thalarch-debuglisted

# Thalarch Debug ## Causal Debug Protocol ## Phase 1 — Reproduce and bound Record: - exact expected vs actual behavior; - reproduction or failure evidence; - frequency if intermittent; - environment/version; - earliest known good state when available. ## Phase 2 — Trace the causal chain Trace backward from the symptom. At each boundary ask: - what entered? - what exited? - what state/config was assumed? - where is the first violated contract? Instrument boundaries rather than guessing downstream fixes. ## Phase 3 — Compare a working analogue Find the closest known-working path and compare all meaningful differences. Do not dismiss small differences without evidence. ## Phase 4 — Hypothesis Write exactly one primary hypothesis: `Cause: ...` `Because: ...` `Prediction if true: ...` `Observation that disproves it: ...` Then run the smallest experiment that separates this hypothesis from alternatives. ## Phase 5 — Fix source, prove regression Prefer the earliest incorrect state or broken contract. Where practical, demonstrate: - fail before; - pass after; - nearby regression checks remain green. ## Breaker After three failed hypotheses: - stop patch accumulation; - re-open assumptions; - examine shared state, ownership, lifecycle, and architecture; - use a fresh agent/context for the reassessment.