Agent skill · software engineering · cursor
principle-fix-root-causes
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.
Why this skill is useful
Codifies a debugging principle that helps the AI avoid common pitfalls in troubleshooting software issues.
What it needs
About 1k tokens when loaded. Last updated 2026-08-06. 2,555 stars on the source repository.
What this skill does
Fix Root Causes When debugging, do not fix 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 Ask "why" until you hit the root cause Do not add guards (adding a nil check to silence a crash is a symptom fix) If a workaround needs a paragraph-long comment to justify it, the code is wrong (fix the code, not the comment) 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 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.
How to use it
Reference it in AdaL, Claude Code, Cursor or any coding agent — nothing to install:
@skills cursor/principle-fix-root-causes