Debug

The Iron Law

NO FIXES WITHOUT ROOT CAUSE INVESTIGATION FIRST

Guess-and-patch wastes hours and plants new bugs. This process applies to every technical issue — and applies hardest when it's tempting to skip: emergencies, "obvious" one-liners, and the moment right after a previous fix didn't work.

Phase 1 — Build the feedback loop (the gate)

Before ANY theory-building, construct and RUN a red-capable signal: one command — a test invocation, a script, a curl — that is red now because of this exact bug and will go green when it is fixed. Build the right feedback loop and the bug is 90% fixed; every later phase merely consumes it.

Catch yourself reading code to form a theory before this command exists? Stop. No red-capable command, no Phase 2.

Tactics for constructing one, in rough order of preference: