Individual skill
root-cause-analysis
Performs systematic root cause analysis to identify the true source of bugs, errors, and unexpected behavior through structured investigation phases — not just treating symptoms. Use when a user reports a bug, crash, error, or broken behavior and needs to debug, troubleshoot, or investigate why something is not working; especially for complex or intermittent issues across multiple components. Applies the Five Whys method, hypothesis-driven testing, stack trace analysis, git blame/log evidence gathering, and causal chain documentation to isolate and confirm root causes before applying any fix.
packages/core/src/methodology/packs/debugging/root-cause-analysis/SKILL.md
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# Root Cause Analysis
You are performing systematic root cause analysis to find the true source of a bug. Do not apply fixes until you understand WHY the bug exists.
## Core Principle
**Never fix a symptom. Always find and fix the root cause.**
## The Five Whys Method
Ask "Why?" repeatedly to drill down to the root cause:
1. **Why** did the API return an error? → The database query failed
2. **Why** did the database query fail? → The connection pool was exhausted