Debugging with Claude

Error diagnosis strategies that actually work

Debugging is a conversation

The best way to debug with Claude Code is to treat it as a collaborative investigation. You’re working together to find a root cause — which means sharing evidence, forming hypotheses, and testing them.

The debugging protocol

Step 1: Share the full context

"Here's the problem: [what's happening vs. what should happen]
Here's the error message: [exact error text]
Here's when it happens: [conditions that trigger it]
Here's what I've already tried: [your attempts so far]"

Step 2: Let Claude trace the code

"Read the relevant files and trace the execution path that leads to this error. What are the top 3 most likely causes?"

Step 3: Test hypotheses

"Let's test hypothesis 1 first. What's the minimum change we can make to verify or rule it out?"

Intermittent bugs

Intermittent bugs are especially hard. Use Claude to add diagnostic logging first:

"This error happens about 1 in 20 times and I can't reproduce it reliably. Add detailed logging to the sync function so that the next time it fails, we'll know exactly what state the application was in at the time."

When Claude is stuck

If Claude tries 2-3 things and the bug persists:

"Let's step back. Forget what we've tried. From first principles: what are ALL the possible explanations for [symptom]? List them even if they seem unlikely."