3. Narrow

    Use the next observation to eliminate explanations.

ResultAn evidence-supported cause or next observation
Repeat the observation loop as needed. A theory without a discriminating observation is not yet a diagnosis.

The skill first establishes the safest useful observation loop, then minimizes the failure and audits assumptions. It develops one to five credible hypotheses, each with a prediction that distinguishes it from the alternatives.

If the failure cannot safely be reproduced, it works from bounded existing evidence and identifies the smallest safe observation that would separate the hypotheses. It should be clear what was observed, what is inferred, and what remains unresolved.

An example request

Ask your agent

“Investigate why this job times out only under staging load. Start with the existing logs and identify an observation that distinguishes pool exhaustion from slow queries.”

This illustrates a request you can adapt; it is not a transcript of a completed run.

A narrowing investigation driven by testable predictions, with a clear next observation or evidence-supported cause.

Install and use

The skill’s identifier is debugging-discipline. It ships in the debugging-discipline plugin. In Claude Code, first add the Overclock marketplace, then install the package:

/plugin install debugging-discipline@overclock

For a standalone installation, keep the skill directory and its bundled resources together. The repository also includes per-skill Codex metadata. Read the full skill instructions for its exact workflow and supporting files.

What to keep in mind

Diagnosis is read-only by default. Source changes and instrumentation need implementation authority; the skill does not assume permission for destructive or production reproductions.

An ordinary reproducible bug can go straight to test-discipline. A trivial cause should not require a full hypothesis exercise.

  • Solutions — Save a verified fix so the same problem is easier to solve next time.
  • Test discipline — Demonstrate the bug before changing the code that is supposed to fix it.