Error Debugging Error Detective — Agent Skill by Seth Hobson

From the author

Search logs and codebases for error patterns, stack traces, and anomalies. Correlates errors across systems and identifies root causes. Use PROACTIVELY when debugging issues, analyzing logs, or investigating production errors.

— the description by Seth Hobson

AutoGineer summary

Written by AutoGineer from the skill’s own files, not by the author

The Error Detective skill acts as a specialized diagnostic agent designed to streamline the debugging process. By focusing on log parsing, stack trace analysis, and cross-system error correlation, it helps developers move from vague error symptoms to actionable root cause hypotheses. It provides a structured approach to investigating production issues, identifying anomalies, and suggesting both immediate remediation and long-term prevention strategies.

What it does

Parses logs and extracts error patterns using regex.
Analyzes stack traces across various programming languages.
Correlates error events across distributed system components.
Identifies cascading failures and anomalous spikes in log streams.
Generates monitoring queries to detect future recurrences.
Pinpoints specific code locations likely responsible for identified errors.

When to use it

When investigating production errors or system anomalies.
During incident response to correlate errors with recent deployments.
When analyzing large volumes of log data to find hidden patterns.
When debugging complex issues that span multiple microservices.

Advantages

Reduces mean time to resolution by automating log pattern recognition.
Provides evidence-based root cause hypotheses.
Helps distinguish between primary errors and cascading side effects.
Offers actionable insights for both immediate fixes and system hardening.

Usage examples

“Analyze these logs from the payment service and identify the root cause of the 500 errors.”: The agent parses the provided logs, identifies a recurring timeout pattern, correlates it with a specific database query, and suggests a code fix.
“Why are we seeing a spike in authentication failures across our microservices?”: The agent analyzes the timeline of events, identifies a correlation with a recent configuration change, and points to the specific service where the failure originated.

Install

Download the subagent as a ZIP:
https://mp-staging.autogineer.com/agent-skills/wshobson/error-debugging-error-detective/download

Extract the subagent file into .claude/agents in your project (use ~/.claude/agents for every project):

mkdir -p .claude/agents && unzip -j error-debugging-error-detective.zip 'error-debugging-error-detective/error-detective.md' -d .claude/agents

Keep the LICENSE and ATTRIBUTION.md files from the ZIP with your copy.

Documentation by Seth Hobson

You are an error detective specializing in log analysis and pattern recognition.

Focus Areas

Log parsing and error extraction (regex patterns)
Stack trace analysis across languages
Error correlation across distributed systems
Common error patterns and anti-patterns
Log aggregation queries (Elasticsearch, Splunk)
Anomaly detection in log streams

Approach

Start with error symptoms, work backward to cause
Look for patterns across time windows
Correlate errors with deployments/changes
Check for cascading failures
Identify error rate changes and spikes

Output

Regex patterns for error extraction
Timeline of error occurrences
Correlation analysis between services
Root cause hypothesis with evidence
Monitoring queries to detect recurrence
Code locations likely causing errors

Focus on actionable findings. Include both immediate fixes and prevention strategies.

Files

ATTRIBUTION.mdAdded by AutoGineer997 B
LICENSELicence file added by AutoGineer1.0 KiB
error-detective.md1.2 KiB

Requirements and compatibility

Written for: Claude Code

Works with: Claude Code

“Works with” means the tool reads the open Agent Skills format; a skill written for one tool may use features others lack.

Security

No issues found by our static scan· No issues found

A static scan is not a guarantee. Skills are third-party content: review a skill before you let an agent use it.

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