# Debugging Non-Ground ASP Programs: Technique and Graphical Tools

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/1808.00417 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/1808.00417/

## Key facts

- Cited by 8 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- First posted on arXiv 1 Aug 2018.

## Built on by (most cited first, 8 of 8)

- [Rushing and Strolling among Answer Sets -- Navigation Made Easy](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2112.07596/) (2021)
- [Current and Future Challenges in Knowledge Representation and Reasoning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2308.04161/) (2023)
- [Explanations for Answer Set Programming](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2308.15879/) (2023)
- [An ASP-Based Framework for MUSes](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2507.03929/) (2025)
- [Task planning and explanation with virtual actions](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2201.03199/) (2022)
- [ValAsp: a tool for data validation in Answer Set Programming](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2202.09626/) (2022)
- [Planning and Scheduling in Digital Health with Answer Set Programming](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2208.03099/) (2022)
- [An XAI View on Explainable ASP: Methods, Systems, and Perspectives](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2601.14764/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Answer Set Programming (ASP) is one of the major declarative programming paradigms in the area of logic programming and non-monotonic reasoning. Despite that ASP features a simple syntax and an intuitive semantics, errors are common during the development of ASP programs. In this paper we propose a novel debugging approach allowing for interactive localization of bugs in non-ground programs. The new approach points the user directly to a set of non-ground rules involved in the bug, which might be refined (up to the point in which the bug is easily identified) by asking the programmer a sequence of questions on an expected answer set. The approach has been implemented on top of the ASP solver WASP. The resulting debugger has been complemented by a user-friendly graphical interface, and integrated in ASPIDE, a rich IDE for answer set programs. In addition, an empirical analysis shows that the new debugger is not affected by the grounding blowup limiting the application of previous approaches based on meta-programming. Under consideration in Theory and Practice of Logic Programming (TPLP).