FS-03
Zombie branch
Flow Story
Default severity: medium
ProcessMetrics
What it detects
stale branch on active issue without merge; tests; catalogue.
Detection formula
No published identification formula is available yet for this rule.Examples in practice
- A team shows stale branch on active issue without merge; tests; catalogue during analysis.
- Example signal: stale branch on active issue without merge; tests; catalogue.
Suggested response
Review the observation details with the team and agree one concrete next step to reduce recurrence.
Coaching playbook
Symptom
The "Zombie branch" signal shows a repeatable delivery anti-pattern on the cited issues.
Why it matters
When "Zombie branch" 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
Review the observation details with the team and agree one concrete next step to reduce recurrence.
Facilitation questions
- What system change would stop "Zombie branch" 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.