Tech debts¶
When N45 encounters something that should be addressed later — quarantined tests, deferred scope decisions, missing infrastructure — it records it as a tech debt instead of failing the workflow.
How they're created¶
Tech debts can come from:
- Quarantined tests — an executor flagged a test as flaky or environment-dependent and added it to a quarantine list
- Deferred scope — during discovery, you marked something as "out of scope" for now
- Validation pushbacks — a change rejected during validation that would require a structured flow
- Manual — anything you explicitly add via N45 commands
Where they live¶
Tech debts are stored in .n45/planning/tech-debts/, one file per debt. Each entry contains:
- A title and description
- Severity (low / medium / high)
- Origin (where it came from)
- Status (open / in-progress / resolved)
- Related artifacts (which spec, which task)
How they surface¶
| Where | What you see |
|---|---|
/n45-status |
Open tech debts listed under "Open items" |
/n45-feat for a new spec |
Open debts in the same scope offered as optional inclusions |
| Roadmap retrospective | Debts created during the work are summarized |
Resolving a debt¶
You don't resolve a debt by editing the file — you resolve it by addressing it as work:
- Include it in a structured feat spec ("close debt N when this lands")
- Or use
/n45-fixif the debt describes a bug or broken state
Once the related work merges, N45 closes the debt automatically.