Answer "what happens if we change X?"
Know what a change would touch before you put it on the roadmap.
Product · Software · When you ask · Updated
Works with
- Slack
SlackHow do you find out what happens if you change a feature?
To find out what happens if you change a feature, ask Maito in Slack. It reads your repository, finds every place that depends on the current behavior, such as login, billing and reports, and replies with a list by area. It also flags a risk that is easy to miss before you put it on the roadmap.
How it's done today
PMs wait for an engineer to look.
What Maito does
- Read the question
- Trace the code and data involved
- List what would be affected
Example
@Maito What breaks if we let users have two emails?
Five places assume one email per user. • Login: auth/login.ts looks users up by users.email, which has a unique index • Invites: accepting an invite matches on email, so a second address creates a duplicate member • Billing: invoices go to users.email, with no way to pick another • Reports: 3 scheduled reports join on email (weekly_usage, seat_audit, churn_risk) The catch: password reset sends to whatever address is on the account. If a second address can be added unverified, anyone could attach yours and reset your password. Verification has to come first. Rough size: medium, 2 to 3 weeks. I read the main branch and ran nothing. An engineer should confirm before this is planned.
@Maito Can you write this up so Alex can scope it?
Done. Attached: two-emails-impact.pdf, with file paths and line numbers for each item.
Leo (10:12 AM):
What breaks if we let users have two emails?
Maito (10:14 AM):
Five places assume one email per user.
• Login: auth/login.ts looks users up by users.email, which has a unique index
• Invites: accepting an invite matches on email, so a second address creates a duplicate member
• Billing: invoices go to users.email, with no way to pick another
• Reports: 3 scheduled reports join on email (weekly_usage, seat_audit, churn_risk)
The catch: password reset sends to whatever address is on the account. If a second address can be added unverified, anyone could attach yours and reset your password. Verification has to come first.
Rough size: medium, 2 to 3 weeks. I read the main branch and ran nothing. An engineer should confirm before this is planned.
Leo (10:20 AM):
Can you write this up so Alex can scope it?
Maito (10:22 AM):
Done. Attached: two-emails-impact.pdf, with file paths and line numbers for each item.
How to set it up
- Set up
Nothing to set up. Ask in Slack or by email whenever you need it.
What it won't do
It sees the code, not your customers' habits or contracts. A change can matter to a customer in a way no file shows.
Questions
No. Ask in plain words and it replies in plain words, with file names for engineers who want them.
No. It reads the repository and reports. Changes happen only if you ask for a branch.
It follows the code, so it finds real dependencies. Ask an engineer to confirm anything that drives a big decision.
