Principle Fix Root Causes
- 455 installs
- 2.5k repo stars
- Updated August 5, 2026
- cursor/plugins
When a bug recurs or a hotfix only masks symptoms, use this principle to trace failures to their true source before patching again.
About
Encodes a fix-root-causes discipline for Cursor agents: diagnose the underlying failure mechanism instead of patching visible symptoms, validate that the defect cannot recur, and leave evidence so future changes do not reintroduce the same class of bug.
- Trace symptoms to originating fault
- Reject band-aid patches without diagnosis
- Verify fixes eliminate recurrence
- Document causal chain for reviewers
- Pair with regression tests
Principle Fix Root Causes by the numbers
- 455 all-time installs (skills.sh)
- Ranked #94 of 596 Debugging skills by installs in the Skillselion catalog
- Data as of Aug 5, 2026 (Skillselion catalog sync)
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| Installs | 455 |
|---|---|
| repo stars | ★ 2.5k |
| Last updated | August 5, 2026 |
| Repository | cursor/plugins ↗ |
What it does
When a bug recurs or a hotfix only masks symptoms, use this principle to trace failures to their true source before patching again.
Files
Fix Root Causes
When debugging, do not paper over symptoms. Trace every problem to its root cause and fix it there.
Why: Symptom fixes accumulate. Each workaround makes the system harder to reason about, and the real bug remains. Root-cause fixes are slower upfront but reduce total debugging time.
Pattern:
- Reproduce first (if you can't reproduce it, you can't verify your fix)
- Ask "why" until you hit the root cause
- Resist the urge to add guards (adding a nil check to silence a crash is a symptom fix)
- Check for the pattern, not just the instance (grep for the same pattern, fix all instances)
- When stuck, instrument. Don't guess (add logging, read the actual error)
Restart bugs: suspect state before code
Code doesn't change between runs. State does. When something "fails after restart," suspect stale persistent state first: config files, caches, lock files, serialized state. If clearing a state file restores behavior, prioritize state validation as the fix.
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