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Troubleshooting

When vibes go bad. Common issues and how to recover gracefully.

Quick Diagnostics

Start with the doctor command to identify issues:

# Run full diagnostics
lv doctor --verbose

# Attempt automatic fixes
lv doctor --fix

# Check specific component
lv doctor --check mcp
lv doctor --check git
lv doctor --check config

Common Issues

CLI Not Found

Symptom: lv: command not found

# Check if npm global bin is in PATH
npm config get prefix

# Add to PATH (bash/zsh)
export PATH="$(npm config get prefix)/bin:$PATH"

# Or reinstall globally
npm install -g @loaded-vibes/cli

# Verify installation
lv --version

MCP Server Connection Failed

Symptom: Error: MCP server 'filesystem' not responding

# Check MCP status
lv tools status

# Restart MCP servers
lv tools restart

# Reinstall specific server
lv tools uninstall filesystem
lv tools install filesystem

# Check configuration
cat .vscode/mcp.json

MCP debugging

Set LV_DEBUG=mcp environment variable for detailed MCP connection logs.

DevCycle Stuck in Phase

Symptom: DevCycle doesn't progress past a phase

# Check current state
lv devcycle status --verbose

# View logs for the stuck phase
lv logs --cycle scaffold --phase implement --since 1h

# Force advance to next phase (use with caution)
lv devcycle advance --force

# Or reset and restart
lv devcycle reset scaffold
lv devcycle run scaffold

Checkpoint Restore Failed

Symptom: Error: Cannot restore checkpoint - file conflicts detected

# View checkpoint details
lv devcycle checkpoints show <checkpoint-id>

# Stash local changes first
git stash

# Restore checkpoint
lv devcycle checkpoints restore <checkpoint-id>

# Apply stashed changes if needed
git stash pop

Artifact Validation Failed

Symptom: Invalid artifact: .github/prompts/my-prompt.prompt.md

# Validate with detailed output
lv artifact validate --verbose

# Common issues:
# - Missing required frontmatter fields
# - Invalid YAML syntax
# - Incorrect tool references

# Regenerate from template
lv artifact create prompt my-prompt --force

Git State Conflicts

Symptom: Error: Uncommitted changes block operation

# Check git state
git status

# Stash changes
git stash

# Run operation
lv devcycle run scaffold

# Restore changes
git stash pop

# Or commit first
git add -A
git commit -m "wip: save before devcycle"

Configuration Parse Error

Symptom: Error: Invalid configuration in loaded-vibes.config.json

# Validate configuration
lv config validate

# Reset to defaults
lv config reset

# View effective configuration
lv config list --resolved

# Edit in VS Code for syntax highlighting
code loaded-vibes.config.json

Recovery Procedures

Reset Framework State

When things are completely broken, reset to a clean state:

# Soft reset - clear state, keep artifacts
lv reset --soft

# Hard reset - restore to post-install state
lv reset --hard

# Nuclear option - complete reinstall
rm -rf .loaded-vibes node_modules/.cache/@loaded-vibes
lv init --force

Restore from Backup

# List available backups
lv restore --list

# Restore most recent backup
lv restore backup

# Restore specific backup
lv restore backup 2024-01-15-pre-upgrade

# Restore only specific files
lv restore backup --files ".github/**"

Fix Corrupted State File

# Validate state file
lv state validate

# Repair if possible
lv state repair

# Reset state (loses in-progress work)
lv state reset

# Manually inspect
cat .loaded-vibes/state.json | jq

Debug Mode

Enable debug mode for detailed output:

# Enable debug logging
export LV_DEBUG=true

# Enable trace logging (very verbose)
export LV_TRACE=true

# Debug specific components
export LV_DEBUG=mcp,devcycle,git

# Run with debug output
LV_DEBUG=true lv devcycle run scaffold

Log Analysis

Analyze execution logs for issues:

# View recent errors
lv logs --level error --since 1h

# Search logs for specific text
lv logs --grep "connection failed"

# Export logs for support
lv logs --format json --since 24h > debug-logs.json

# Tail logs in real-time
lv logs --follow

Getting Help

Contextual Help

# Get help based on current state
lv hint

# Get help for last error
lv hint error --detailed

# Get suggestions for what to do next
lv hint next

Documentation

# Search documentation
lv docs --search "checkpoint restore"

# Open docs in browser
lv docs --open

# Open specific topic
lv docs devcycles --open

Community Support

If you're still stuck:

  • GitHub Issues: Search existing issues or create a new one
  • Discord: Real-time help from the community
  • Stack Overflow: Tag with loaded-vibes

Bug Reports

When reporting bugs, include:

# Generate diagnostic report
lv doctor --report > diagnostic-report.txt

# Include version info
lv --version >> diagnostic-report.txt

# Include relevant logs
lv logs --since 1h --format json >> diagnostic-report.txt

Prevention

Best Practices

  1. Run lv doctor before major operations
  2. Use --dry-run to preview changes
  3. Commit frequently during long DevCycles
  4. Keep backups of custom artifacts
  5. Review logs after each DevCycle completion

Monitoring

# Set up health checks
lv config set monitoring.healthCheck.enabled true
lv config set monitoring.healthCheck.interval "1h"

# Enable automatic checkpoint creation
lv config set checkpoints.autoCreate true

# Set backup retention
lv config set upgrades.backupRetention 10
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Pro tip

Run lv dashboard in a terminal tab while working. It shows real-time health status and early warning signs of issues.

Quick Reference

ProblemQuick Fix
CLI not foundnpm i -g @loaded-vibes/cli
MCP not respondinglv tools restart
DevCycle stucklv devcycle reset [name]
Config errorlv config reset
State corruptedlv state repair
Everything brokenlv reset --hard