# problem-solver

Structures root-cause analysis for unexplained failures, bugs, and metric drops. Separates verified facts from working assumptions before suggesting any fix.

- skill · `type=skill` · Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Gemini CLI, OpenCode · ★ 88
- Author: tronghieu
- License: MIT · policy=mirror · the beginning of the file is at the end of this page
- Source: https://github.com/tronghieu/agent-skills/tree/HEAD/skills/problem-solver/SKILL.md
- Updated: 2026-10-18
- HTML: https://affpapa.org/en/nevibecode/skills/problem-solver

## What it does

This skill facilitates root-cause diagnosis whenever systems fail, slow down, or produce recurring bugs without a clear reason. Instead of proposing explanations right away, it extracts an objective problem statement stripped of smuggled fixes. Everything stated directly by the user receives a `[verified]` label, while candidate causes remain flagged as `[assumed]`.

The workflow applies Is/Is-Not boundary checks to pinpoint where the failure occurs versus where it does not. Critical assumptions enter an assumption log alongside the cheapest test to disprove each one. When asked directly for quick fixes, the skill offers diagnostic framing first, but provides an escape hatch to switch to brainstorming if requested.

Because the model cannot see private servers or production telemetry, the investigation stalls without user-supplied data. It is not designed for open-ended ideation or user research.

## Install

### Claude Code (native platform)

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add tronghieu/agent-skills --skill problem-solver -a claude-code
```

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

### Codex

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add tronghieu/agent-skills --skill problem-solver -a codex
```

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

### Cursor

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add tronghieu/agent-skills --skill problem-solver -a cursor
```

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

### GitHub Copilot

1. **GitHub CLI**
```bash
gh skill install tronghieu/agent-skills problem-solver
```

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

### Gemini CLI

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add tronghieu/agent-skills --skill problem-solver -a gemini-cli
```

2. **Platform CLI**
```bash
gemini skills install https://github.com/tronghieu/agent-skills --path skills/problem-solver
```

### Windsurf (Devin Desktop)

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

### OpenCode

**Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add tronghieu/agent-skills --skill problem-solver -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/tronghieu/agent-skills/tree/HEAD/skills/problem-solver/SKILL.md

## When to use it
- isolate the root cause of recurring bugs or sudden metric drops
- separate verified evidence from unconfirmed assumptions using explicit tags
- map failure boundaries through Is/Is-Not contrast tables
- draft falsifiable tests to disprove suspected failure causes quickly

## Example prompts
- Why does this service keep failing under load? Help me find the root cause.
- Sales dropped right after the update and we don't know why. Run a 5 whys diagnosis.
- Run a post-mortem investigation on the recurring latency spikes.

## 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: adabc73921f2d7b0.

BEGIN THIRD-PARTY FILE adabc73921f2d7b0
```text
---
name: problem-solver
description: >-
  Diagnose problems before solving them: turn "X is broken and we don't know
  why" into a precise problem statement, verified root causes, solutions traced
  to those causes, and a rollout plan. Use whenever the user reports something
  failing, breaking, slowing, or recurring without a known cause: "sales dropped
  and we don't know why", "this keeps happening", "why does X keep failing",
  "find the root cause", "run a post-mortem", "5 whys"; Vietnamese "sao cứ bị
  vậy hoài", "tìm nguyên nhân gốc", "X đang hỏng mà không rõ vì sao". Trigger
  even when the user asks for solutions directly: "give me ideas to fix falling
  sales" is a diagnosis request. Not for open-ended ideation when nothing is
  broken (brainstorm-coach), understanding user needs (design-thinking), or
  company-level strategic bets (strategy-board).
---

# Problem Solver

A **diagnosis-first facilitator** for problems whose cause is unknown or
unverified. The skill does two jobs that reinforce each other:

1. **Find the real cause.** Structured framing, boundary analysis, and
   root-cause methods matched to the shape of the problem — so the fix
   targets structure, not symptoms.
2. **Never fabricate.** You cannot see the user's systems, org, or
   data. Facts come from the user; everything else is a labeled
   hypothesis with a test attached. A tidy cause chain with invented
   links is worse than an honest incomplete one — it sends the user off
   to fix the wrong thing with full confidence.

The second job is the signature. Any capable model can produce a
plausible root-cause analysis; plausible is exactly the danger. What
separates diagnosis from storytelling is the discipline below.

## The evidence discipline

Three sources of truth run through every phase:

- **Facts** — things the user states from direct knowledge, or data and
  artifacts they show you. Only these earn the label `[verified]`.
- **Hypotheses** — candidate causes and links. These can come from you
  or the user; origin doesn't matter, verification does. Until checked,
  they carry `[assumed]`.
- **The world** — the only thing that converts one into the other.
  Verification means the user confirmed it from direct knowledge or
  checked it against reality. "Sounds plausible" and "the user nodded
  along" are not verification.

The working rules:

- **Never state a fact about the user's world that they didn't give
  you.** If a cause chain needs a fact you don't have ("do late orders
  cluster on weekends?"), ask — or mark the link `[assumed]` and move
  on. The gap is information; papering over it is fabrication.
- **Every load-bearing `[assumed]` link goes into the assumption log**
```
END THIRD-PARTY FILE adabc73921f2d7b0

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---
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