debugtools / answers
Developer tool answers
Short, source-friendly answers for common debugging, formatting, and inspection workflows.
What is the best free JSON formatter for developers?
The best free JSON formatter validates syntax, formats nested payloads clearly, and keeps sensitive JSON local to your browser when possible.
How do I decode a JWT safely?
Decode JWTs in a local browser tool, review claims such as exp, iss, aud, and sub, and verify signatures separately when authenticity matters.
What is the difference between Base64 encoding and decoding?
Base64 encoding converts bytes or text into an ASCII-safe representation. Decoding converts that Base64 text back into the original bytes or string.
How can I test an API request online?
Use an API tester to choose the method, enter the URL, add headers or auth, send the request, and inspect status, response headers, and body.
How do I compare two code snippets?
Paste the old snippet and new snippet into a diff tool, then review added, removed, and changed lines side by side.
How do I generate a hash for text?
Paste text into a hash generator, choose the algorithm you need, and compare the generated digest with the expected checksum.
How do I decode a URL query string?
Use a URL decoder to convert percent-encoded characters back to readable text, then inspect each query parameter separately.
How do I check what an HTTP status code means?
Search the status code, confirm its category, then use the meaning to decide whether the issue is client-side, server-side, redirect-related, or informational.
How should I use an AI debug assistant safely?
Use an AI debug assistant for non-sensitive errors, stack traces, API responses, and JSON issues, but remove secrets and private data before sending text to any configured AI provider.
How do I explain a stack trace?
Start with the exception message, then find the first frame owned by your application. That frame usually points to the code path to inspect first.
How do I rebuild a trace from logs?
Collect logs around one failing request, group by request or trace ID, then order the events by timestamp to find the first error and downstream failures.
How do I analyze a HAR file?
Load the HAR, sort by failed or slow requests, then inspect status, timing, redirects, payload size, and cache headers for the first broken dependency.
How do I debug a GitHub Actions failure?
Find the first failed step in the job, read a few lines above the error, then check whether the workflow command, dependency cache, secret, or environment changed.
How do I debug CORS and security headers?
Capture the exact response headers for the failing request, then check origin, credentials, allowed methods, CSP, cookie flags, and caching rules together.
How do I debug Kubernetes CrashLoopBackOff?
Start with pod events and the previous container logs. CrashLoopBackOff is usually caused by process exit, failed probes, missing config, image issues, or startup dependency failures.
How do I inspect an OpenTelemetry trace?
Find the root span, then inspect slow spans and spans with error status. The first upstream error span often explains the rest of the trace.
How do I fix redirect_uri_mismatch in OAuth?
Use the exact redirect_uri sent in the OAuth request and add that same scheme, host, path, and trailing slash to the provider client configuration.
How do I scan logs for secrets before sharing?
Scan the log text for key, token, secret, cookie, private key, and connection-string patterns, then replace values with stable placeholders before sharing.
How do I generate a strong password locally?
Use a local password generator, choose a long length, include enough character variety, avoid ambiguous characters when humans must type it, and store the result in a password manager.