How to Report a Bug So It Gets Fixed
August 28, 2026
A bug report that cannot be reproduced is not a bug report, it is the beginning of a conversation. The conversation usually takes longer than the fix.
The whole cost is in the gap between what the reporter saw and what the developer can recreate.
What a developer needs before starting
- The exact steps you took, in order, including the boring ones.
- What you expected and what happened instead -- both, since they are not always obvious.
- Where you were -- which account, which page, which browser.
- When, roughly, so it can be matched against logs and deploys.
Why the steps are the hard part
People report the moment it broke, not the path that led there. But the path is what has to be recreated, and it usually contains something the reporter did not consider relevant.
That is why "it broke when I clicked save" turns into four messages: the developer is reconstructing a sequence that only one person ever saw.
Show it instead of describing it
A recording of the actual sequence removes the reconstruction entirely. Every screen, in order, exactly as it happened, including the step you would not have thought to mention.
A click-through has one advantage over a video here: the developer can move through it at their own pace and stop on the frame that matters, rather than scrubbing back and forth.
What not to include
Do not send real customer data to a shared ticket. Bug reports get copied into issue trackers, pasted into chat, and read by people who were never meant to see an account.
Blur names, addresses and amounts before sending. It takes seconds and it is the kind of leak nobody notices until it matters.
Frequently asked questions
- What makes a good bug report?
- The exact steps in order including the boring ones, what you expected versus what happened, where you were -- account, page, browser -- and roughly when, so it can be matched to logs. Most reports give the moment it broke rather than the path that led there, which is the part that has to be recreated.
- Should I record my screen for a bug report?
- It removes the reconstruction entirely, which is where the time goes. A click-through has one edge over video: the developer moves at their own pace and stops on the frame that matters instead of scrubbing back and forth.
- Is it safe to include screenshots in a bug report?
- Blur customer data first. Reports get copied into issue trackers, pasted into chat and read by people never meant to see an account, and that kind of leak is only noticed once it matters.
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