Triage a Stack Trace

A stack trace is overwhelming until you know the algorithm to read it. This skill is the algorithm: skim, rank, pick the one file to open first.

When to use

• Error / exception logged in production with a stack trace.
• Sentry issue with multiple events and need to find the root file.
• Failing test outputting a long Python/Java/Node stack.
• User-reported error message that includes a partial trace.

When NOT to use

• One-line error with no trace (different problem — needs reproduction first).
• Stack trace from C++ crash dump (use a debugger; this skill is for higher-level languages).

The algorithm