DV-17
Issue Description Not Updated Since Creation
Discipline
Default severity: medium
ProcessMetricsQuality
What it detects
An issue\'s description was set at creation and has never been updated — for complex issues (Epics, Features) this suggests the definition was never refined as understanding grew. Healthy issues are progressively elaborated. description_updates = changelog.filter(field=\'description\', date > created_at + config.discipline.description_update_grace_days) // default: 1d
Detection formula
IF issue.type IN config.discipline.elaboration_required_types // e.g. \[Epic, Feature\] AND issue.age_days > config.discipline.elaboration_expected_after_days // default: 14d AND COUNT(description_updates) = 0 THEN FLAG no_progressive_elaborationExamples in practice
- Assignee, field, hierarchy, or sprint hygiene rules are violated on active work.
- Issues miss mandatory fields or ownership while still in progress.
- A team shows an issue\'s description was set at creation and has never been updated while elaboration required types is set to \[Epic, Feature\].
Suggested response
Enforce assignee, field, hierarchy, and sprint hygiene rules your team agreed on.
Coaching playbook
Symptom
An issue\'s description was set at creation and has never been updated — for complex issues (Epics, Features) this suggests the definition was never refined as understanding grew. Healthy issues are progressively elaborated. description_updates = changelog.filter(field=\'description\', date > created_at + config.discipline.description_update_grace_days) // default: 1d
Why it matters
When "Issue Description Not Updated Since Creation" keeps appearing, the team is signalling a repeatable process gap. Left unexamined, the pattern hides where work really stalls and makes improvement metrics harder to trust.
What you can achieve
Enforce assignee, field, hierarchy, and sprint hygiene rules your team agreed on.
Facilitation questions
- What system change would stop "Issue Description Not Updated Since Creation" from firing again?
- What do the cited issues have in common — same root cause or same workaround?
- Who owns the two-week experiment and how will we verify on the next import?
Run this rule against your own tracker data with Flow Analyzer.