five-whys
Root cause analysis for software bugs using the 5 Whys technique. Use when the user wants to find the underlying cause of a bug, error, or technical issue. Triggers include phrases like "why is this happening", "root cause", "debug this", or when investigating software problems.
npx skills add majiayu000/claude-skill-registry --skill 5-whys --agent claude-code
Same command for any agent — swap --agent for codex, cursor, copilot.
Weekly change comes from our own snapshots, not the repository page — it measures attention, not adoption.
# 5 Whys Debugging Ask "why" five times systematically to find the root cause of a bug. --- ## ⛔ CRITICAL: One Why at a Time **ANTI-PATTERN (DO NOT DO THIS):** - Asking all 5 whys in a single response - Hypothesizing answers without code evidence - Jumping to conclusions before investigating **CORRECT PATTERN:** ``` ASK why #1 → STOP → INVESTIGATE → ANSWER with evidence ↓ ASK why #2 → STOP → INVESTIGATE → ANSWER with evidence ↓ ... repeat until root cause PROVEN ``` You MUST search the codebase and gather evidence between each "why" question. If you find yourself typing "WHY #2" without having investigated after "WHY #1", you are doing it wrong. --- ## ✅ MANDATORY: Progress Tracking Use a todo list to track each "why" round. Mark complete before proceeding to the next. --- ## Investigation Techniques Evidence gathering is the core of each "why" iteration. Use these approaches flexibly — they're starting points, not checklists. ### Trace the Data Flow Follow the FULL value through the system to find where behavior diverges from expectation: - Origin → transformations → failure point - Dependencies, imports, function calls - State changes across boundaries (API, DB, modules, etc) ###
- ⛔ CRITICAL: One Why at a Time
- ✅ MANDATORY: Progress Tracking
- Investigation Techniques
- Trace the Data Flow
- Examine Artifacts
- When Stuck
- Process
- Example Flow
- Tips
What does the five-whys skill do?
Root cause analysis for software bugs using the 5 Whys technique. Use when the user wants to find the underlying cause of a bug, error, or technical issue. Triggers include phrases like "why is this happening", "root cause", "debug this", or when investigating software problems.
How do I install it?
Run `npx skills add majiayu000/claude-skill-registry --skill 5-whys --agent claude-code` — it drops the skill into your project so the agent can pick it up. Swap the --agent value for codex, cursor or copilot if you use one of those.
Where does this skill come from?
From majiayu000/claude-skill-registry, a repository with 534 stars. We read it straight from the repository tree rather than a submitted listing, so what you see here is what is actually published.
Is a popular skill a good skill?
Not necessarily. Stars measure attention, not adoption — a repository can trend for a week and be abandoned. That is why we show the weekly change from our own snapshots next to the total, instead of a single flattering number.