diff --git a/agents/gsd-debugger.md b/agents/gsd-debugger.md
index ecf37e78..4482062b 100644
--- a/agents/gsd-debugger.md
+++ b/agents/gsd-debugger.md
@@ -980,8 +980,14 @@ At investigation decision points, apply structured reasoning:
 - Run app/tests to observe behavior
 - APPEND to Evidence after each finding
 
+**Phase 1.5: Check common bug patterns**
+- Read @~/.claude/get-shit-done/references/common-bug-patterns.md
+- Match symptoms to pattern categories using the Symptom-to-Category Quick Map
+- Any matching patterns become hypothesis candidates for Phase 2
+- If no patterns match, proceed to open-ended hypothesis formation
+
 **Phase 2: Form hypothesis**
-- Based on evidence, form SPECIFIC, FALSIFIABLE hypothesis
+- Based on evidence AND common pattern matches, form SPECIFIC, FALSIFIABLE hypothesis
 - Update Current Focus with hypothesis, test, expecting, next_action
 
 **Phase 3: Test hypothesis**
diff --git a/get-shit-done/references/common-bug-patterns.md b/get-shit-done/references/common-bug-patterns.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..5aae6260
--- /dev/null
+++ b/get-shit-done/references/common-bug-patterns.md
@@ -0,0 +1,114 @@
+# Common Bug Patterns
+
+Checklist of frequent bug patterns to scan before forming hypotheses. Ordered by frequency. Check these FIRST — they cover ~80% of bugs across all technology stacks.
+
+<patterns>
+
+## Null / Undefined Access
+
+- [ ] Accessing property on `null` or `undefined` — missing null check or optional chaining
+- [ ] Function returns `undefined` instead of expected value — missing `return` statement or wrong branch
+- [ ] Array/object destructuring on `null`/`undefined` — API returned error shape instead of data
+- [ ] Optional parameter used without default — caller omitted argument
+
+## Off-by-One / Boundary
+
+- [ ] Loop starts at 1 instead of 0, or ends at `length` instead of `length - 1`
+- [ ] Fence-post error — "N items need N-1 separators" miscounted
+- [ ] Inclusive vs exclusive range boundary — `<` vs `<=`, slice/substring end index
+- [ ] Empty collection not handled — `.length === 0` falls through to logic assuming items exist
+
+## Async / Timing
+
+- [ ] Missing `await` on async function — gets Promise object instead of resolved value
+- [ ] Race condition — two async operations read/write same state without coordination
+- [ ] Stale closure — callback captures old variable value, not current one
+- [ ] Event handler fires before setup complete — initialization order dependency
+- [ ] Timeout/interval not cleaned up — fires after component/context destroyed
+
+## State Management
+
+- [ ] Mutating shared state — object/array modified in place affects other consumers
+- [ ] State updated but UI not re-rendered — missing reactive trigger or wrong reference
+- [ ] Stale state in event handler — closure captures state at bind time, not current value
+- [ ] Multiple sources of truth — same data stored in two places, one gets out of sync
+- [ ] State machine allows invalid transition — missing guard condition
+
+## Import / Module
+
+- [ ] Circular dependency — module A imports B, B imports A, one gets `undefined`
+- [ ] Default vs named export mismatch — `import X` vs `import { X }`
+- [ ] Wrong file extension — `.js` vs `.cjs` vs `.mjs`, `.ts` vs `.tsx`
+- [ ] Path case sensitivity — works on Windows/macOS, fails on Linux
+- [ ] Missing file extension in import — ESM requires explicit extensions
+
+## Type / Coercion
+
+- [ ] String vs number comparison — `"5" > "10"` is `true` (lexicographic), `5 > 10` is `false`
+- [ ] Implicit type coercion — `==` instead of `===`, truthy/falsy surprises (`0`, `""`, `[]`)
+- [ ] Integer overflow or floating point — `0.1 + 0.2 !== 0.3`, large numbers lose precision
+- [ ] Boolean vs truthy check — value is `0` or `""` which is valid but falsy
+
+## Environment / Config
+
+- [ ] Environment variable missing or wrong — different value in dev vs prod vs CI
+- [ ] Hardcoded path or URL — works on one machine, fails on another
+- [ ] Port already in use — previous process still running
+- [ ] File permission denied — different user/group in deployment
+- [ ] Missing dependency — not in package.json or not installed
+
+## Data Shape / API Contract
+
+- [ ] API response shape changed — backend updated, frontend expects old format
+- [ ] Array where object expected (or vice versa) — `data` vs `data.results` vs `data[0]`
+- [ ] Missing field in payload — required field omitted, backend returns validation error
+- [ ] Date/time format mismatch — ISO string vs timestamp vs locale string
+- [ ] Encoding mismatch — UTF-8 vs Latin-1, URL encoding, HTML entities
+
+## Regex / String
+
+- [ ] Regex `g` flag with `.test()` then `.exec()` — `lastIndex` not reset between calls
+- [ ] Missing escape — `.` matches any char, `$` is special, backslash needs doubling
+- [ ] Greedy match captures too much — `.*` eats through delimiters, need `.*?`
+- [ ] String interpolation in wrong quote type — template literals need backticks
+
+## Error Handling
+
+- [ ] Catch block swallows error — empty `catch {}` or logs but doesn't rethrow/handle
+- [ ] Wrong error type caught — catches base `Error` when specific type needed
+- [ ] Error in error handler — cleanup code throws, masking original error
+- [ ] Promise rejection unhandled — missing `.catch()` or try/catch around `await`
+
+## Scope / Closure
+
+- [ ] Variable shadowing — inner scope declares same name, hides outer variable
+- [ ] Loop variable capture — all closures share same `var i`, use `let` or bind
+- [ ] `this` binding lost — callback loses context, need `.bind()` or arrow function
+- [ ] Block scope vs function scope — `var` hoisted to function, `let`/`const` block-scoped
+
+</patterns>
+
+<usage>
+
+## How to Use This Checklist
+
+1. **Before forming any hypothesis**, scan the relevant categories based on the symptom
+2. **Match symptom to pattern** — if the bug involves "undefined is not an object", check Null/Undefined first
+3. **Each checked pattern is a hypothesis candidate** — verify or eliminate with evidence
+4. **If no pattern matches**, proceed to open-ended investigation
+
+### Symptom-to-Category Quick Map
+
+| Symptom | Check First |
+|---------|------------|
+| "Cannot read property of undefined/null" | Null/Undefined Access |
+| "X is not a function" | Import/Module, Type/Coercion |
+| Works sometimes, fails sometimes | Async/Timing, State Management |
+| Works locally, fails in CI/prod | Environment/Config |
+| Wrong data displayed | Data Shape, State Management |
+| Off by one item / missing last item | Off-by-One/Boundary |
+| "Unexpected token" / parse error | Data Shape, Type/Coercion |
+| Memory leak / growing resource usage | Async/Timing (cleanup), Scope/Closure |
+| Infinite loop / max call stack | State Management, Async/Timing |
+
+</usage>