TM-01

Story Summary Suggests a Bug

Type Misclassification

Default severity: medium
Product BacklogPrioritizationQualityBusiness Value

What it detects

A Story or Feature issue has a summary that matches configured bug/defect signal patterns — words like \'fix\', \'broken\', \'not working\', \'error\', \'fails\', \'crash\', \'regression\', \'wrong\', \'incorrect\' — indicating it should be classified as a Bug. Misclassified bugs inflate feature velocity, corrupt bug ratio metrics (IT-01), and escape defect tracking processes.

Detection formula

bug_keywords = config.tm.bug_keywords // configurable per org and language // defaults (EN): \[\'fix\', \'broken\', \'not working\', \'error\', \'fail\', \'crash\', \'regression\', \'wrong\', \'incorrect\', \'defect\', \'issue with\', \'problem with\', \'does not\', \'doesn\'t\', \'missing\', \'lost\', \'disappeared\'\] // defaults (SK/CZ): \[\'oprava\', \'nefunguje\', \'chyba\', \'padá\', \'zlý\', \'nesprávny\', \'problém\', \'nefungujúci\', \'chybný\', \'rozbité\'\] IF issue.type IN config.workflow.story_types AND summary MATCHES any(bug_keywords) CASE_INSENSITIVE THEN FLAG probable_bug IF COUNT(matched_keywords) >= config.tm.strong_signal_count // default: 2 THEN CRITICAL — strong signal, very likely misclassified

Examples in practice

  • A team shows a story or feature issue has a summary that matches configured bug/defect signal patterns while bug keywords is set to see 5l.2.
  • Example signal: A Story or Feature issue has a summary that matches configured bug/defect signal patterns — words like \'fix\', \'broken\', \'not working\', \'error\', \'fails\', \'crash\', \'regression\', \'wrong\', \'incorrect\' — indicating it should be classified as a Bug.

Suggested response

Retype or rewrite summaries so issue types match the actual work described.

Coaching playbook

Symptom

A Story or Feature issue has a summary that matches configured bug/defect signal patterns — words like \'fix\', \'broken\', \'not working\', \'error\', \'fails\', \'crash\', \'regression\', \'wrong\', \'incorrect\' — indicating it should be classified as a Bug. Misclassified bugs inflate feature velocity, corrupt bug ratio metrics (IT-01), and escape defect tracking processes.

Why it matters

When "Story Summary Suggests a Bug" 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

Retype or rewrite summaries so issue types match the actual work described.

Facilitation questions

  • What system change would stop "Story Summary Suggests a Bug" 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.

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TM-01: Story Summary Suggests a Bug — FlowAnalyzer