Debugging specificity and cascade conflicts without selector escalation
A cascade conflict is easier to fix when you identify origin, layer, specificity, source order, and custom property ownership before writing a stronger selector.
Debugging
Debugging
Triage guides for the CSS failures that slow real projects down.
Start here when the page is already broken. Each guide turns a visible CSS failure into an inspection path so you can find the source owner before adding another workaround.
Begin with overflow bugs when the page is wider than the viewport, layout shift when content moves after render, and specificity conflicts when a rule loses for reasons that are not obvious from the selector alone.
Debugging sticky failures caused by scroll containers
Sticky positioning usually fails because the element is using a different scroll container or containing block than the layout assumes.
Debugging overflow: find the box that is wider than the viewport
Horizontal overflow is diagnosable when you inspect the widest box instead of adding overflow hidden to the page.
Z-index triage: debug stacking contexts before raising numbers
If z-index is not working, the element is usually inside a stacking context that matters more than the number.
Debugging layout shift in CSS-heavy interfaces
Layout shift is usually a missing reservation of space, not a mysterious browser event.
Responsive breakpoint failures: debug the component, not just the viewport
If a component fails between named breakpoints, the breakpoint probably describes the screen better than the component.