Vague Report Handling Reference
Purpose: Intake patterns and pre-question guardrails for incomplete or noisy bug reports. Read when: The report is incomplete, emotional, indirect, image-only, or missing explicit reproduction steps.
Contents
- Report pattern dictionary
- Context collection
- Three-hypothesis generation
- Pre-question checklist
- Completion criteria
Report Pattern Dictionary
Primary Patterns
| ID | Pattern Name | Example Keywords | Inferred Situation | Investigation Start Point |
|---|---|---|---|---|
P01 |
Total Denial | "Doesn't work", "Broken", "Can't use", "Not showing" | Complete core feature failure | entry point, recent changes |
P02 |
Comparison | "It worked before", "Until yesterday", "Just now", "Suddenly" | Regression | git log, deploy history |
P03 |
Vague Feeling | "Something's off", "Feels weird", "Uncomfortable" | Subtle deviation from expectation | UI, data display, timing |
P04 |
Urgency | "Fix ASAP", "Urgent", "Critical", "Blocked" | Business blocker | impact scope, workarounds |
P05 |
Tech Term Mixed | "API returns null", "500 error", "Response slow" | Specific technical issue | mentioned technical area |
P06 |
Image Only | [Screenshot only], [Video only] |
Visual problem | visible elements, error displays |
Extended Patterns
| ID | Pattern Name | Example Keywords | Inferred Situation | Investigation Start Point |
|---|---|---|---|---|
P07 |
Conditional | "Only when...", "If I...", "Specific..." | condition-specific issue | conditional path |
P08 |
Environment | "In production", "On mobile", "In Chrome" | environment-specific issue | config or runtime diff |
P09 |
User Specific | "User X said...", "Customer reported..." | user- or role-specific issue | permissions, roles, user data |
P10 |
Frequency | "Sometimes", "Occasionally", "Not every time" | intermittent issue | race, cache, timing |
P11 |
Action Specific | "When I click...", "After entering...", "When saving..." | action-specific issue | event handler, validation |
P12 |
Data Specific | "With this data...", "For specific value..." | data-dependent issue | validation, edge cases |
P13 |
Time Specific | "Only in morning", "End of month", "Periodically" | time-dependent issue | cron, timezone, date logic |
P14 |
Error Message | "It says...", "Error appeared..." | explicit error source | thrown message or logging source |
P15 |
Performance | "Slow", "Heavy", "Freezes" | performance issue | N+1, leak, loop |
P16 |
Security | "Shouldn't be visible", "Permission...", "Without login..." | auth or access issue | auth, ACL, session |
P17 |
Layout Broken | "Misaligned", "Overflowing", "Overlapping" | layout issue | styles, responsive rules |
P18 |
Copy/Text | "Wrong text", "Translation wrong" | copy or localization issue | i18n source |
P19 |
Notification | "Email not arriving", "No notification..." | async processing issue | queue, mailer, webhook |
P20 |
Integration | "Connection with X...", "External service..." | external integration issue | API, webhook, OAuth |
Context Collection
Collect before asking:
| Source | Command / Method | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Recent commits | git log --oneline -20 |
find regressions |
| Changed files | git diff HEAD~5 --name-only |
narrow impact |
| Deploy history | CI/CD logs, tags | detect release-related issues |
| Related issues | issue search | find precedent |
| Error logs | server logs, browser console | capture exact failure |
| Report timing | compare with deploy time | separate new vs latent issues |
Three-Hypothesis Rule
Generate exactly 3 starting hypotheses:
- most frequent similar cause in this codebase
- recent-change or regression hypothesis
- pattern-based hypothesis from the report class
Fast Templates
| Report Type | Hypothesis Set |
|---|---|
"Doesn't work" |
recent deploy, dependency outage, config issue |
"It worked before" |
regression commit, dependency update, schema change |
"Something's off" |
subtle UI difference, formatting/order issue, timing issue |
"Happens sometimes" |
race condition, cache inconsistency, specific-data dependency |
"Slow" |
N+1 query, large data volume, external timeout |
Pre-Question Checklist
Only ask questions if all are true:
- recent changes checked
- changed files checked
- relevant feature code inspected
- logs or console checked where available
- past project or issue context checked
-
3hypotheses generated - first hypothesis tested
- proceeding with assumptions would now be dangerous
Allowed Exceptions
Ask only for:
- production-data access
- exact environment when behavior differs materially by environment
- affected user ID for user-specific issues
- permission to continue if the issue is security-sensitive
Completion Criteria
| Confidence | Condition | Reporting Style |
|---|---|---|
HIGH |
reproduction + file:line cause | definitive |
MEDIUM |
reproduction + strong estimated cause | estimated + verification |
LOW |
no repro + hypotheses only | hypothesis + missing info |
Mindset
- Trust the report until evidence disproves it.
- Infer actively, then verify.
- Ask the minimum possible only after evidence gathering.