AgentDev Debug Mode Skill

plugin: agentdev updated: 2026-01-20

AgentDev Debug Mode

Debug mode captures detailed session information for analysis, debugging, and optimization. All events are recorded to a JSONL file in claude-code-session-debug/.

Configuration

Debug mode uses per-project configuration stored in .claude/agentdev-debug.json.

Config File Format

Location: .claude/agentdev-debug.json (in project root)

{
  "enabled": true,
  "level": "standard",
  "created_at": "2026-01-09T07:00:00Z"
}

Fields:

enabled: boolean - Whether debug mode is active
level: string - Debug level (minimal, standard, verbose)
created_at: string - ISO timestamp when config was created

Enabling Debug Mode

Use the command to create the config file:

/agentdev:debug-enable

This creates .claude/agentdev-debug.json with enabled: true.

Or manually create the file:

mkdir -p .claude
cat > .claude/agentdev-debug.json << 'EOF'
{
  "enabled": true,
  "level": "standard",
  "created_at": "2026-01-09T07:00:00Z"
}
EOF

Debug Levels

| Level | Captured Events | |-------|-----------------| | minimal | Phase transitions, errors, session start/end | | standard | All of minimal + tool invocations, agent delegations | | verbose | All of standard + skill activations, hook triggers, full parameters |

Default level is standard.

Changing Debug Level

Using jq:

jq '.level = "verbose"' .claude/agentdev-debug.json > tmp.json && mv tmp.json .claude/agentdev-debug.json

Output Location

Debug sessions are saved to:

claude-code-session-debug/agentdev-{slug}-{timestamp}-{id}.jsonl

Example:

claude-code-session-debug/agentdev-graphql-reviewer-20260109-063623-ba71.jsonl

JSONL Format

Each line in the JSONL file is a complete JSON event object. This append-only format is:

Crash-resilient (no data loss on unexpected termination)
Easy to process with jq
Streamable during the session

Event Schema (v1.0.0)

{
  "event_id": "550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440001",
  "correlation_id": null,
  "timestamp": "2026-01-09T06:40:00Z",
  "type": "tool_invocation",
  "data": { ... }
}

Fields:

event_id: Unique UUID for this event
correlation_id: Links related events (e.g., tool_invocation -> tool_result)
timestamp: ISO 8601 timestamp
type: Event type (see below)
data: Type-specific payload

Event Types

| Type | Description | |------|-------------| | session_start | Session initialization with metadata | | session_end | Session completion | | tool_invocation | Tool called with parameters | | tool_result | Tool execution result | | skill_activation | Skill loaded by agent | | hook_trigger | PreToolUse/PostToolUse hook fired | | agent_delegation | Task delegated to sub-agent | | agent_response | Sub-agent returned result | | phase_transition | Workflow phase changed | | user_interaction | User approval/input requested | | proxy_mode_request | External model request via Claudish | | proxy_mode_response | External model response | | error | Error occurred |

What Gets Captured

Session Metadata

Session ID and path
User request
Environment (Claudish availability, plugin version)
Start/end timestamps

Tool Invocations

Tool name
Parameters (sanitized - credentials redacted)
Execution context (phase, agent)
Duration and result size

Agent Delegations

Target agent name
Prompt preview (first 200 chars)
Proxy mode model if used
Session path

Proxy Mode

Model ID
Request/response duration
Success/failure status

Phase Transitions

From/to phase numbers and names
Transition reason (completed, skipped, failed)
Quality gate results

Errors

Error type (tool_error, hook_error, agent_error, etc.)
Message and stack trace
Context (phase, agent, tool)
Recoverability

Sensitive Data Protection

Debug mode automatically sanitizes sensitive data:

Redacted Patterns:

API keys (sk-*, ghp_*, AKIA*, etc.)
Tokens (bearer, access, auth)
Passwords and secrets
AWS credentials
Slack tokens (xox*)
Google API keys (AIza*)

Analyzing Debug Output

Prerequisites

Install jq for JSON processing:

# macOS
brew install jq

# Linux
apt-get install jq

Quick Statistics

# Count events by type
cat session.jsonl | jq -s 'group_by(.type) | map({type: .[0].type, count: length})'

Tool Usage Analysis

# Tool invocation counts
cat session.jsonl | jq -s '
  [.[] | select(.type == "tool_invocation") | .data.tool_name]
  | group_by(.)
  | map({tool: .[0], count: length})
  | sort_by(-.count)'

Failed Operations

# Find all errors and failed tool results
cat session.jsonl | jq 'select(.type == "error" or (.type == "tool_result" and .data.success == false))'

Timeline View

# Chronological event summary
cat session.jsonl | jq '"\(.timestamp) [\(.type)] \(.data | keys | join(", "))"'

Event Correlation

# Find tool invocation and its result
INVOCATION_ID="550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440001"
cat session.jsonl | jq "select(.event_id == \"$INVOCATION_ID\" or .correlation_id == \"$INVOCATION_ID\")"

Phase Duration Analysis

# Calculate time between phase transitions
cat session.jsonl | jq -s '
  [.[] | select(.type == "phase_transition")]
  | sort_by(.timestamp)
  | .[]
  | {phase: .data.to_name, timestamp: .timestamp}'

Agent Delegation Timing

# Find slowest agent delegations
cat session.jsonl | jq -s '
  [.[] | select(.type == "agent_response")]
  | sort_by(-.data.duration_ms)
  | .[:5]
  | .[]
  | {agent: .data.agent, duration_sec: (.data.duration_ms / 1000)}'

Proxy Mode Performance

# External model response times
cat session.jsonl | jq -s '
  [.[] | select(.type == "proxy_mode_response")]
  | .[]
  | {model: .data.model_id, success: .data.success, duration_sec: (.data.duration_ms / 1000)}'

Disabling Debug Mode

Use the command:

/agentdev:debug-disable

Or manually update:

jq '.enabled = false' .claude/agentdev-debug.json > tmp.json && mv tmp.json .claude/agentdev-debug.json

Or delete the config file:

rm -f .claude/agentdev-debug.json

Cleaning Up Debug Files

Remove All Debug Files

rm -rf claude-code-session-debug/

Remove Files Older Than 7 Days

find claude-code-session-debug/ -name "*.jsonl" -mtime +7 -delete

Remove Files Larger Than 10MB

find claude-code-session-debug/ -name "*.jsonl" -size +10M -delete

File Permissions

Debug files are created with restrictive permissions:

Directory: 0o700 (owner only)
Files: 0o600 (owner read/write only)

This prevents other users from reading potentially sensitive session data.

Example Session Output

{"event_id":"init-1736408183","timestamp":"2026-01-09T06:36:23Z","type":"session_start","data":{"schema_version":"1.0.0","session_id":"agentdev-graphql-reviewer-20260109-063623-ba71","user_request":"Create an agent that reviews GraphQL schemas","session_path":"ai-docs/sessions/agentdev-graphql-reviewer-20260109-063623-ba71","environment":{"claudish_available":true,"plugin_version":"1.4.0","jq_available":true}}}
{"event_id":"550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440001","timestamp":"2026-01-09T06:36:25Z","type":"tool_invocation","data":{"tool_name":"TodoWrite","parameters":{"todos":"[REDACTED]"},"context":{"phase":0,"agent":null}}}
{"event_id":"550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440002","correlation_id":"550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440001","timestamp":"2026-01-09T06:36:25Z","type":"tool_result","data":{"tool_name":"TodoWrite","success":true,"result_size_bytes":156,"duration_ms":12}}
{"event_id":"550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440003","timestamp":"2026-01-09T06:36:26Z","type":"phase_transition","data":{"from_phase":null,"to_phase":0,"from_name":null,"to_name":"Init","transition_reason":"completed","quality_gate_result":true}}
{"event_id":"550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440004","timestamp":"2026-01-09T06:36:30Z","type":"agent_delegation","data":{"target_agent":"agentdev:architect","prompt_preview":"SESSION_PATH: ai-docs/sessions/agentdev-graphql-reviewer...","prompt_length":1456,"proxy_mode":null,"session_path":"ai-docs/sessions/agentdev-graphql-reviewer-20260109-063623-ba71"}}
{"event_id":"end-1736408565","timestamp":"2026-01-09T06:42:45Z","type":"session_end","data":{"success":true}}

Troubleshooting

Debug File Not Created

Check if debug mode is enabled:
```
/agentdev:debug-status
```
Verify config file:
```
cat .claude/agentdev-debug.json
```
Verify the directory is writable:
```
ls -la claude-code-session-debug/
```

jq Commands Not Working

Install jq: brew install jq or apt-get install jq
Verify JSONL format (each line should be valid JSON):
```
head -1 session.jsonl | jq .
```

Large Debug Files

Debug files can grow large in verbose mode. Use minimal level for lighter capture:

Update config:

jq '.level = "minimal"' .claude/agentdev-debug.json > tmp.json && mv tmp.json .claude/agentdev-debug.json

Or clean up old files regularly:

find claude-code-session-debug/ -name "*.jsonl" -mtime +3 -delete

Integration with Other Tools

Viewing in VS Code

The JSONL format works with JSON syntax highlighting. For better viewing:

Install "JSON Lines" VS Code extension
Use "Format Document" on each line individually

Importing to Analytics

# Convert to CSV for spreadsheet import
cat session.jsonl | jq -rs '
  (.[0] | keys_unsorted) as $keys
  | ($keys | @csv),
  (.[] | [.[$keys[]]] | @csv)' > session.csv

Streaming to External Service

# Tail and send to logging service
tail -f session.jsonl | while read line; do
  curl -X POST -d "$line" https://logging.example.com/ingest
done

Commands Reference

| Command | Description | |---------|-------------| | /agentdev:debug-enable | Enable debug mode (creates config file) | | /agentdev:debug-disable | Disable debug mode (updates config file) | | /agentdev:debug-status | Check current debug mode status |

Agent Skills: AgentDev Debug Mode

Install this agent skill to your local

Skill Files