Defects
A defect is behaviour that does not match a requirement or acceptance criterion. It is a work item of its own, triaged by severity, fixed like a story and proven by a test.
For: Tester, Team developer
Workflow
New → Triage → Ready → In progress → Code review → Verification → Fixed (or Cancelled for duplicates and won't-fix). A defect cannot leave Triage without a severity. AI agents move it to In progress and Code review; people verify and mark it Fixed.
| Severity | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Critical | Service down, data loss or corruption, security or regulatory breach; no workaround. |
| High | A main function fails or gives wrong results; workaround is hard. |
| Medium | A function misbehaves; a reasonable workaround exists. |
| Low | Cosmetic or minor inconvenience. |
What it does to acceptance
- A defect violates requirements or acceptance criteria. While it is open, a violated criterion is Not met.
- When the defect is Fixed or Cancelled, the criterion goes back to Not verified and follows its tests again: the fix still has to be proven.
- A defect cannot be Fixed while a test of a criterion it violates or covers is failing.
Reporting
Use Report defect on a failing test case or under an acceptance criterion: the title, steps, expected behaviour and violated criteria are filled in. Coding agents report defects they find with report_defect.