VdustR Minimal Reproduction
Turn an observed failure into something that can be run again and answers with an exit code. Driving the whole system to watch a symptom is slow, hard to repeat, and produces evidence nobody can re-run.
Two levels
A working reproduction exists to find the problem and to test a candidate
fix. It only has to fail reliably, run fast, and be honest about what has
actually been verified. It stays where the work is and is disposable. See
references/working-repro.md.
A demonstration reproduction is an artifact built for a reader who has none
of this context. It shows the mechanism, the fix when there is one, and nothing
else, and it is designed to make that mechanism obvious rather than to recreate
the original symptom. See references/demonstration-repro.md.
Choose from the situation rather than from a fixed rule. While the cause or the fix is still unknown, the answer is a working reproduction. Escalate when there is a reason for a stranger to run it, typically an instruction to prepare a demo or a shared artifact. If a working reproduction is about to be shared as is, say that it can be upgraded first and what that would add.
Requirements at both levels
Verify the reproduction yourself instead of asking anyone else to confirm it. Run it and watch it fail; a reproduction that has only been reasoned about is a guess. Once a candidate fix exists, also watch it pass with the fix applied and fail again once the fix is reverted. That pair is required before claiming a cause, not before reporting a reproduction.
Separate what was observed from what explains it. State plainly which parts are verified by a run and which are inference, and never let an explanation inherit the confidence of the observation it explains. When something comes from documentation, a changelog, or an issue tracker, keep the source with it; a demonstration reproduction carries those references into the artifact.
De-identify before a reproduction leaves the machine, and treat what survives
de-identification as a measure of whether it is minimal. See
references/de-identification.md.
Report where a kept reproduction lives, along with anything it installed or started, so it is not left behind silently.
Related skills
vp-issue-investigatorwhen the reproduction should support a problem report.vp-autodevwhen the reproduced failure should proceed through a fix and PR delivery.vp-long-running-processesfor processes the reproduction must keep running.vp-gitwhen the reproduction or fix should be committed.vp-session-wrapupfor reporting or cleaning up reproduction artifacts.