/gitnexus-debugging

name: gitnexus-debugging
description: "Use when the user is debugging a bug, tracing an error, or asking why something fails. Examples: \"Why is X failing?\", \"Where does this error come from?\", \"Trace this bug\""

Debugging with GitNexus

When to Use

• "Why is this function failing?"
• "Trace where this error comes from"
• "Who calls this method?"
• "This endpoint returns 500"
• Investigating bugs, errors, or unexpected behavior

Bind the repository first

A root cause traced in the wrong repository is a wrong root cause.

Bind once using a confirmed registry name/path or configured MCP default. Call `list_repos {}` if the target is not yet known; reuse that binding across calls. With one indexed repository, use the examples below as written. With more than one, pass `repo` on every call: an omitted `repo` normally errors, but under an MCP policy with a configured default it resolves to that default silently. If you cannot tell which repository is meant, stop and ask. This matters most for `cypher`, whose statement carries no in-band hint of which database it ran against.

`list_repos` is paginated, so page with `offset: pagination.nextOffset` until `hasMore` is false before concluding a repository is absent.

A stale index describes the code from before your bug, so refresh before trusting a trace, and state the repository and index freshness with the diagnosis.

Workflow

0. Bind the repo once (list_repos only if not already known)
1. If the suspect is unknown, query for the error/symptom with small result limits
2. context({name: "<suspect>"})                    → See callers/callees/processes
3. Read a process resource only if its trace resolves an open question
4. cypher({statement: "MATCH path..."})                 → Custom traces if needed

> If "Index is stale" → run `node .gitnexus/run.cjs analyze` in terminal. > Hot-tool `staleness` names which index answered (`branch`/`lastCommit`) and how fresh it is (`status`). Re-analyze only for `behind` or `diverged` — `current` is identity, `unknown` is unmeasurable.

Checklist

- [ ] Once per session: bind repo; explicit repo when >1 indexed, ask if ambiguous
- [ ] Understand the symptom (error message, unexpected behavior)
- [ ] query for error text or related code
- [ ] Identify the suspect function from returned processes
- [ ] context to see callers and callees
- [ ] Trace execution flow via process resource if applicable
- [ ] cypher for custom call chain traces if needed
- [ ] Read source files to confirm root cause
- [ ] State the repository and index freshness with the diagnosis

Keep investigations focused

Start with a known symbol's `context`, or a small `query` (`limit: 3`, `max_symbols: 3`, `include_content: false`, `chain_depth: 0`) to discover one. When the server advertises these single-repository filters, request only the needed evidence:

context({uid: "<suspect id>", repo: "my-app", include_content: true,
         response_sections: ["outgoing"], relationTypes: ["CALLS"]})
trace({from_uid: "<suspect id>", to_uid: "<failure id>", repo: "my-app"})

`symbol` and completeness/staleness diagnostics remain in a filtered context. `relationTypes` filters the returned incoming/outgoing categories only; it does not expand their existing bounded window or filter an explicitly requested chain. For callback registration, include `USES`; for imports or inheritance, request those relation types or omit the filter. Omitted references are not absent references. Broaden when the hypothesis needs it, and preserve UNKNOWN/partial warnings. Confirm source and tests before claiming a root cause. A useful 2–3 call investigation is a goal, not a reason to skip verification or pre-edit impact.

Debugging Patterns

| Symptom | GitNexus Approach | | -------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------- | | Error message | `query` for error text → `context` on throw sites | | Wrong return value | `context` on the function → trace callees for data flow | | Intermittent failure | `context` → look for external calls, async deps | | Performance issue | `context` → find symbols with many callers (hot paths) | | Recent regression | `detect_changes` to see what your changes affect — pass `worktree` for a linked worktree | | "How does A reach B?" | `trace` between the two symbols — shortest call chain in one call |

Tools

**query** — find code related to error:

query({search_query: "payment validation error", repo: "my-app"})
→ Processes: CheckoutFlow, ErrorHandling
→ Symbols: validatePayment, handlePaymentError, PaymentException

**context** — full context for a suspect:

context({name: "validatePayment", repo: "my-app"})
→ Incoming calls: processCheckout, webhookHandler
→ Outgoing calls: verifyCard, fetchRates (external API!)
→ Processes: CheckoutFlow (step 3/7)

**cypher** — custom call chain traces. Pass `repo` alongside the statement; the Cypher text itself names no repository, so the result is unattributable without it:

MATCH path = (a)-[:CodeRelation {type: 'CALLS'}*1..2]->(b:Function {name: "validatePayment"})
RETURN [n IN nodes(path) | n.name] AS chain

**trace** — shortest call chain between two symbols ("how does A reach B?"), one call instead of chaining `context` hops:

trace({ from: "processCheckout", to: "fetchRates", repo: "my-app" })
→ status: ok, hopCount: 3
→ hops: processCheckout → validatePayment → verifyCard → fetchRates
→ edges: CALLS (1.0), CALLS (0.95), CALLS (1.0)

When no path exists, `trace` reports the furthest reachable node — exactly where the chain breaks (dynamic dispatch, reflection, or an external boundary).

Example: "Payment endpoint returns 500 intermittently"

0. list_repos {}
   → total: 2 (my-app, billing-api) — bind my-app explicitly on every call

1. query({search_query: "payment error ha