Keep the lesson for the next incident
Document supported dependency behavior
State whether parents must preexist, appear earlier, or can be resolved after initial processing. Explain unresolved outcomes and recovery. Keep the guidance connected to actual execution, including concurrency where relevant, so users are not told that sorting a file guarantees a sequence the importer does not preserve internally.
Retain contrasting reference fixtures
Keep a parent-dependent pair in different supported sequences, an existing-parent control, and a genuinely missing reference. Record exact expected links and unresolved states. Include the identity representation that mattered so a future matching change cannot pass the example by attaching to any plausible parent with a similar display name.
Review processing and lookup changes
Assign review when import concurrency, persistence sequencing, lookup identity, or deferred resolution changes. Compare the dependency fixture through final relationships and reports. Track confirmed unlinked acceptance separately from rejected missing references so a successful import status cannot hide a recurrence in relationship completeness or recovery visibility.
What to carry forward
Close with explicit dependency rules, a readable relationship fixture, and an owner for processing or lookup changes. Preserve unsupported source sequences and recovery limits in guidance. The next maintainer should be able to explain when the intended parent becomes resolvable and what happens if it remains unavailable after the import settles.
Technical background: PostgreSQL documentation.
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