Crash Analysis

Parsing Crash Logs

Never read crash log files directly — they are huge and waste context. Use the parser script:

bash

# Extract crashed thread only (default)
.claude/skills/crash-analysis/parse-crash.sh <crash-file>

# Extract all threads (when you need more context)
.claude/skills/crash-analysis/parse-crash.sh <crash-file> --all-threads

Supports both .ips (JSON, modern macOS) and .crash (text, older) formats.

Finding Crash Logs

macOS crash logs are stored at:

code

~/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/MAGDA-*.ips

To find the most recent crash:

bash

ls -t ~/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/MAGDA-*.ips | head -1

Analysis Workflow

•Parse the crash log with the script
•Identify the crash type (SIGSEGV, SIGABRT, EXC_BAD_ACCESS, etc.)
•Look at the top frames for MAGDA code (source file + line number are included)
•If the crash is in a third-party plugin (e.g. "Kick 3", "Serum"), note it — host can't fix plugin bugs
•If the crash is in JUCE internals, check what MAGDA code triggered it (look further down the stack)
•Search the codebase for the relevant source file and line to understand the bug

Common Crash Patterns

Signal	Meaning	Typical Cause
SIGSEGV (EXC_BAD_ACCESS)	Null/dangling pointer	Use-after-free, null deref
SIGABRT	Assertion/abort	JUCE assertion, malloc corruption, std::abort
EXC_BAD_INSTRUCTION	Illegal instruction	Undefined behavior, bad vtable
EXC_BREAKPOINT	Debugger trap	__builtin_trap, Swift precondition

Plugin crashes during shutdown

If the crash is in a plugin dylib during exit() / __cxa_finalize_ranges, it's a buggy plugin static destructor. The _exit(0) workaround in magda_daw_main.cpp should prevent these.

Timer callback crashes

Crashes in juce::Timer::TimerThread::callTimers() often mean a component was deleted while its timer was still running. Check that stopTimer() is called in destructors.

Audio thread crashes

Crashes in threads named "JUCE Audio" or "Tracktion" are audio-thread issues. Common causes: allocating memory, locking mutexes, or accessing deleted objects from the audio callback.