Fix bugs using red-green-refactor — reproduce the bug as a failing test first, then fix it. Use when fixing bugs to ensure they never regress.
npx skills add https://github.com/rshankras/claude-code-apple-skills --skill tdd-bug-fix
Fix bugs the right way: reproduce first, fix second, verify always. Especially critical when using AI to generate fixes — the test ensures the AI actually solved the problem.
Use this skill when the user:
Without TDD: With TDD:
Bug reported Bug reported
→ AI generates fix → Write failing test (RED)
→ Deploy → AI generates fix (GREEN)
→ Hope it works → Test passes — confirmed fixed
→ Bug returns later → Test prevents regression forever
Gather information:
Grep: "[relevant keyword]" to find the source
Read: the suspected file(s)
Identify:
Write a test that fails because of the bug. This proves the bug exists.
import Testing
@testable import YourApp
@Suite("Bug Fix: [Brief description]")
struct BugFix_DescriptionTests {
@Test("should [expected behavior] — was [actual behavior]")
func reproduceBug() {
// Arrange — set up the conditions that trigger the bug
let calculator = PriceCalculator()
// Act — perform the operation that's broken
let result = calculator.applyDiscount(price: 100, percent: 50)
// Assert — what it SHOULD return (this will FAIL now)
#expect(result == 50.0) // Currently returns 0.5 (bug: divides by 100 twice)
}
}
@Test("should return cached items when network fails — was crashing")
func reproduceBug() async throws {
let mockNetwork = MockNetworkClient(shouldFail: true)
let mockCache = MockCache(items: [.sample])
let service = DataService(network: mockNetwork, cache: mockCache)
// This should return cached data, but currently crashes
let items = try await service.fetchItems()
#expect(items.count == 1)
}
@Test("should update count after deletion — was showing stale count")
func reproduceBug() {
let manager = ItemManager()
manager.addItem(Item(title: "Test"))
manager.deleteItem(at: 0)
#expect(manager.count == 0) // Currently still returns 1
#expect(manager.items.isEmpty) // Currently still contains item
}
@Test("should handle empty input — was crashing with index out of range")
func reproduceBug() {
let parser = CSVParser()
// This crashes with empty string
let result = parser.parse("")
#expect(result.rows.isEmpty)
#expect(result.columns.isEmpty)
}
@Test("should show error state when API fails — was showing infinite spinner")
func reproduceBug() async {
let failingAPI = MockAPI(shouldFail: true)
let viewModel = ListViewModel(api: failingAPI)
await viewModel.loadData()
#expect(viewModel.state == .error) // Currently stuck on .loading
#expect(viewModel.isLoading == false)
}
Run the test — it MUST fail. If it passes, you haven't reproduced the bug.
xcodebuild test -scheme YourApp \
-only-testing "YourAppTests/BugFix_DescriptionTests"
Now fix the code to make the test pass. The fix should be minimal — only change what's needed.
Prompt to Claude: "Here's a failing test that reproduces a bug.
Fix the source code to make this test pass without breaking
any existing tests."
Run the test — it MUST pass now.
# Run the bug fix test
xcodebuild test -scheme YourApp \
-only-testing "YourAppTests/BugFix_DescriptionTests"
# Run ALL tests to check for regressions
xcodebuild test -scheme YourApp
If the fix introduced duplication or the code could be cleaner:
Checklist before marking the bug as fixed:
If a bug has multiple symptoms, write multiple tests:
@Suite("Bug Fix: Discount calculation errors")
struct BugFix_DiscountCalculationTests {
@Test("50% discount on $100 should be $50")
func fiftyPercentDiscount() {
let calc = PriceCalculator()
#expect(calc.applyDiscount(price: 100, percent: 50) == 50.0)
}
@Test("discount on $0 should return $0")
func zeroPrice() {
let calc = PriceCalculator()
#expect(calc.applyDiscount(price: 0, percent: 50) == 0.0)
}
}
## Bug Fix: [Description]
### Bug Summary
- **Expected**: [What should happen]
- **Actual**: [What was happening]
- **Root cause**: [Why it was broken]
### Test (RED)
// Failing test that reproduces the bug
### Fix (GREEN)
**File**: `path/to/file.swift:XX`
// Before (buggy)
// After (fixed)
### Verification
- [x] Bug test fails before fix
- [x] Bug test passes after fix
- [x] All existing tests still pass
- [x] Edge cases covered: [list]
### Regression Prevention
Test added: `Tests/BugFixes/BugFix_DescriptionTests.swift`
This test will catch any future regression of this bug.
| Pitfall | Problem | Solution |
|---------|---------|----------|
| Test passes before fix | You didn't reproduce the bug | Make assertions more specific |
| Fix breaks other tests | Fix was too broad | Revert and use smaller, targeted change |
| Test is too specific | Brittle, breaks on unrelated changes | Test behavior, not implementation details |
| Skipping the red step | No proof the test catches the bug | Always verify test fails first |
testing/tdd-feature/ — for new features (not bug fixes)testing/characterization-test-generator/ — for capturing existing behavior firstgenerators/test-generator/ — for general test generationToolkit for interacting with and testing local web applications using Playwright. Supports verifying frontend functionality, debugging UI behavior, capturing browser screenshots, and viewing browser logs.
Use when implementation is complete, all tests pass, and you need to decide how to integrate the work - guides completion of development work by presenting structured options for merge, PR, or cleanup
Use when implementing any feature or bugfix, before writing implementation code
Use when encountering any bug, test failure, or unexpected behavior, before proposing fixes
Use when about to claim work is complete, fixed, or passing, before committing or creating PRs - requires running verification commands and confirming output before making any success claims; evidence before assertions always
Expert guidance for systematic backtesting of trading strategies. Use when developing, testing, stress-testing, or validating quantitative trading strategies. Covers "beating ideas to death" methodology, parameter robustness testing, slippage modeling, bias prevention, and interpreting backtest results. Applicable when user asks about backtesting, strategy validation, robustness testing, avoiding overfitting, or systematic trading development.
Cloud laboratory platform for automated protein testing and validation. Use when designing proteins and needing experimental validation including binding assays, expression testing, thermostability measurements, enzyme activity assays, or protein sequence optimization. Also use for submitting experiments via API, tracking experiment status, downloading results, optimizing protein sequences for better expression using computational tools (NetSolP, SoluProt, SolubleMPNN, ESM), or managing protein design workflows with wet-lab validation.
This skill should be used for time series machine learning tasks including classification, regression, clustering, forecasting, anomaly detection, segmentation, and similarity search. Use when working with temporal data, sequential patterns, or time-indexed observations requiring specialized algorithms beyond standard ML approaches. Particularly suited for univariate and multivariate time series analysis with scikit-learn compatible APIs.
Take rshankras/tdd-bug-fix from the repository into ~/.claude/skills for personal
use, or into .claude/skills inside a project.
The agent identifies a skill by the name field in its header. Two skills with the
same name cannot sit side by side — one of them will be ignored.