codyswanngt Bug Triage
Follow this 8-step triage process before implementing any bug fix. Do not skip triage.
Triage Steps
- Verify you have all information needed to reproduce the bug (authentication requirements, environment information, etc.). Do not make assumptions. If anything is missing, stop and ask before proceeding.
- Reproduce the bug on the path the user actually hits. Prerequisites the real path needs — seeded data, auth state, flags — are part of the reproduction; scaffolding that substitutes real behaviour is not, and a failure that survives only with it in place is a lead rather than a reproduction. Say which you have. Without a real-path reproduction you may not claim a root cause at all. If you cannot reproduce it, stop and report what you tried and what you observed.
- Once reproduced, name a candidate cause and the observation that would disprove it, and go get that observation. Surviving the disproof is not proof — it leaves the candidate standing, not confirmed — so before implementing, execute something whose output the candidate predicts and a different cause would not produce. If you cannot get that confirmation, record the verdict as inconclusive and say so rather than proceeding as if certain; add logging, trace the path, or bisect until you can.
- Verify you have access to the tools, environments, and permissions needed to deploy and verify this fix (e.g. CI/CD pipelines, deployment targets, logging/monitoring systems, API access, database access). If any are missing or inaccessible, stop and raise them before starting implementation.
- Define the tests you will write to confirm the fix and prevent a regression.
- Define the documentation you will create or update to explain this bug so another developer understands the "how" and "what" behind it.
- If you can verify your fix before deploying to the target environment (e.g. start the app, invoke the API, open a browser, run the process, check logs), do so before deploying.
- Define how you will verify the fix beyond a shadow of a doubt (e.g. deploy to the target environment, invoke the API, open a browser, run the process, check logs).
Implementation
Use the output of the triage steps above as your guide. Do not skip triage.