singularity-forge/docs/troubleshooting.md

Troubleshooting

/gsd doctor

The built-in diagnostic tool validates .gsd/ integrity:

/gsd doctor

It checks:

• File structure and naming conventions
• Roadmap ↔ slice ↔ task referential integrity
• Completion state consistency
• Git worktree health (worktree and branch modes only — skipped in none mode)
• Stale lock files and orphaned runtime records

Common Issues

Auto mode loops on the same unit

Symptoms: The same unit (e.g., research-slice or plan-slice) dispatches repeatedly until hitting the dispatch limit.

Causes:

• Stale cache after a crash — the in-memory file listing doesn't reflect new artifacts
• The LLM didn't produce the expected artifact file

Fix: Run /gsd doctor to repair state, then resume with /gsd auto. If the issue persists, check that the expected artifact file exists on disk.

Auto mode stops with "Loop detected"

Cause: A unit failed to produce its expected artifact twice in a row.

Fix: Check the task plan for clarity. If the plan is ambiguous, refine it manually, then /gsd auto to resume.

Wrong files in worktree

Symptoms: Planning artifacts or code appear in the wrong directory.

Cause: The LLM wrote to the main repo instead of the worktree.

Fix: This was fixed in v2.14+. If you're on an older version, update. The dispatch prompt now includes explicit working directory instructions.

npm install -g gsd-pi fails

Common causes:

• Missing workspace packages — fixed in v2.10.4+
• postinstall hangs on Linux (Playwright --with-deps triggering sudo) — fixed in v2.3.6+
• Node.js version too old — requires ≥ 20.6.0

Provider errors during auto mode

Symptoms: Auto mode pauses with a provider error (rate limit, auth failure, etc.).

Fix: GSD automatically resumes after rate limit cooldowns with exponential backoff (up to 5 minutes). For auth failures, GSD tries fallback models if configured:

models:
  execution:
    model: claude-sonnet-4-6
    fallbacks:
      - openrouter/minimax/minimax-m2.5

Budget ceiling reached

Symptoms: Auto mode pauses with "Budget ceiling reached."

Fix: Increase budget_ceiling in preferences, or switch to budget token profile to reduce per-unit cost, then resume with /gsd auto.

Stale lock file

Symptoms: Auto mode won't start, says another session is running.

Fix: If no other session is actually running, delete .gsd/auto.lock manually. GSD includes stale lock detection (checks if the PID is still alive), but edge cases exist.

Git merge conflicts

Symptoms: Worktree merge fails on .gsd/ files.

Fix: GSD auto-resolves conflicts on .gsd/ runtime files. For content conflicts in code files, the LLM is given an opportunity to resolve them via a fix-merge session. If that fails, manual resolution is needed.

Recovery Procedures

Reset auto mode state

rm .gsd/auto.lock
rm .gsd/completed-units.json

Then /gsd auto to restart from current disk state.

Reset routing history

If adaptive model routing is producing bad results, clear the routing history:

rm .gsd/routing-history.json

Full state rebuild

/gsd doctor

Doctor rebuilds STATE.md from plan and roadmap files on disk and fixes detected inconsistencies.

Getting Help

• GitHub Issues: github.com/gsd-build/GSD-2/issues
• Dashboard: Ctrl+Alt+G or /gsd status for real-time diagnostics
• Forensics: /gsd forensics for structured post-mortem analysis of auto-mode failures
• Session logs: .gsd/activity/ contains JSONL session dumps for crash forensics