search-before-debugging — independently scanned and version-tracked by SaferSkills.
SaferSkills independently audited search-before-debugging (Agent Skill) and scored it 100/100 (green). The audit ran 55 deterministic rules across Security, Supply Chain, Maintenance, Transparency, and Community; it found 0 high-severity and 0 lower-severity findings. The full rule-by-rule trace and per-finding evidence are below. Free, methodology-open.
Findings & checks · 0 flagged
Every scanned point with the score it earned and what moved between them.
First recorded scan — no prior version to compare against.
The primary manifest — the file an agent reads to learn what this artifact does.
The single highest-leverage debugging habit: search for an existing fix before debugging from scratch. Most bugs in established codebases are repeats. Someone (you, a teammate, a past version of you) has already solved it. CogmemAi makes those fixes instantly findable.
This skill is the recall half of the bugfix loop. Pair it with the save-bugfix skill which captures fixes for future sessions to find.
Trigger before any debugging action when you encounter:
The rule: search first, debug second. Always.
Call recall_memories with the most distinctive part of the symptom as the query. Pass context_type: "debugging" to bias the ranker toward bug and pattern memories.
recall_memories({
query: "Cannot read properties of undefined Stripe webhook",
context_type: "debugging",
limit: 10
})If the literal error string is too generic, also try:
Run two or three queries with different phrasings if the first returns nothing relevant. CogmemAi's semantic search will catch reformulations the keyword wouldn't.
Stop. Read the memory carefully. It contains the symptom, root cause, fix, and why-it-works that a past debugging session captured. Verify:
If all three check out, apply the fix. You just saved an hour of debugging in 30 seconds.
The memory describes a similar bug, not the same one. Still valuable. Read it for:
Use it as a head start, not the answer.
No prior fix exists. Debug from scratch. When you find the fix, the save-bugfix skill will capture it for next time.
When the symptom is unmistakably a known bug class, filter the search:
recall_memories({
query: "race condition login double-submit",
memory_type: "bug",
context_type: "debugging"
})Available types relevant to debugging: bug, pattern, correction, dependency.
By default recall_memories searches the current project plus global memories. If the bug feels library-level (a Stripe SDK quirk, a Next.js footgun) and the project is new, also try scope: "global" explicitly to surface promoted memories from other projects:
recall_memories({
query: "stripe webhook signature verification fails",
scope: "global"
})A debugging session that starts with recall_memories either:
The expected value is overwhelmingly positive. The only way it loses is if you skip it.
For teams, the win compounds. Every member's fix becomes every other member's instant lookup. The "we fixed this before" problem disappears.
save-bugfix so the next person finds it.save-bugfix — the partner skill that captures the fix you just discoveredcogmemai-memory — full reference for memory managementsession-start — load broader project context at session start~30 seconds. Free. No account. Every finding cites a rule and a line of evidence.