Bug & Incident Reporting Policy

Purpose

This policy establishes a clear procedure for reporting bugs and incidents to the development team. Following this process ensures issues are properly documented, prioritized, and addressed efficiently.

Reporting a Bug

Step 1: Create a Linear Ticket

Use the Bug template in Linear — it automatically:

Sets the ticket to TRIAGE status
Adds the Bug label
Provides a structured format to guide you in including all necessary information

Step 2: Provide Clear Information

Your ticket must include:

Clear description of the issue
How to reproduce — step-by-step instructions to recreate the problem

Third-party involvement: If a client or external user reported the issue, collect as much information from them as possible before creating the ticket. We need all relevant details to understand and address the problem.

Step 3: Assign Priority

Assign a priority level based on the criteria below (see Priority Levels section).

Step 4: Notify the Team

Post a message in the TOP RENT SUPPORT MANAGER channel with:

Brief description of the issue
Link to the Linear ticket

Priority Levels

Priority	When to Use	Expected Response
Low	Trivial issue or affects a small subset of users	Can be addressed at any time
Medium	Standard bug requiring attention	Within 3–4 weeks, unless higher-priority work exists
High	Significant issue requiring prompt attention	Within 2 weeks, without disrupting ongoing work
Urgent	See Incidents below	Within 24 working hours — immediate response, all hands on deck

Incidents (Urgent Priority)

An incident is a severe issue that requires immediate attention — for example, a system outage, data loss, security vulnerability, or a bug blocking core functionality for multiple users.

How Incidents Are Handled

When a bug is marked as URGENT:

The ticket must be resolved within 24 hours
The ticket jumps to the top of the queue
Available developers stop their current work to assess and resolve the issue
The team focuses collectively until the incident is resolved or mitigated

When to Use Urgent Priority

Use it when immediate action is required — not for urgent-but-manageable issues.

Ask yourself:

Is this blocking critical business operations?
Are multiple users or clients severely impacted right now?
Does this require an immediate fix, not just a quick turnaround?

If yes → mark as Urgent and notify the team immediately.

⚠️ Important: Reserve Urgent priority for true emergencies. Overusing it dilutes its urgency and disrupts planned work unnecessarily. However, do not hesitate to use it when the situation genuinely calls for it.

Summary Checklist

Ticket created using the Bug template (sets TRIAGE status and Bug label)
Clear description provided
Reproduction steps included
Third-party info collected (if applicable)
Priority assigned
Message posted in TOP RENT SUPPORT MANAGER channel