adaptable-debug

Summary

Diagnoses a Grid that is on screen and not doing what you expect
Reads the running Grid before it changes any source

The adaptable-debug AI Skill works out why a running Grid is not doing what you expect.

The AI Skill can help you with:

A feature (e.g. Layout, Format Column, Styled Column, Calculated Column, Alert etc.) that is not applied
Wrong columns or rows displayed
State that does not save, load or migrate
What the Grid is doing right now
A support case, or feedback on the Skills, when it cannot be fixed

Caution

Do not use this for compile or type errors, or to add a feature (use adaptable-dev)
Nor to add AdapTable for the first time (use adaptable-setup) or to upgrade (use adaptable-upgrade)

adaptable-debugAI Skill

The Trades layout is in the dropdown but not applied at start-up — why?

The Negative PnL Format Column is not showing in the browser — why?

The Grid is blank and there is nothing in the console — what is wrong?

Why are these rows missing from the Grid?

How it Works

The running Grid is the evidence the Skill requires.

The agent reads your Grid before it touches your source.

The workflow is as follows:

It confirms which app and page the Grid is on, and that the dev server is the one on screen
It reads the page, then checks what it collected against your columns
It compares the live State with the initialState in your source
It fixes the source, never the saved State, then reloads and reads the page again

Note

The bug it finds most often is saved State sitting on top of a source edit
A user, or an earlier session, saved a section, and every source edit since has merged underneath it
The fix is a Revision on that section of initialState, which replaces just that section on the next load
Clearing the store would discard the user's saved work

Deep Dive

What it reads from the page, and the files every Skill shares

The Skill reads the page through the DevTools In-page API (window.__ADAPTABLE_DEVTOOLS__).

It saves each result to a scratch file:

listInstances() — when a page has several Grids, it asks which one
getGridInfo(id), with the licence key stripped before the file is shown
getLogs(id, { level: ['error', 'warn'] })
getRecentActions(id)
getColumns(id), saved as columns.json
Only the State section in question, with getState(id, '<Section>')
getPersistentState(id) when saving or loading is the question

Without a browser tool it asks you to paste these three calls into the browser console and paste the results back:

__ADAPTABLE_DEVTOOLS__.getPersistentState();
__ADAPTABLE_DEVTOOLS__.getColumns();
__ADAPTABLE_DEVTOOLS__.getLogs(undefined, {level: ['error', 'warn']});

The _shared folder is the same in every Skill:

Shared reference	What it holds
`grounding.md`	Find what is installed first; the freshness check; hand-over to AG Grid's Skills
`docs-protocol.md`	The lookup order for the docs of the detected version
`validation-loop.md`	What gets checked, the three-round fix loop, where column lists come from
`conversation.md`	What tell and ask mean; files before the next phase; no State dumps in the chat
`guards.md`	Licence keys, saved State, planning phases that never edit
`capabilities.md`	Every CLI command and its MCP tool, generated from the CLI
`agents-snippet.md`	The AGENTS.md block


What the agent asks	It does not ask on every step It asks only when a choice is hard to undo, and then carries on Which Grid, when a page has several Before it restores State or discards saved State, and it says what that discards Before it includes any row values in a support case, and whether the row field names are sensitive
What it writes	Scratch files with what it read: the columns, the State and the logs `ADAPTABLE_SUPPORT_CASE.md` for a support ticket, scrubbed unless you say otherwise `ADAPTABLE_FEEDBACK.md` for feedback on the Skills and the CLI You review the file and send it. The Skill never sends anything
What it runs	You do not run these — the agent does: `detect`, `check state --kind persistent`, `check expression`, `check setup` and `anonymise` With the app running, it reads the page through the DevTools API If it cannot open the page, it asks you to paste `getPersistentState()`, `getColumns()` and `getLogs()` into the browser console and paste the results back
When it is finished	The cause is stated, with the evidence that proves it A fix in the source is applied or proposed It reloads and checks, or hands that check to you Or a support case or feedback file is ready for you to review and send

Deep Dive

Taking a look inside the Skill

After you install the Skill, adaptable-debug looks like this:

adaptable-debug/
├── SKILL.md                  # description + procedure
├── VERSION.md                # the version checked against /.well-known/skills/VERSION
└── references/
    ├── devtools-api.md       # the DevTools In-page API calls it may use
    ├── symptoms.md           # the triage table: symptom → where to look → causes → docs
    ├── ticket-template.md    # ADAPTABLE_SUPPORT_CASE.md
    ├── feedback-template.md  # ADAPTABLE_FEEDBACK.md
    └── _shared/              # the same in every Skill
        ├── grounding.md
        ├── docs-protocol.md
        ├── validation-loop.md
        ├── conversation.md
        ├── guards.md
        ├── capabilities.md
        └── agents-snippet.md

Examples

Fix a running Grid

Skill

A Layout that does not apply

1

You ask

adaptable-debugAI Skill

The Trades layout is in the dropdown but not applied at start-up — why?

2

The Skill does

Confirms which app and page the Grid is on, and that it is running
Reads the running Grid through the DevTools In-page API with its browser tool (or asks you to paste three lines into the browser console): errors and warnings, recent actions, the columns, and the Layout part of State
Checks the State it read against your columns
Compares it with the initialState in your source: a Layout saved in the browser from an earlier session is loading on top of your edit
Proposes the fix at the source — a Revision on the Layout section, so your change replaces the saved one on the next load — instead of clearing the browser storage, which would wipe users' saved work

3

You get back

The cause, the evidence that proves it (the saved Layout next to the one in your source), and a one-line change to the source.

After the change, the agent reloads the page and reads the Layout again: it matches the source and the logs are clean.

Skill

A Format Column that does not show

Skill

Layouts and filters lost on reload

Skill

What changed recently

Get help

Skill

An anonymised support case

1

You ask

adaptable-debugAI Skill

I cannot fix this — prepare an anonymised support case

2

The Skill does

Gathers the evidence from the running Grid: the symptom, what you expected and what happened, the relevant part of State, the columns, the Adaptable Options with the licence keys taken out, and the logs
Asks before including any row data. By default it scrubs everything with the CLI's anonymise: names, column ids and Expressions are kept; licence keys and user names are removed; row values become placeholders of the same shape
Tries to reproduce the problem in the public support template first
Writes ADAPTABLE_SUPPORT_CASE.md in your project and stops

3

You get back

A file you read, then send yourself through a support ticket. The agent never sends anything.

What leaves your machine is what you read. Grid Info keeps the versions and options, with the licence key removed. Row values, if you agreed to include them, become placeholders:

{
  "userName": "<redacted:userName>",
  "licenseKey": "<redacted:licenseKey>",
  "rows": [
    {
      "field1": 1000,
      "field2": "Xxxxxxx Xxxxx",
      "field3": 1000000,
      "field4": -1000.5
    }
  ]
}

This is the Stays on your machine promise in practice: the file is written locally, scrubbed by default, and only you send it.

adaptable-debug

Summary

Caution

How it Works

Note

Deep Dive

What it reads from the page, and the files every Skill shares

Deep Dive

Taking a look inside the Skill

Examples

Fix a running Grid

Skill

A Layout that does not apply

Skill

A Format Column that does not show

Skill

Layouts and filters lost on reload

Skill

What changed recently

Get help

Skill

An anonymised support case

Skill

Feedback on a Skill

AdapTable Resources