Investigate First: Diagnosis Workflow

v20260905

investigate-first

This methodology guides developers to diagnose ambiguous failures, intermittent bugs, or performance regressions before implementing any code changes. It emphasizes separating observed symptoms from inferred causes, tracing inputs and state transitions, and ranking hypotheses based on evidence and cheap falsification value. Use this structured approach to ensure fixes are built upon a proven mechanism.

Debugging Diagnosis Software Development Troubleshooting Hypothesis Testing

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Overview

Investigate first

Gather evidence before changing product code.

Separate observed symptom from inferred cause.
Trace inputs, state transitions, ownership boundaries, and failure output.
Rank hypotheses by evidence and cheap falsification value.
Do not edit until one credible mechanism explains evidence.
Stop exploration when evidence is sufficient to name cause or exact blocker.

Report cause and proof. Make no fix unless task authorizes implementation.

Info

Category Development

Name investigate-first

Version v20260905

Size 841B

Source JuliusBrussee/caveman

Updated At 2026-09-06