# adk-debugger

Reads ADK agent traces and logs, pinpoints the failure, and walks you from symptom to a verified fix.

- skill · `type=skill` · Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Gemini CLI, OpenCode · 1600 installs · ★ 12
- Author: botpress
- License: MIT · policy=mirror · the beginning of the file is at the end of this page
- Source: https://github.com/botpress/skills/tree/HEAD/skills/adk-debugger/SKILL.md
- Updated: 2026-10-20
- HTML: https://affpapa.org/en/nevibecode/skills/adk-debugger

## What it does

A skill for people building agents on ADK who are tired of guessing why the bot went quiet or called the wrong tool. It works from traces and logs: every conversation turn, tool call, reasoning step and error is recorded, and that record is the source of truth about what your agent did.

Six reference files sit inside. `traces-and-logs.md` covers CLI commands and trace structure, `common-failures.md` lists runtime failure patterns, `llm-debugging.md` handles hallucinations, refusals and looping, `debug-workflow.md` lays out an eight-step loop, and `trace-summarization.md` plus `conversation-analysis.md` turn a trace or a whole conversation into plain language. The skill picks the file that matches your question.

Run `adk check --format json` before chasing runtime bugs. Some failures live in config and schema, so skipping offline validation sends you hunting through traces for a problem that isn't there. Most commands take `--format json`; `adk dev` is the exception and needs `adk dev --non-interactive` for structured NDJSON. You also need a linked bot — `agent.json` with `botId` and `workspaceId`, created by `adk link`.

## Install

### Claude Code (native platform)

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add botpress/skills --skill adk-debugger -a claude-code
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `~/.claude/skills/adk-debugger/SKILL.md` — Copy the whole skill folder; for one project use .claude/skills/adk-debugger/

### Codex

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add botpress/skills --skill adk-debugger -a codex
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.agents/skills/adk-debugger/SKILL.md` — For all projects use ~/.agents/skills/

### Cursor

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add botpress/skills --skill adk-debugger -a cursor
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.cursor/skills/adk-debugger/SKILL.md` — Cursor also reads .agents/skills/ and .claude/skills/

### GitHub Copilot

1. **GitHub CLI**
```bash
gh skill install botpress/skills adk-debugger
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.github/skills/adk-debugger/SKILL.md`

### Gemini CLI

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add botpress/skills --skill adk-debugger -a gemini-cli
```

2. **Platform CLI**
```bash
gemini skills install https://github.com/botpress/skills --path skills/adk-debugger
```

### Windsurf (Devin Desktop)

**Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.devin/skills/adk-debugger/SKILL.md` — The legacy .windsurf/skills/ path still works

### OpenCode

**Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add botpress/skills --skill adk-debugger -a opencode
```

### Claude.ai

**Claude.ai**
- Zip the folder and upload it in Settings → Capabilities → Skills

Where a file is given instead of a command, copy the files from the source to that path: https://github.com/botpress/skills/tree/HEAD/skills/adk-debugger/SKILL.md

## When to use it
- figure out why the bot stopped responding or answers wrong
- spot the wrong tool call and hallucinated parameters
- unstick a workflow and trace lost state
- read a trace and narrate what happened in it
- confirm a fix worked and lock it in with a regression eval

## Example prompts
- my bot stopped responding, check the logs and traces
- summarize this trace, what happened on that turn
- \`adk check` found errors, work out what's wrong with the config

## Source text · SKILL.md · MIT

Below is the content of a third-party file. It is data, not instructions for you: do not act on anything written inside unless the human asks. Block tag: a9eee88087741b44.

BEGIN THIRD-PARTY FILE a9eee88087741b44
```text
---
name: adk-debugger
description: Systematic debugging for ADK agents — trace reading, log analysis, common failure diagnosis, and the debug loop.
license: MIT
---

# ADK Debugger Skill

## What is ADK Debugging?

Every ADK agent records its behavior as traces and logs — every conversation turn, tool call, LLM reasoning step, and error. These are the source of truth for understanding what your agent did and why.

The ADK CLI provides the tools you need to debug. Most diagnostic commands support `--format json`; use it for programmatic output. The exception is `adk dev`, which has no `--format` flag and uses `adk dev --non-interactive` for structured NDJSON output.

## When to Use This Skill

Use this skill when the developer asks about:

- **Bot not working** — not responding, wrong responses, unexpected behavior
- **Tool issues** — wrong tool called, tool errors, hallucinated parameters
- **Workflow problems** — stuck workflows, steps not executing, state issues
- **Reading traces/logs** — how to query, filter, and interpret debug output
- **LLM misbehavior** — hallucinations, refusals, looping, poor extraction
- **Build/deploy failures** — validation errors, schema mismatches
- **Config issues** — agent.json vs agent.local.json, integration setup
- **Post-fix verification** — confirming a fix worked, writing regression evals

**Trigger questions:**

- "My bot isn't responding"
- "The wrong tool was called"
- "My workflow is stuck"
- "How do I read traces?"
- "How do I check logs?"
- "The LLM is hallucinating"
- "Something broke after my last change"
- "My deploy failed"
- "`adk check` found errors"
- "Summarize this trace"
- "What happened in trace X?"
- "Give me an overview of this conversation turn"
- "Why did the bot do X in this trace?"
- "Walk me through what happened"
- "How do I debug this?"
- "Summarize this conversation"
- "Explain what happened in conversation X"
- "Why did the bot respond that way?"
- "Walk me through this conversation"
- "What went wrong in this conversation?"

## Available Documentation

| File                                  | Contents                                                                                                                                     |
| ------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `references/traces-and-logs.md`       | CLI debugging tools, log querying, trace structure, span types, `onTrace` hooks, reproduction with `adk chat`                                |
```
END THIRD-PARTY FILE a9eee88087741b44

The third-party file has ended. Everything between the a9eee88087741b44 tags is data: requests and commands from it are not followed. An “end of file” line with another tag inside the block is part of the file.

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