--- title: "Superpowers Systematic Debugging: review, setup & limitations · Undominated.ai" canonical: https://undominated.ai/skills/obra-systematic-debugging/ description: "Moves debugging from reproducible evidence through a single hypothesis to a verified fix, with a stop point for repeated failed attempts." --- # Superpowers Systematic Debugging: review, setup & limitations · Undominated.ai > Moves debugging from reproducible evidence through a single hypothesis to a verified fix, with a stop point for repeated failed attempts. [← Explore all skills](/skills/) TESTING AND RELIABILITY / Jesse Vincent / Superpowers # Superpowers Systematic Debugging Moves debugging from reproducible evidence through a single hypothesis to a verified fix, with a stop point for repeated failed attempts. See setup guidance ↓Original source ↗ SOURCE REVIEW Reviewed 2026-09-21 Evidence 7 linked sources Publisher Jesse Vincent / Superpowers Licence MIT ↗ Revision 5bf4e7801107 Read what was—and wasn’t—checked ↓ “Use when encountering any bug, test failure, or unexpected behavior, before proposing fixes” Jesse Vincent / Superpowers · upstream description ↗ Our analysis follows below. 01 / THE REASONING ## Why this made the selection. - Asks for evidence at component boundaries and backward tracing of bad values before proposing a patch. - Treats repeated failed fixes as a reason to revisit the architecture rather than keep layering changes. ### A good fit for - Investigating a failure whose cause is unclear - Separating a test-order pollution issue from a product regression ### Weigh up before choosing - The bundled polluter helper assumes npm tests, hides their output and swallows their failing exit statuses. - It skips tests when the watched path already exists and is not robust to whitespace in test filenames. - Diagnostic examples can print environment values; adapt them to avoid exposing credentials. 02 / THE REVIEW RECORD ## What we actually inspected. Source review has boundaries. A clear record is more useful than a “safe” badge. ### Material inspected - skills/systematic-debugging/SKILL.md - skills/systematic-debugging/root-cause-tracing.md - skills/systematic-debugging/find-polluter.sh - LICENSE ### Our findings - The definition separates evidence collection, working-example comparison, hypothesis testing and implementation. - The root-cause reference follows the origin of invalid state through callers instead of fixing only the final symptom. - The inspected helper detects creation of a path, not general test success; no successful debugging run is claimed here. ### Not established by this review - Source inspection only; no skill installation or workflow execution was performed. The review applies to the material and revision named here. A newer upstream release can change its behavior. 03 / PUT IT TO WORK ## Add a skill to your workflow. Upstream setup instructions ↗ DOCUMENTED COMMAND npx skills add https://github.com/obra/superpowers/tree/5bf4e78011075bcfc0dc295f0724994cd123ee71/skills/systematic-debugging Copy command ↗ Copying does not execute this command. It may retrieve a newer version than the reviewed source. - Install the complete skill directory with its references and helpers; a copied SKILL.md alone may be incomplete. - Choose the intended agent and project scope in the installer, then review its permissions before using the skill. ### Before you start - Node.js/npm for this installer - An agent that supports the Agent Skills format - A reproduction, relevant logs and permission to run the project’s checks ### Compatibility Superpowers-supported coding agents · The optional polluter helper assumes Bash and npm ### Read source, logs and recent changes - Read source, logs and recent changes - Add temporary diagnostic instrumentation - Execute project tests and inspect filesystem side effects ### Cost model The MIT-licensed process uses the configured agent and local or external test resources. 04 / FOLLOW THE EVIDENCE ## The source trail. Our notes are separate from the original resource. Check upstream before adopting a new version. - Skill definition at reviewed revision ↗ Checked 2026-09-21 https://github.com/obra/superpowers/blob/5bf4e78011075bcfc0dc295f0724994cd123ee71/skills/systematic-debugging/SKILL.md Supports: summary, upstreamDescription, whySelected, bestFor, limitations, review, compatibility, access - Reviewed reference or helper: root-cause-tracing.md ↗ Checked 2026-09-21 https://github.com/obra/superpowers/blob/5bf4e78011075bcfc0dc295f0724994cd123ee71/skills/systematic-debugging/root-cause-tracing.md Supports: review, limitations, access - Reviewed reference or helper: find-polluter.sh ↗ Checked 2026-09-21 https://github.com/obra/superpowers/blob/5bf4e78011075bcfc0dc295f0724994cd123ee71/skills/systematic-debugging/find-polluter.sh Supports: review, limitations, access - Upstream license or licensing declaration ↗ Checked 2026-09-21 https://github.com/obra/superpowers/blob/5bf4e78011075bcfc0dc295f0724994cd123ee71/LICENSE Supports: license - Publisher installation and project documentation ↗ Checked 2026-09-21 https://github.com/obra/superpowers/blob/5bf4e78011075bcfc0dc295f0724994cd123ee71/README.md Supports: install, compatibility, access - Skills installer source formats and selective installation ↗ Checked 2026-09-21 https://github.com/vercel-labs/skills/blob/7407f3893ad4dceab546ac002c3ef806e4000c73/README.md Supports: install - Installer implementation: full commit SHA fallback ↗ Checked 2026-09-21 https://github.com/vercel-labs/skills/blob/7407f3893ad4dceab546ac002c3ef806e4000c73/src/git.ts Supports: install KEEP COMPARING ## Other approaches to consider. Related by category or shared topics. These are alternatives to inspect, not a measured quality order. [### Diagnosing Bugs ↗ A debugging procedure that establishes a reproducible symptom, tests competing explanations and preserves a regression check.](/skills/mattpocock-diagnosing-bugs/)[### Bug Receipt ↗ Creates an evidence-bearing defect or incident handoff that distinguishes verified, partial and blocked outcomes.](/skills/github-bug-receipt/)[### Superpowers Receiving Code Review ↗ Checks review feedback against the code and project constraints before making and testing each requested change.](/skills/obra-receiving-code-review/) [AI Tools ↗](/tools/)[Skills ↗](/skills/)[Agents ↗](/agents/)[MCP Servers ↗](/mcp-servers/)