Resolve Design Errors

Detecting Design Errors (SLDV DED + Root Cause Analysis)

When to Use

• User asks to check a Simulink model for design errors (division-by-zero, overflow, dead logic, out-of-bounds)
• User asks to find root causes of DED findings
• User asks to fix or understand an analysis finding
• User asks why there is missing coverage due to dead logic (dead logic gates prevent coverage objectives from being satisfied)
• User has SLDV artifacts (.mat file) and wants analysis without re-running DED

When NOT to Use

• Requirement verification — checking if a model satisfies a requirement
• Test generation or test authoring — creating test cases from requirements or for coverage
• Comprehensive verification — this skill is a quick defect scan, not an exhaustive proof; a clean result does not guarantee the model is free of all errors
• Coverage measurement — this skill does not measure or report model coverage; use Simulink Coverage tools

Safety Rules

• Never patch the original model directly. Always clone first before applying any fix.
• NEVER apply fixes without explicit user approval. After root cause analysis, present findings and *suggest* a fix strategy — then STOP and wait for the user to say "yes, apply it" or "go ahead." Even if the user's prompt says "suggest a fix" or "fix it," you must present the plan first and wait for confirmation. Do NOT create clone models, set parameters, or run verification until the user explicitly approves.
• SLDV results are always sound. Never assume SLDV returns false positives. If SLDV reports a defect, it is a real defect — treat every finding as a true positive and investigate accordingly.

Requires: MATLAB R2023b+, Simulink Design Verifier, Simulink Check / Model Slicer.

Prerequisites

All script functions live in the skill's scripts/ directory. Use evaluate_matlab_code with project_path set to that folder so MATLAB can find them.

Workflow

This skill provides two functions that automate SLDV-driven analysis the agent otherwise gets

wrong when hand-rolling it, then hands you the facts to classify and fix findings. The workflow

is four steps:

1. Detect errors      → sldv_run_defect_checker   (use the function; don't hand-roll DED)
2. Root cause errors  → sldv_find_de_root_cause    (use the function; don't hand-roll slicing)
3. Classify errors    → agent step (dead logic: intentional vs. design_error)
4. Fix errors         → agent step (propose, get approval, clone-fix-verify)

Steps 1–2 are the two functions. Steps 3–4 are agent judgment based on their output. Full API

detail (return fields, options, caching, sub-functions) is in references/api-reference.md —

load it when you need exact fields or options.

Step 1 — Detect errors

Call sldv_run_defect_checker(model) instead of writing your own SLDV DED invocation or

parsing objectives by hand — it configures the analysis, runs DED, and auto-loads cached

*_sldvdata.mat results when available.

result = sldv_run_defect_checker("my_model", OutputDir="artifacts/ded")

If result.Status == "pass": STOP. Report "No design errors of the checked types were

detected" and end the workflow. Do NOT call sldv_find_de_root_cause or investigate further.

DED is a quick scan, not an exhaustive proof — tell the user no defects of the checked types

were found, not that the model is error-free.

Proceed to Step 2 only when result.Status == "fail".

Step 2 — Root cause errors

Call sldv_find_de_root_cause(model, DedResult=result.DedResult) instead of hand-building

slices — it returns backward slices, counterexamples, locality (blast-radius) measures, and

shared-root cascade annotations for every finding.

rca = sldv_find_de_root_cause("my_model", DedResult=result.DedResult, OutputDir="artifacts/ded")

Then trace each finding to its root cause:

• Follow the counterexample through rca.SliceBlocks to find which block produces the

defect-triggering value

• Use model_overview / model_read to understand each block's role
• Prefer high-Locality blocks (narrow blast radius, safer) and high-FindingCount blocks

(fix resolves more defects); check rca.Cascades — a shared-root fix resolves multiple

findings at once

When the slice is shallow (< 3 blocks) or stops at a Stateflow / MATLAB Function block:

the Model Slicer cannot trace through those constructs. Do NOT stop and report only what the

tool returned — fall back to model_read / model_overview to interpret the finding: read

the defect block and its upstream connections, read the Stateflow chart or MATLAB Function

logic the slice stopped at, and cross-reference counterexample values to see which branch is

active.

Step 3 — Classify errors (dead logic)

Classification happens after root cause analysis — you need to see the root cause (which

block, what value) before deciding whether dead logic is intentional.

Findings arrive pre-enriched. For every dead logic finding, sldv_find_de_root_cause

attaches on the finding struct:

• finding.ModelContext — a model_read dump of the block's surrounding scope. You do not

need to call model_read again for this. (If empty — model_read was unavailable — fall back

to model_overview / model_read yourself for that block.)

• finding.PatternCatalog — the entire dead-logic pattern library (catalog index + every

pattern), concatenated. You do not need to open the YAML files yourself.

• finding.Classification — "pending", awaiting your decision.

How to classify. For each dead logic finding, using ModelContext and PatternCatalog:

• Look at the root cause block — what value does it produce that makes the branch dead?
• Compare the model context against the patterns in PatternCatalog.
• Decide: is the block INTENTIONALLY producing this value (safety guard, disabled feature,

complementary Stateflow guards) or is it a BUG (wrong parameter, cascading error)?

Set the classification:

• "intentional" — defensive logic, enable-as-input, negation guard pairs → no fix needed;

report to the user as expected behavior

• "design_error" — wrong parameter, cascading dead logic, short-circuit → fix the root cause
• "unclassified" — unclear → ask the user

Only apply fixes for "design_error" findings.

Step 4 — Fix errors

The functions provide facts; you identify root causes and decide fixes — there is no hardcoded

defect-to-fix mapping.

When you are ready to propose or apply a fix, load and follow references/fix-strategy.md.

It covers root-cause identification, the clone-fix-verify procedure, fix principles, and the

blast-radius discussion required for every proposal.

Two rules that always apply (see Safety Rules): present findings and wait for explicit approval

before applying anything, and propose a fix for every design_error finding — 2–3 ranked

options each when possible — rather than stopping after only some.

Common Mistakes

| Mistake | Fix |

|---------|-----|

| Continuing after Status == "pass" | STOP. Zero falsified objectives = no defects. Do not call sldv_find_de_root_cause or investigate further. Report "no defects found" and end. |

| Calling sldv_find_de_root_cause without DedResult or DataFile | Pass one of the two — check result.DedResult from the checker |

| Running on an unsaved model | Save first; DED needs a file on disk |

| Applying fixes without presenting findings to user | Always show root cause analysis results first, get approval before fixing |

| Stopping at a shallow slice | Fall back to model_read / model_overview (Step 2) |

| Running on large models without OutputDir | Set OutputDir to avoid temp-dir clutter |