Add --debug flag for verbose logging

- Add LAST30DAYS_DEBUG env var / --debug flag
- Log HTTP requests, responses, and errors
- Show API error details when debug enabled
- Helps diagnose API failures

Usage: python3 last30days.py "topic" --debug

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

scripts/last30days.py

@@ -11,10 +11,12 @@ Options:
     --sources=MODE      Source selection: auto|reddit|x|both (default: auto)
     --quick             Faster research with fewer sources (8-12 each)
     --deep              Comprehensive research with more sources (50-70 Reddit, 40-60 X)
+    --debug             Enable verbose debug logging
 """
 
 import argparse
 import json
+import os
 import sys
 from datetime import datetime, timezone
 from pathlib import Path
@@ -190,9 +192,21 @@ def main():
         action="store_true",
         help="Comprehensive research with more sources (50-70 Reddit, 40-60 X)",
     )
+    parser.add_argument(
+        "--debug",
+        action="store_true",
+        help="Enable verbose debug logging",
+    )
 
     args = parser.parse_args()
 
+    # Enable debug logging if requested
+    if args.debug:
+        os.environ["LAST30DAYS_DEBUG"] = "1"
+        # Re-import http to pick up debug flag
+        from lib import http as http_module
+        http_module.DEBUG = True
+
     # Determine depth
     if args.quick and args.deep:
         print("Error: Cannot use both --quick and --deep", file=sys.stderr)

scripts/lib/http.py

@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 """HTTP utilities for last30days skill (stdlib only)."""
 
 import json
+import os
+import sys
 import time
 import urllib.error
 import urllib.request
@@ -8,6 +10,14 @@ from typing import Any, Dict, Optional
 from urllib.parse import urlencode
 
 DEFAULT_TIMEOUT = 30
+DEBUG = os.environ.get("LAST30DAYS_DEBUG", "").lower() in ("1", "true", "yes")
+
+
+def log(msg: str):
+    """Log debug message to stderr."""
+    if DEBUG:
+        sys.stderr.write(f"[DEBUG] {msg}\n")
+        sys.stderr.flush()
 MAX_RETRIES = 3
 RETRY_DELAY = 1.0
 USER_AGENT = "last30days-skill/1.0 (Claude Code Skill)"
@@ -55,11 +65,16 @@ def request(
 
     req = urllib.request.Request(url, data=data, headers=headers, method=method)
 
+    log(f"{method} {url}")
+    if json_data:
+        log(f"Payload keys: {list(json_data.keys())}")
+
     last_error = None
     for attempt in range(retries):
         try:
             with urllib.request.urlopen(req, timeout=timeout) as response:
                 body = response.read().decode('utf-8')
+                log(f"Response: {response.status} ({len(body)} bytes)")
                 return json.loads(body) if body else {}
         except urllib.error.HTTPError as e:
             body = None
@@ -67,6 +82,9 @@ def request(
                 body = e.read().decode('utf-8')
             except:
                 pass
+            log(f"HTTP Error {e.code}: {e.reason}")
+            if body:
+                log(f"Error body: {body[:500]}")
             last_error = HTTPError(f"HTTP {e.code}: {e.reason}", e.code, body)
 
             # Don't retry client errors (4xx) except rate limits
@@ -76,10 +94,12 @@ def request(
             if attempt < retries - 1:
                 time.sleep(RETRY_DELAY * (attempt + 1))
         except urllib.error.URLError as e:
+            log(f"URL Error: {e.reason}")
             last_error = HTTPError(f"URL Error: {e.reason}")
             if attempt < retries - 1:
                 time.sleep(RETRY_DELAY * (attempt + 1))
         except json.JSONDecodeError as e:
+            log(f"JSON decode error: {e}")
             last_error = HTTPError(f"Invalid JSON response: {e}")
             raise last_error
 

scripts/lib/openai_reddit.py

@@ -2,10 +2,17 @@
 
 import json
 import re
+import sys
 from typing import Any, Dict, List, Optional
 
 from . import http
 
+
+def _log_error(msg: str):
+    """Log error to stderr."""
+    sys.stderr.write(f"[REDDIT ERROR] {msg}\n")
+    sys.stderr.flush()
+
 OPENAI_RESPONSES_URL = "https://api.openai.com/v1/responses"
 
 # Depth configurations: (min, max) threads to request
@@ -120,7 +127,9 @@ def parse_reddit_response(response: Dict[str, Any]) -> List[Dict[str, Any]]:
     if "error" in response and response["error"]:
         error = response["error"]
         err_msg = error.get("message", str(error)) if isinstance(error, dict) else str(error)
-        print(f"[REDDIT ERROR] OpenAI API error: {err_msg}", flush=True)
+        _log_error(f"OpenAI API error: {err_msg}")
+        if http.DEBUG:
+            _log_error(f"Full error response: {json.dumps(response, indent=2)[:1000]}")
         return items
 
     # Try to find the output text

scripts/lib/xai_x.py

@@ -2,10 +2,17 @@
 
 import json
 import re
+import sys
 from typing import Any, Dict, List, Optional
 
 from . import http
 
+
+def _log_error(msg: str):
+    """Log error to stderr."""
+    sys.stderr.write(f"[X ERROR] {msg}\n")
+    sys.stderr.flush()
+
 # xAI uses chat completions endpoint
 XAI_CHAT_URL = "https://api.x.ai/v1/chat/completions"
 
@@ -129,7 +136,9 @@ def parse_x_response(response: Dict[str, Any]) -> List[Dict[str, Any]]:
     if "error" in response and response["error"]:
         error = response["error"]
         err_msg = error.get("message", str(error)) if isinstance(error, dict) else str(error)
-        print(f"[X ERROR] xAI API error: {err_msg}", flush=True)
+        _log_error(f"xAI API error: {err_msg}")
+        if http.DEBUG:
+            _log_error(f"Full error response: {json.dumps(response, indent=2)[:1000]}")
         return items
 
     # Try to find the output text