Diagnose Why Work Stopped

Q: What is a Claude Code skill and how does the Diagnose Why Work Stopped skill fit in?

A Claude Code skill is a SKILL.md file that lives under ~/.claude/skills/<name>/ and tells the Claude Code CLI agent how to perform a specific task (instructions, prompts, allowed tools). Skills are auto-discovered at session start. Diagnose Why Work Stopped is one of 67,000+ skills indexed in the open ClaudSkills catalog, classified under the General category. Learn more at https://claudskills.com/learn/what-is-skill-md/.

Category: General · Sub-category: general-misc · Last updated: 2026-05-21

type:debug

How to handle "why did this work stop / why is this looping?" assignments. Forensics first on the named tree, surface the exact stop-point, frame the fix as a general product rule that respects three invariants (productive work continues, only real blockers stop work, no infinite loops), and deliver a plan — no code changes — gated by board/CTO approval before child issues are created. Use whenever the issue title or body asks for forensics on a stalled, looping, or "went too deep" tree.

From the source SKILL.md

A repeatable procedure for the recurring class of issues where the user (or a manager) points at a stalled / looping / over-recovered issue tree and asks "why did this stop / why is this looping / how do we make sure this doesn't happen again?"

What this skill does

Diagnose Why Work Stopped is a community-contributed Claude Code skill in the general-misc sub-category. It ships as a SKILL.md file that Claude Code auto-discovers under ~/.claude/skills/diagnose-why-work-stopped/ and loads when your prompt matches the skill's trigger.

When to invoke it: Use whenever the issue title or body asks for forensics on a stalled, looping, or "went too deep" tree.

Who uses this skill

The Diagnose Why Work Stopped Claude Code skill is built for Claude Code users and developers across all disciplines looking for general-purpose AI assistance. It's part of ClaudSkills (also referred to as Claude Skills or Claude Code Skills) — the open community-curated registry of 116,000+ SKILL.md files for Anthropic's Claude Code agent and the wider Claude ecosystem (Claude API, Claude Agent SDK).

How to install

Free

Manual install (2 steps)

mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills/diagnose-why-work-stopped
curl -L https://claudskills.com/skills/diagnose-why-work-stopped/SKILL.md \
  -o ~/.claude/skills/diagnose-why-work-stopped/SKILL.md

Or just download SKILL.md directly and drop it into ~/.claude/skills/diagnose-why-work-stopped/. Claude Code auto-discovers it on next session.

Skills live at ~/.claude/skills/diagnose-why-work-stopped/SKILL.md on macOS/Linux, or %USERPROFILE%\.claude\skills\diagnose-why-work-stopped\SKILL.md on Windows. See the full install guide for step-by-step instructions.

📱 Install from your phone or desktop Telegram

Open @claudskills_bot on Telegram, tap Open Desktop App, and the desktop app installs this skill for you. Or share the bot link with a colleague — they get the same one-tap install. Learn more →

Pro

One-click install via the desktop app

The ClaudSkills desktop app installs any skill directly into ~/.claude/skills/ with one click — no terminal required. Pro starts at $9/mo or $149 lifetime.

Pro

For the full experience including quality scoring and one-click install features for each skill — upgrade to Pro.

See pricing → Download desktop app

Frequently asked questions

How do I install the Diagnose Why Work Stopped Claude Code skill?

Install via the ClaudSkills desktop app (one click) or copy SKILL.md from the source repository to ~/.claude/skills/diagnose-why-work-stopped/SKILL.md and restart Claude Code. Both flows are detailed at claudskills.com/install/.

What does the Diagnose Why Work Stopped skill do?

Is this skill free to install?

Yes. ClaudSkills is an open registry — every skill keeps its source repository's license, and manual install via copy is free. ClaudSkills Pro ($9/mo, $79/yr, or $149 one-time) adds one-click install via the desktop app and a multi-signal Quality Score.

When should I use the Diagnose Why Work Stopped skill?

Use Diagnose Why Work Stopped when your Claude Code task falls under the General category — specifically in the general misc area. Claude Code auto-discovers installed skills and invokes the right one based on the task description, so you can also ask Claude directly (e.g. "use Diagnose Why Work Stopped" or describe the task and let Claude pick). Browse related skills at /category/general/.

What is a Claude Code skill and how does the Diagnose Why Work Stopped skill fit in?

A Claude Code skill is a SKILL.md file that lives under ~/.claude/skills/<name>/ and tells the Claude Code CLI agent how to perform a specific task (instructions, prompts, allowed tools). Skills are auto-discovered at session start. Diagnose Why Work Stopped is one of 67,000+ skills indexed in the open ClaudSkills catalog, classified under the General category. Learn more at /learn/what-is-a-claude-skill/.

Attribution & license

Source: https://github.com/paperclipai/paperclip/blob/HEAD/skills/diagnose-why-work-stopped/SKILL.md
Author: paperclipai

Cite this skill

If you reference this skill in a blog post, paper, or documentation, you can cite it as:

APA

paperclipai. (2026). Diagnose Why Work Stopped [Claude Code skill]. ClaudSkills. https://claudskills.com/skills/diagnose-why-work-stopped/

BibTeX

@misc{diagnose-why-work-stopped-2026,
  author    = {paperclipai},
  title     = {Diagnose Why Work Stopped [Claude Code skill]},
  year      = {2026},
  publisher = {ClaudSkills},
  url       = {https://claudskills.com/skills/diagnose-why-work-stopped/}
}

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