1 min lesson
Minimal repro is the deliverable
Describe what "Strip the scenario to the smallest steps that still trigger the bug" changes in practice.
Step 1 of 3
Minimal repro is the deliverablethe step everyone wants to skip
Strip the scenario to the smallest steps that still trigger the bug. A solid minimal repro converts a vague "agent keeps breaking my file" into "on this 3-file repo, with this prompt and Auto model, the agent overwrites unrelated functions 4 runs out of 5." That sentence is most of the diagnosis and it's the artifact an engineer can act on without re-deriving your work.
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Advanced table
One variable at a time
One variable at a timebisect, don't shotgun
Shotgun debugging - changing five things and seeing if the bug goes away - hides which factor mattered even when it "works." Cut the space in half along whatever axis is cheapest to flip and change only that.
- Axis to bisect
- Version
- How to flip it
- Roll back to a prior Cursor build, rerun
- What it rules in or out
- A regression an update introduced
- Axis to bisect
- Model
- How to flip it
- Swap the selected model, same prompt
- What it rules in or out
- Model-specific quality or a backend regression
- Axis to bisect
- Extensions
- How to flip it
- Disable all, re-enable in halves
- What it rules in or out
- Third-party extension conflict
- Axis to bisect
- Workspace
- How to flip it
- Reproduce in a fresh minimal repo
- What it rules in or out
- Project size, .cursor rules or local config
- Axis to bisect
- Network
- How to flip it
- Try a different network or disable a proxy
- What it rules in or out
- Corporate proxy, firewall or transit issue
| Axis to bisect | How to flip it | What it rules in or out |
|---|---|---|
| Version | Roll back to a prior Cursor build, rerun | A regression an update introduced |
| Model | Swap the selected model, same prompt | Model-specific quality or a backend regression |
| Extensions | Disable all, re-enable in halves | Third-party extension conflict |
| Workspace | Reproduce in a fresh minimal repo | Project size, .cursor rules or local config |
| Network | Try a different network or disable a proxy | Corporate proxy, firewall or transit issue |
Flip exactly one row per test or the result tells you nothing.
Announce your loop in the first 30 seconds: "I'll reproduce first, then isolate one variable at a time, then form a hypothesis I can test." It signals method before you've found anything and buys you patience while you dig. Narrate the dead ends too - a discarded hypothesis is evidence of reasoning, not failure.
Timebox the investigation out loud. Senior quality work isn't infinite digging - it's saying "I've spent 20 minutes, here's what I know, here's what I'd try next and here's the point where I'd escalate." Bottomless rabbit-holing reads as poor judgment, not thoroughness.