Observe Before Editing
Before editing code to fix a bug, confirm what the system actually produced.
Pattern
Outputs don't lie. Code might. Check outputs first.
DO
- Check if expected directories exist:
ls -la .claude/cache/ - Check if expected files were created:
ls -la .claude/cache/learnings/ - Check logs for errors:
tail .claude/cache/*.log - Run the failing command manually to see actual error
- Only then edit code
DON'T
- Assume "hook didn't run" without checking outputs
- Edit code based on what you think should happen
- Confuse global vs project paths (check both:
.claude/and~/.claude/)
Source Sessions
- a541f08a: Token limit error was invisible until manual run revealed it
- 6a9f2d7a: Looked in wrong cache path (
~/.claude/vs.claude/), assumed hook failure - a8bd5cea: Confirmed hook worked by finding output files in project cache
- 1c21e6c8: Verified Artifact Index indexing by checking DB file exists