DollhouseMCP

# SOLUTION: The REAL Skill Activation Bug - Not Markdown! **Date**: 2025-09-11 23:40:00 **Status**: 🔍 MYSTERY PARTIALLY SOLVED **Checklist**: Investigation complete, root cause unknown **Problem Category**: DollhouseMCP/Skills System **Time Saved**: Prevents chasing wrong bug ## Problem Statement ### Original Assumption Skills won't activate due to markdown corruption (headers merged with content) ### ACTUAL Discovery **Markdown corruption is NOT the cause!** Old skills with identical corruption work fine. ## Critical Evidence ### Experiment Performed 1. Created new skill "verified-solutions-documenter" 2. Found markdown corruption: `# HeaderContent` (no newline) 3. Manually fixed the markdown with proper newlines 4. **STILL FAILED TO ACTIVATE** 5. Tested "conversation-audio-summarizer" (created Sept 3) 6. **IT ACTIVATED DESPITE HAVING SAME CORRUPTION** ### Proof ```bash # Both files have identical corruption pattern: Line 26: # Verified Solutions DocumenterA comprehensive... # NEW - Won't activate Line 31: # Conversation Audio SummarizerA specialized... # OLD - Activates fine ``` ## Environment Context ### Test Conditions - Killed all 94 zombie MCP processes first - Fresh MCP server instance - Claude Code active session - Manual file editing via Claude Code ## Investigation Results ### What We Know For Certain 1. **Markdown corruption exists** in both old and new skills 2. **Old skills activate** despite corruption 3. **New skills fail** even when markdown is fixed 4. **Error message** is generic: "An unexpected error occurred" 5. **Different code path** must exist for new vs old skills ### What This Means - Issue #935 is partially wrong - markdown isn't the root cause - There's a DIFFERENT bug affecting new skills - The markdown corruption is a red herring - Something changed between Sept 3 and Sept 11 ## Hypothesis: Real Causes ### Possibility 1: Metadata Differences ```yaml # Old skill (works) created: '2025-09-03T21:53:20.597Z' modified: '2025-09-05T21:00:00.000Z' author: anon-cool-hawk-k730 # New skill (fails) created: '2025-09-11T22:53:46.766Z' modified: '2025-09-11T22:53:46.766Z' author: mickdarling ``` ### Possibility 2: Index/Cache Issue - Old skills might be in some index/cache - New skills not being added to index - Activation checks index first ### Possibility 3: Version Format - Old skills have different version format - Parser expects specific format ### Possibility 4: File Permissions - Different ownership/permissions - Created by different process ### Possibility 5: Breaking Change - Code change between Sept 3-11 - New validation added that fails ## Verification Steps ```bash # Compare metadata diff <(head -30 conversation-audio-summarizer.md) <(head -30 verified-solutions-documenter.md) # Check file permissions ls -la *.md | grep -E "conversation-audio|verified-solutions" # Test with old skill's exact metadata # Copy working skill, change only content ``` ## What DOESN'T Work - ❌ Fixing markdown manually - Still fails - ❌ Recreating skill - Same failure - ❌ Different skill names - All new skills fail ## What DOES Work - ✅ Old skills created before Sept 11 - ✅ Even with corrupted markdown - ✅ After process cleanup ## Debug Notes ### Initial Hypothesis "Markdown corruption prevents parsing" ### Investigation Path 1. Found corruption in saved files 2. Assumed this was the cause 3. Created issue #935 about markdown 4. Manually fixed markdown 5. STILL FAILED 6. Tested old skill with same corruption 7. OLD SKILL WORKED ### Root Cause **UNKNOWN** - But definitely NOT markdown corruption ## Key Insight We spent hours on the wrong bug. The markdown corruption is real but not the cause of activation failure. There's a different bug that only affects newly created skills. ## Next Investigation Steps 1. Compare ALL metadata fields between working and failing skills 2. Check for hidden indexes or caches 3. Look for date-based validation 4. Test creating skill with old date 5. Check for author validation issues ## GitHub Issue Update Needed Issue #935 needs correction: - Markdown corruption exists but isn't the activation blocker - Old skills work despite corruption - New skills fail even when fixed - Real bug is elsewhere ## Related Information - Session Notes: `SESSION_NOTES_2025_09_11_DOCUMENTATION_SYSTEM.md` - Original Issue: #935 (needs update) - Process Leak Issue: #936 --- **Reproducibility Score**: 10/10 ✓ **Mystery Level**: HIGH **Estimated Time Wasted on Wrong Bug**: 2+ hours **Status**: Real bug still unknown