# Six-Legged Lodgers

> A root-cause tracer for the insects that move indoors in autumn - stink bugs, lady beetles, boxelder bugs and cluster flies. Log each sighting on its own line (where, how many, anything you noticed), say what you think the insect is and where things stand, and describe the house. Every sighting is pinned as a card in a specimen drawer; a six-bone fishbone then shows how they are getting in, with root causes and a short plan that uses sealing and removal by hand, never chemicals.

URL: https://six-legged-lodgers.skillsafe.ai/
API tutorial: https://six-legged-lodgers.skillsafe.ai/api.html

## Free, in the browser
- The specimen drawer: one pinned card per sighting line - the insect drawn by kind, a typed label with the number, the place (the first room word in the line) and the count (the number next to an insect word, "about 30", "x4", or a word such as "a few"; otherwise 1).
- A tally of insects per place, busiest first.
- Clue words sorted onto six bones from a fixed word list run over the log and the house text: gaps and cracks; vents, pipes and wires; roof, attic and chimney; sun, warmth and light; what's nearby; comings and goings.
- The verdict, by a fixed rule: get it identified first (a warning sign is ticked - bites, in food or bedding, damage to wood or fabric, tiny young ones - or the insect is not known); otherwise seal up now (they are still arriving); otherwise wait them out.
- The plan's steps tick off on the page and the ticks are kept with the log; once a log is saved, the tally shows where the counts moved since that save.
- If the log mentions a dangerous home remedy (mixing bleach with other cleaners, fuel, a flame, a fogger or spray), the page shows a plain safety note before anything is run.
- Exports: Markdown, JSON, the sightings as CSV, the plan as a text checklist, print; saved traces in the browser, or in your account when signed in, so you can add next week's sightings after sealing and trace it again.

## Metered (gpt-terra), one task: trace the way in
- All six bones, each with one to three causes weighted in a fixed order: named in your text, hinted at, or worth a look (a common spot the text says nothing about), with the supporting words quoted from your input.
- One to three root causes, most likely first, each tied to the sightings or the tally.
- Three to six fixes ordered today, this week and before next autumn, mistakes to avoid, and what to watch in the next sightings.
- The page re-checks every reply: the verdict against its rule, all six bones present, a cause from your text on every bone with a clue, quoted evidence found word for word, root causes that match the bones, the timing of the fixes, an identification step first when one is needed, any chemical or trap mentioned, and internal field ids in the prose.

## Limits and honesty
- General information, not an identification. The plan never suggests insecticides, sprays, foggers or traps - only caulk, foam, weatherstripping, mesh, screen repair, a vacuum, a jar or soapy water.
- If what you find bites, is in food or bedding, damages wood or fabric, or has tiny young ones, get it identified by a local extension service or a pest professional before treating anything.
- Nothing is sent anywhere until you press "Trace the way in".
- Trend it answers: stink-bug season. English Wikipedia's "Brown marmorated stink bug" article averaged 593 views a day over 1-7 September 2026 and 2,914 a day over 11-20 October 2026, with 9,779 on 18 October, per the Wikimedia pageviews API (user agents).

## Source
Built on the SkillSafe skill @neolabhq/cause-and-effect by NeoLab (https://skillsafe.ai/skill/@neolabhq/cause-and-effect): a systematic fishbone analysis that explores a problem's causes across six categories and picks the root causes.