The Debugging Workflow
How senior developers actually find and fix bugs — and what AI orchestration looks like when you're the one making the calls.
Most production bugs get patched by guessing — change a line, the symptom goes away, it comes back three weeks later. This series walks through the systematic workflow for catching bugs at the cause, not the symptom — and how AI fits into the loop when you treat it as an executor instead of an answer box.
- 1Debugging6 min read
How I Debug Bugs Systematically — Reproduce, Instrument, Fix, Harden
Bug fixes that stick aren't lucky guesses — they follow a repeatable workflow. Here's the four-step process I use on every debug engagement, from "my app keeps crashing" to "the login is broken sometimes."
Read part 1→
- 2Debugging4 min read
Adding Debug Logs the Right Way — Visibility Without Noise
Most codebases either have no logging or so much it's useless. Here's how to add debug logs that surface the bug fast without flooding your console — and how to remove them cleanly when you're done.
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- 3Testing5 min read
Writing Unit Tests for Code You Didn't Write
You inherited a codebase with no tests. Now there's a bug, and you need to fix it without breaking everything else. Here's the pragmatic strategy for adding tests to legacy code without rewriting everything.
Read part 3→
- 4AI Workflow5 min read
AI-Orchestrated Debugging — What "Baby-Sit the AI" Actually Looks Like
Senior devs aren't using AI as a magic answer box — they're orchestrating it. Here's exactly how AI fits into a debugging workflow when you're the one making the decisions and it's the one doing the typing.
Read part 4→
- 5Scoping4 min read
Quick Wins vs Hardening — How to Scope a First-Engagement Bug Fix
When you're hiring a developer for the first time, scoping the engagement right matters as much as the fix itself. Here's how to think about quick wins versus hardening — and why a good freelancer should tell you the difference.
Read part 5→
Got a bug that's eating your team's time?
This is the exact engagement I take on most often — reproduce the bug, instrument the code, fix the cause, write the regression test, ship. Most one-issue bug fixes are a $1,500 Quick Win, working in production in about a week. If you have a list of issues or an unfamiliar codebase, a $500 Discovery is the right starting point — I'll audit the code and lay out a roadmap you keep regardless.
Start with a $500 Discovery →