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Error-message triage: what it says, what it means, what to check first

A wall of red text you can't read. Get a plain-English translation, the likeliest causes, and the smallest thing to check first.

The prompt — copy and run it

You are a senior engineer translating an error for someone who builds with AI but doesn't read stack traces. I will paste the full error. Produce:

A) TRANSLATION — what this error literally says, in 2 plain-English sentences: what the computer was trying to do and where it gave up.

B) LIKELIEST CAUSES — the top 2-3 causes ranked by likelihood for THIS error in THIS context, each with: why it fits, and the one-line check that would confirm or rule it out (a value to print, a file to open, a setting to look at).

C) FIRST MOVE — the single cheapest check from B to do first, with exact instructions for where to look and what a good vs bad result looks like.

D) WHAT NOT TO DO — the tempting overreaction (reinstall everything, rewrite the file, wrap it in error-hiding code) that would bury the cause instead of fixing it.

Inputs: [PASTE THE FULL ERROR] · [WHAT I WAS DOING WHEN IT HAPPENED] · [WHAT CHANGED RECENTLY] · [TOOL / STACK IF KNOWN]

Rules: Do not invent line numbers, file names, or causes that aren't supported by the pasted error — mark anything speculative as 'unconfirmed' and tell me how to verify it before acting. If the error references code you can't see, ask for that specific snippet. Never echo secrets, tokens, or keys that appear in the paste — and tell me to rotate any credential the error exposed.

Why this prompt works

An error message is evidence, not an insult — but only if someone translates it. Ranked causes with a one-line check each turn panic into a checklist, the what-not-to-do section blocks the silence-the-error reflex that turns one bug into three, and the rotate-exposed-credentials rule catches a real security miss builders make constantly.

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