Build a useful investigation brief
Build a safe configuration map
List setting names, redacted revisions or hashes, source records, environment, service, and load time. Mark values unavailable when a safe identity cannot be derived rather than copying sensitive content.
Locate the first divergence
Compare reviewed baseline, deployment context, runtime load record, and observed behavior. Check defaults, environment inheritance, stale workers, and delayed reloads as possibilities, recording evidence for each.
Compare controlled paths
Use matched requests, jobs, or cohorts that differ only in configuration exposure where possible. Capture outcomes and timing, then test whether code, data, or dependency changes could explain the same symptom.
What to carry forward
The brief should identify the first safe configuration mismatch, affected behavior, supporting records, and residual hypotheses. Conclude that drift explains the symptom, contributes alongside another change, or remains unproven; include only redacted identifiers. Compare source configuration, rendered configuration identity, reload timing, and runtime observation across the affected environment; never copy secret values into the investigation brief.
Keep the decision with the work.
Use a Work Item in Aglet to record the problem, the evidence you have, and the next decision. Add an owner and priority, then keep updates in the discussion so the next person can follow the reasoning.
Create an account See the product workflow