pdf-debug-unbuffered

pdf-debug-unbuffered is a skill for Claude Code, Codex from HKUDS/OpenSpace. It costs 25 tokens per session (725 once invoked), scanned A, original, MIT.

A debugging technique for finding hidden errors in Python scripts that generate PDF files.

In plain words
What is it for?
Use it to run PDF-generation scripts with unbuffered output and inspect their Python tracebacks.
Why use it?
It exposes the actual error details when a PDF tool reports only a vague failure message.

Skill for Claude CodeCodex

Written for no agent in particular: nothing here depends on one.

Good fit Use it to run PDF-generation scripts with unbuffered output and inspect their Python tracebacks.

Compare 6 skills from other repositories ↓
Install with agentmods
npx agentmods add skills/hkuds/openspace/pdf-debug-unbuffered
About the project

OpenSpace is a skill-management layer for AI agents that stores, retrieves, evaluates, shares, and improves reusable workflows. It is intended for people using multiple coding agents who want skills to be reused and refined based on task outcomes. The catalogue provides 200 skills for use with OpenSpace and the agents it supports.

HKUDS/OpenSpace · 7,534 stars · on GitHub

Install

Getting it into your agent

One page per mod, every tool's command on it. A separate URL per tool would split the same page into five that compete with each other.

Any agent
npx skills add HKUDS/OpenSpace --skill pdf-debug-unbuffered
Clone the repo
git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/HKUDS/OpenSpace

Made for: Claude Code, Codex.

Wrote this? Show the measurements

A badge with what this costs and how it scanned, read live from this page, so it follows the numbers instead of freezing them. Markdown for a README, HTML for a documentation site or a project page.

agentmods badge for pdf-debug-unbuffered

README.md
[![agentmods](https://agentmods.dev/badge/skills/hkuds/openspace/pdf-debug-unbuffered.svg)](https://agentmods.dev/skills/hkuds/openspace/pdf-debug-unbuffered)
Your own site
<a href="https://agentmods.dev/skills/hkuds/openspace/pdf-debug-unbuffered"><img src="https://agentmods.dev/badge/skills/hkuds/openspace/pdf-debug-unbuffered.svg" alt="Measured on agentmods" height="20"></a>
Per session 25 Skills are progressive disclosure: only the name and description are preloaded; the body loads when the skill is used.
When invoked 725 The whole file, excluding the scripts and references it only reads on demand.
Security scan A 0 findings. A grade says what 26 rules found in the file — not that it is safe.
Origin original No closer match found in the catalogue.
Token cost

What it costs to keep this loaded

Counted locally with the o200k_base tokenizer, which is exact for GPT models; Claude uses its own tokenizer and its counts differ. Treat this as one consistent yardstick across the catalogue rather than a bill. Prices are per million input tokens.

ModelPer sessionOnce invoked
Fable 5.1 $0.00025 $0.00725
Opus 5 $0.00013 $0.00362
Sonnet 5 $0.00005 $0.00145
Haiku 4.5 $0.00003 $0.00072

Measured 3d ago against content hash fe0b76463482, method: parsed. Prices are Anthropic first-party input rates as of 2026-09-07, from the pricing page.

Security

Grade A, and why

pdf-debug-unbuffered scanned grade A with 0 findings against 26 rules in 11 categories — prompt injection, anti-refusal, data exfiltration, privilege escalation, supply chain, agent snooping, system-prompt leakage, SSRF and excessive agency — measured 3d ago.

A static scan of the body, not an audit. Every finding is printed with the line that produced it so you can judge whether it matters here. A mod is markdown that instructs an agent; that is exactly why what it instructs is worth reading.

Nothing flagged

None of the 26 patterns this scan looks for appear in this file: no shell pipes, no recursive deletes, no credential paths, no hidden text, no instruction-override or anti-refusal phrasing, no agent-config snooping. That is not a guarantee, it is the absence of the things that are checkable.

benchmarks/gdpval/skills/pdf-debug-unbuffered/SKILL.md · 96 lines

How it starts

The opening of the file, as written. The whole thing — 96 lines — stays where its author put it; the contents beside it link to each section on GitHub.

PDF Generation Debug Technique

When Python PDF libraries (reportlab, fpdf, etc.) fail with generic "unknown error" messages, the actual cause is often hidden due to output buffering or error swallowing. This skill provides a technique to expose the real traceback.

Core Technique

Run the Python script with the -u flag (unbuffered output) and pipe stderr through head to capture the actual error:

python -u your_script.py 2>&1 | head -100

Or more specifically, to focus on stderr:

python -u your_script.py 2>&1 | head -50

Why This Works

  1. -u flag: Forces Python to run in unbuffered mode, ensuring output (including errors) is flushed immediately rather than held in buffers that may be lost on crash
  2. 2>&1: Redirects stderr to stdout so both streams are captured together
  3. head: Limits output to show the most relevant error messages at the top

Step-by-Step Debugging

Step 1: Identify the failing script

Locate the Python script that generates the PDF and is producing generic errors.

Step 2: Run with unbuffered output

python -u generate_pdf.py 2>&1 | head -100

Step 3: Analyze the traceback

Look for:

  • Import errors (missing dependencies)
  • File path issues (invalid paths, permission errors)
  • Font registration problems (common with reportlab)
  • Memory or resource constraints

Step 4: Fix the underlying issue

Address the specific error revealed in the traceback.

Step 5: Re-run normally

Once fixed, run the script without the debug flags to confirm it works:

python generate_pdf.py

Common Issues Revealed

Symptom Likely Cause
"unknown error" on PDF save File path doesn't exist or no write permissions
Generic failure during build Missing font files or font registration issues
Silent crash ImportError for missing dependencies
Incomplete PDF Script terminated early due to unhandled exception

Alternative Approaches

Read the full file on GitHub · 96 lines

Files

What ships with it

1 file beside SKILL.md in the same directory: the scripts, references and assets a skill reads on demand. Not counted in the per-session cost; read them before you install if any of them is executable.

Changes

What this file has done since we first saw it

Hashed on every crawl. A supply-chain change to an agent config is a question of when, not whether, so the history is kept rather than the latest state alone.

  1. 3d ago First seen · 96 lines · 25 tokens per session scan A fe0b76463482

Subscribe to this mod's changes

pdf-debug-unbuffered is a skill published in the GitHub repository HKUDS/OpenSpace (7,534 stars, last pushed 25d ago), licensed MIT. It adds 25 tokens to every session and 725 once invoked, about $0.0001 per session on Opus 5. A static security scan graded it A with 0 findings. No closer match exists in the catalogue, so it is treated as the original; first seen 2026-09-03.

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