How to Capture Multi-Step Bugs as a Single Prompt

You don't need a ten-minute video or a wall of text to fix a complex bug ai agent flow; you need a single, structured markdown file that maps every click, selector, and state change to a clear directive. Stop typing "the button on the left" and start shipping inputs that an LLM can actually execute.

Map the journey before you write the prompt

The only way to ensure a fix is to provide the exact DOM state for every interaction in your sequence. If you aren't capturing the CSS selector and the React component name for every click, you’re just guessing. Developers lose hours because they describe a bug in prose instead of data. When you use markagent, you aren't just taking a screenshot; you’re capturing the specific data-testid or stable selector that points the AI to the root cause. A multi step bug single prompt works because it removes the ambiguity of human language. If the agent can't see the component tree, it can't fix the logic.

Automate your reproduction steps

The most effective reproduction steps ai models require is a sequence of numbered actions, not a stream of consciousness. Don't write: "First I clicked the settings cog, then the profile menu, then the save button." Do this:

1. Capture the initial state screenshot.
2. Tag the specific element with a numbered marker.
3. Export the journey as a structured block.

When I’m debugging a race condition in a dashboard, I don't want to explain the UI. I want the AI to see the exact viewport dimensions and the DOM context at each transition. By automating the capture, you stop the back-and-forth "can you clarify which button?" chatter. It’s binary: the AI has the context, or it doesn't.

Context is better than narrative

A multi step reproduction prompt succeeds when it provides raw technical context instead of a story. Your prompt should look like a diff or a log, not a support ticket. Include the URL, the viewport size, and the component hierarchy. If you're using Cursor or Claude Code, they don't care about your frustration; they care about the src/components/UserMenu.tsx path and the state of the isOpen variable. When you click an element, Markagent pulls the actual source file path. That’s the data the agent needs to jump straight to the line of code that matters. Don't tell the agent what you think is wrong; show it the state of the application at the moment of failure.

Stop the screenshot-to-text trap

Attaching a raw PNG to a chat window is useless unless you annotate the specific target. AI agents are getting better at vision, but they still hallucinate if you don't point them to the exact coordinate or selector. Use your tool to overlay a numbered marker on the screenshot. When the prompt contains [Marker 1: .submit-btn-primary], the AI knows exactly which piece of the DOM to inspect. It eliminates the "is it the blue button or the grey one?" confusion. If you aren't labeling your images, you're making the AI work harder than it should.

Feed the prompt directly to your tool

Once you’ve captured your sequence, drop the generated markdown directly into your terminal or IDE. Whether you’re using Antigravity, OpenCode, or a local Codex instance, the format is optimized to be machine-readable. Don't copy-paste three different screenshots and a paragraph of text. Paste one block of markdown that includes the journey, the selectors, and the screenshots. It’s cleaner. It’s faster. It’s the only way to get a consistent result from a model that’s prone to losing the thread of a long conversation.

Keep your data local and secure

You shouldn't be uploading sensitive UI states to a third-party cloud service just to generate a bug report. Everything you capture—every screenshot, every DOM snapshot, every path—should stay on your machine. Markagent runs entirely in your browser. When you're dealing with internal tools or proprietary code, security isn't a feature; it's a requirement. If your reproduction workflow involves sending data to an external server, you're doing it wrong. Keep it local, generate the prompt, and keep your repo secure.

Stop writing essays for your bugs. Capture the state, ship the prompt, and get the fix.