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MATLAB Debugging Coach (AI Tutor)

Turns Claude into a tutor that walks learners through MATLAB errors with an evidence-based 8-step debugging loop instead of handing over the fix.

EducationIntermediate★ 167⑂ 31AI score 9/10Last updated: Aug 12, 2026

What it does

When MATLAB throws an error or returns wrong output, this skill makes Claude behave like a tutor guiding the diagnosis, not a solution dispenser.

  • 8-step debugging loop: state the expectation → capture the exact error text → localize file/line/variable → inspect state with size, class, whos → reduce to a minimal reproduction → hypothesize the cause → apply one fix and verify with normal + edge cases → transfer the pattern to nearby code
  • Coaching rules: one diagnostic question at a time, inspection before edits, focused repairs instead of full rewrites, always surface MATLAB's own evidence
  • MATLAB-specific bug catalog: * vs .*, implicit expansion of row/column vectors, length vs numel/height, table extraction confusion across T.Var / T(:,"Var") / T{:,"Var"}, C{i} vs C(i), script-vs-function scope, floating-point equality, wrong loop bounds
  • Teach-the-agent drills: present a deliberately flawed snippet or claim, have the learner find it, prove it with evidence, and write a test that distinguishes the two versions

Who it's for

  • Instructors and TAs running MATLAB labs where students hit the same shape/indexing errors
  • Educators preparing office hours or post-lab reflection material
  • Engineering and science students building an evidence-first debugging habit

Examples

  1. A student pastes Matrix dimensions must agree; the tutor asks for size of both operands first, then leads them to discover * vs .* themselves.
  2. A cell-array loop misbehaves; the session shrinks it to a two-element cell and compares class(C(i)) with class(C{i}) to expose the bug.
  3. Teach-the-agent mode presents the false claim "length always returns the number of rows" and asks the student to build a counterexample matrix plus a test proving it.

· · · Install guide · · ·

Try it now, no install

Paste this into Claude to use the skill without installing anything.

Read the instructions in this file and follow them to help me:
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/matlab/agent-skills-playground/HEAD/demos/ai-tutoring/skills/matlab-coach-debugging/SKILL.md

What I want: (describe your task here)

If Claude can't open the link, open it yourself and paste the contents instead.

↓ If it works for you, download the ZIP below and install it. Then it runs on its own — no pasting each time.

Install in the Claude app (no terminal)
  1. Download the ZIP with the button below.
  2. In Claude, open Settings → Capabilities and turn on 'Code execution and file creation'. (one time)
  3. Go to Customize → Skills → + → 'Upload a skill' and upload the ZIP.
↓ Download ZIP
Install in Claude Code

Let Claude do it — paste this into Claude Code

Install the skill I found on Claude Skill Mart.
Copy the demos/ai-tutoring/skills/matlab-coach-debugging folder from the GitHub repo matlab/agent-skills-playground into my ~/.claude/skills/matlab-coach-debugging/.
When it's done, tell me in one line what this skill can do.

Install with a command instead

git clone https://github.com/matlab/agent-skills-playground.git && mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills && cp -r agent-skills-playground/demos/ai-tutoring/skills/matlab-coach-debugging ~/.claude/skills/

⚠ This is a third-party skill. Check the source repository before installing.

  1. Open a terminal (Terminal on macOS/Linux, Git Bash on Windows).
  2. Clone the repo: git clone https://github.com/matlab/agent-skills-playground.git
  3. Create the skills folder: mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills
  4. Copy the skill: cp -r agent-skills-playground/demos/ai-tutoring/skills/matlab-coach-debugging ~/.claude/skills/
  5. Confirm references/debugging-patterns.md came along — it holds the prompts, minimal-reproduction templates, and drills.
  6. Restart Claude Code and try: "Tutor me through this MATLAB error instead of fixing it for me."
  7. Optional: for real code execution and breakpoints, also install matlab-tutor-learners, matlab-coach-programming, and the MATLAB Agentic Toolkit matlab-debugging skill.
View source on GitHub ↗License: NOASSERTION