How to read a readiness report
What you'll learn
Findings are grouped by priority, a baseline marks accepted existing debt, and the trend — are new findings going down? — matters more than the absolute number.
- Findings are grouped by priority — look at high-priority counts first, not the grand total.
- A baseline marks accepted existing debt; watch for new findings on top of it.
- A stable baseline with no new high-priority findings is healthy.
A readiness report lists the issues the automated checker found in the custom code. The findings are grouped by priority — high, medium, low — so the first thing to look at is not the grand total but how many high-priority findings there are. A large total made up mostly of low-priority items is far less alarming than a small total of high-priority ones.
The report also has a baseline: a dated marker that says 'these issues already existed and have been accepted for now.' Findings inside the baseline are known debt the team chose to defer; what you really want to watch is whether new findings are appearing on top of it. A stable baseline with no new high-priority findings is a healthy sign.
The single most useful habit is to read the trend, not the snapshot. Is the number of new findings going down over time? A report that is improving week over week tells you far more than any single day's absolute number. Ask 'which way is it moving?' before asking 'how big is it?'
Key points
- Findings are grouped by priority — look at high-priority counts first, not the grand total.
- A baseline marks accepted existing debt; watch for new findings on top of it.
- A stable baseline with no new high-priority findings is healthy.
- Read the trend, not the snapshot — 'which way is it moving?' beats 'how big is it?'
Examples
Both show 500 findings. Report A: all low-priority, trending down, no new high-priority items. Report B: 80 high-priority, trending up. Same headline number, very different health — the priority mix and the trend tell the real story.
Source notes: clean-core-curriculum (business synthesis)
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