HY-03
Changelog Sparsity
Hygiene
Default severity: medium
ProcessMetricsQuality
What it detects
Issues have fewer changelog entries than the configured minimum — data quality is too low for reliable flow metrics.
Detection formula
IF AVG(changelog_entries_per_issue) \< config.hygiene.min_changelog_entries // default: 3 THEN FLAG data_qualityExamples in practice
- Baseline fields or story data are edited outside agreed roles or left incomplete.
- Changelog sparsity makes it hard to trust historical metrics.
- A team shows issues have fewer changelog entries than the configured minimum while min changelog entries is set to 3.
Suggested response
Reduce silent edits—enforce who may change baselines and keep story data complete.
Coaching playbook
Symptom
Issues have fewer changelog entries than the configured minimum — data quality is too low for reliable flow metrics.
Why it matters
When "Changelog Sparsity" 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
Reduce silent edits—enforce who may change baselines and keep story data complete.
Facilitation questions
- What system change would stop "Changelog Sparsity" 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.