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 .maestro/cache/ - •Check if expected files were created:
ls -la .maestro/cache/learnings/ - •Check logs for errors:
tail .maestro/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:
.maestro/and~/.maestro/)
Source Sessions
- •a541f08a: Token limit error was invisible until manual run revealed it
- •6a9f2d7a: Looked in wrong cache path (
~/.maestro/vs.maestro/), assumed hook failure - •a8bd5cea: Confirmed hook worked by finding output files in project cache
- •1c21e6c8: Verified Artifact Index indexing by checking DB file exists