CLI Debug Skill

This skill provides a systematic workflow for debugging and verifying changes to the forge CLI application.

Core Principles

1. Always get latest docs first: Run --help to see current commands and options
2. Use -p for testing: Test forge by giving it tasks with the -p flag
3. Never commit: This is for debugging only - don't commit changes
4. Clone conversations: When debugging conversation bugs, clone the source conversation before reproducing

Workflow

1. Build the Application

Always build in debug mode after making changes:

cargo build

Never use cargo build --release for debugging - it's significantly slower and unnecessary for verification.

2. Get Latest Documentation

Always start by checking the latest help to understand current commands and options:

# Main help - do this first
./target/debug/forge --help

# Command-specific help
./target/debug/forge [COMMAND] --help

# Subcommand help
./target/debug/forge [COMMAND] [SUBCOMMAND] --help

3. Test with -p Flag

Use the -p flag to give forge a task to complete without interactive mode:

# Test with a simple prompt
./target/debug/forge -p "create a hello world rust program"

# Test with specific functionality
./target/debug/forge -p "read the README.md file and summarize it"

# Test with complex tasks
./target/debug/forge -p "analyze the code structure and suggest improvements"

4. Debug with Conversation Dumps

When debugging prompts or conversation issues, use conversation dump to export conversations. The command automatically creates a timestamped file:

# Dump conversation as JSON (creates: YYYY-MM-DD_HH-MM-SS-dump.json)
./target/debug/forge conversation dump <conversation-id>

# Export as HTML for human-readable format (creates: YYYY-MM-DD_HH-MM-SS-dump.html)
./target/debug/forge conversation dump --html <conversation-id>