The bug report checklist that changed my hit rate

Somewhere along the way my bug reports started getting fixed fast — the same report quality that once got ignored now gets "confirmed, looking at it" within hours. Nothing changed except discipline. Here's the checklist my reports follow now.

The checklist

A minimal reproduction. Not my whole project — the smallest code or steps that trigger the bug. Building the minimal repro is also where half of bugs turn out to be my own mistake, which saves everyone including me.

Versions of everything involved. The tool, the runtime, the OS. "Latest" is not a version; it's a mood that expires.

Expected vs actual. One line each. "I expected X; instead Y happened" is the entire diagnostic frame.

What I already ruled out. "Happens with a clean install; not the proxy; not the Node version." Saving the maintainer the first hour of debugging is the single kindest thing a report can do.

Search before filing. Half of all bugs are known bugs. The search bar is where reports should die — with a "+1, affects me on X" comment instead of a duplicate.

Why this pays

Reports that follow this shape get responded to. The tracker is loud; clarity is how a report gets heard in it.