Atono keeps bugs separate from stories, so your team can focus on fixing problems quickly while continuing to make progress on new features. This dedicated workflow makes it easier to assess, prioritize, and resolve issues, so nothing gets lost and your product stays stable as you ship.

What's a bug?

A bug describes something in your product that isn't working as expected, with enough detail for someone else to understand the problem, reproduce it, and fix it.

Each bug includes a title, a description that follows a suggested template, and a risk rating that helps your team decide how urgently to fix it.

Title

The title should summarize the problem clearly enough that your team can recognize the issue at a glance, without opening the bug.

Example title

Cannot save user role changes - Save button unresponsive

Description

A good bug report makes it easy for someone else to reproduce and understand the issue without additional explanation. When you create a bug, the description includes a suggested template to help you capture the right information:

Summary: A clear, one-sentence description of the issue. Focus on what’s happening, not why, so anyone can quickly understand the problem at a glance. For example: 'After changing a user's role, clicking 'Save' does not apply the changes. The button becomes unresponsive, and no error message appears.'
Reproduction Steps: The exact steps needed to reproduce the issue. Be specific enough that someone unfamiliar with the problem can follow them and see the same result. For example: '1. Navigate to a user's profile. 2. Modify their assigned role. 3. Click the 'Save' button.'
Expected Behavior: What should happen if everything is working correctly. This sets a clear baseline for comparison. For example: 'The role changes should be saved, and a confirmation message should appear.'
Actual Behavior: What’s happening instead, including any errors, unexpected behavior, or missing outcomes. Be as specific as possible. For example: 'The 'Save' button becomes unresponsive, and the changes are not saved. No error message appears.'

If the issue is hard to describe in words, attach an image or a video.

Risk rating

A bug's risk rating appears next to its title and is based on how likely the bug is to affect users (probability) and how serious the effect would be (impact). Your triage team usually sets it in Bug triage, and you can update it later if needed. For more details, see Update a bug's risk rating.

Create a bug

Creating a clear, detailed bug report makes issues easier to understand, reproduce, and resolve.

In the sidebar, click or hover over Create new.
From the menu, select Bug.
- This opens a draft version of your bug that partially overlays your screen, allowing you to navigate to other pages in Atono while working on your draft.
- If you minimize the draft window, the sidebar displays a badge on 'Create new' to indicate you have an unsaved draft. You'll need to open and save the draft before you can create another new item.
- Even if you refresh your browser or log out, your draft will be there when you return.
Provide a descriptive title for the bug.
Fill in the description using the suggested template. For guidance on each part, see Description.
While you’re drafting a bug, Atono may suggest similar bugs based on what you’ve entered so far. For more details, see Duplicate bug suggestions.
Optionally, select the Affected environments where you've observed the bug.
Optionally, assign the bug to a workflow step, user, timebox, and team backlog (you can assign these later, or let the bug triage team do it).
- If you created the bug while viewing a team backlog, that team backlog is automatically selected, but you can change it.
Click Create to save the bug, or click X to discard it.
- If the bug is assigned to an 'In progress' workflow step, you'll be prompted to set the date and time work on the bug began for more accurate cycle time tracking.

If you created the bug on a specific team's backlog, it appears at the bottom of the 'To do' category and is available in Bug triage for the triage team to set a risk rating.

Bug details

You can set or change a bug's details from the bug details panel when creating or editing a bug. The sections below follow the order of the panel, from top to bottom.

Change a bug's workflow step

A bug's workflow step shows where it is in your team's process, such as 'To do', 'In progress', or 'Done'.

In the bug details panel, click the current workflow step.
Select a different step.

You can also change a bug's step by dragging it to a different step in your team's board or list view. For more details on workflow steps, see Customize workflows.

Assign a bug to a user

Assigning a bug to a user ensures clear ownership, so everyone knows who’s responsible for resolving the issue and progress can be tracked.

In the bug details panel, click Assign.
Search for or select a user.

To change the assignee or unassign the bug, click the name of the current assignee and select a different user, or select No assignee.

When a bug is assigned to you, Atono can send you an email notification. You can manage this setting from your user profile.

Set affected environments

Affected environments show where the bug has been observed, such as dev, test, or prod, so your team knows where to reproduce and verify the fix.

In the bug details panel, next to 'Affected environments', click the plus (+) symbol.
Select an environment.

To remove an environment, click the X on it.

For more details on setting up environments for your workspace, see Environments.

Add a bug to a sprint

After a bug is assigned to a Scrum team, you can add it to one of that team's sprints directly from the bug details panel.

In the bug details panel, click Add to sprint (or the name of an existing sprint, if the bug is already assigned to one).
Select which sprint to add the bug to. Or click Create a new sprint to add the bug to a new sprint.

Add a bug to a timebox

Adding a bug to a timebox helps teams plan when it will be fixed, ensuring it's prioritized alongside other work and addressed within a specific timeframe.

In the bug details panel, click Add to timebox.
Search for or select an existing timebox, or click + Create a new timebox to add the bug to a new timebox. For more details, see Create a timebox.

Add tags to a bug

Tags help you categorize bugs using key-value pairs, such as Component: api or Priority: high. You can use them to capture details that are specific to your workspace and find related work later.

In the bug details panel, next to 'Tags', click the plus (+) symbol.
Start typing a tag key, then select an existing key or create a new one.
Enter or select a value, or create a new one.

You can apply each key only once per bug.

For more details on creating, applying, and managing tags, see Tags.

View a bug's AI context

AI context holds the investigation notes and implementation changes that AI tools capture while working on a bug, so later work can pick up with the right context.

'AI context' appears in the bug details panel only after content has been added to it, usually by an AI tool working on the bug through the Atono MCP server. If you don't see it on a bug, no AI context has been captured for that bug yet. For more details, see AI context.

Link items

Link related stories and bugs to a bug to highlight dependencies and related issues, and to keep connected work visible while the bug is being resolved. For more details, see Linked items.

Change the reporter

When you create a bug, you're listed as the reporter. If someone else reported the bug and you're the one creating it, you can change the reporter.

In the bug details panel, click the name next to 'Reporter'.
Select a different user.

You're still listed as the person who created the bug in the Activities list, along with an entry showing that you changed the reporter.

Add a bug to a team backlog

Assigning a bug to a team's backlog in Atono helps ensure issues are properly prioritized and addressed within the team's workflow, so critical problems don’t get overlooked.

In the bug details panel, click Add to team backlog.
Search for or select a team.

You can change the team backlog a bug is assigned to or unassign it to move it to Bug triage.

Click the name of the current team and select a different team, or select No team.
In the confirmation dialog, confirm by clicking Change backlog or Unassign from team, depending on your choice in the previous step.
- If you select to change backlogs, the bug is removed from its position in the current team's backlog (for example, 'In progress') and moved to the bottom of the 'To do' workflow step in the new backlog.
- If you select to unassign the bug from a team, it's moved to the 'Reported bugs' section of Bug triage. Bugs in this section are ordered from oldest (first) to newest (last) date reported.

Update a bug's risk rating

While it's a best practice for your organization's triage team to set a bug's risk rating in Bug triage, you can update it later if needed.

Open the bug from the assigned team's backlog.
At the top of the bug, next to its title, click the risk rating. If no rating has been set, click the red dashes (--) next to the title.

Select a Probability and Impact value, or click Rate it for me to have Atono suggest values based on the bug's description.
- Suggested ratings include short explanations for each value, and you can accept, adjust, or dismiss the recommendation.
- For details on how suggested risk ratings work, see Bug triage.
Click Save.

If you set either value to 'Not selected', the bug moves to the 'Reported bugs' section of Bug triage.

Duplicate bug suggestions

Atono can detect if a bug you’re creating or editing is similar to one already in your workspace. This helps you avoid submitting duplicates and makes it easier to link related issues.

Suggestions appear in a pop-up from Capy while you’re drafting a new bug, or while you're editing a bug in a 'To do' workflow step on a team backlog. The best match is updated automatically as you add or change details in the bug report.

Bugs are excluded from consideration if they:

Have less than 100 characters of content
Are on private backlogs
Are already linked to the current bug
Were duplicated from the current bug

If no strong match is found, no suggestions are shown.

Interact with a suggested bug

Link them: Adds the suggested bug as related to the one you’re working on.
Not a duplicate: Dismisses the suggestion and helps improve future matches.
If the suggestion is a true duplicate, you can delete your draft or stop editing and continue working in the existing bug instead.

Hover over the suggested bug to see its full title, timebox, workflow step, risk rating, team, and assignee. Click it to open the bug behind your current view when you're in draft mode, or to open it in a new browser tab when you're viewing an existing bug.

Once you dismiss a suggestion for a bug, Capy won’t suggest it again for that bug in your session.

Copy a bug

To quickly create a similar bug, you can duplicate an existing one.

Do one of the following:
- In the bug header, click the ellipsis (...) icon and select Duplicate bug.
- Right-click the bug in list or board view and select Duplicate bug.
In the 'Link bug to its duplicate' dialog:
- Click Link duplicate to add the new bug as a linked item to the original.
- Click Skip to create the copy without linking.
- To skip this step in the future, select Remember my choice and don't ask again.

What gets copied

The duplicate is named Copy of <original bug title> and includes the same description, risk rating, affected environments, and reporter.

Other fields are handled according to the bug's workflow category:

Bugs in 'To do' and 'In progress' steps:

The workflow step, assignee, backlog, and timebox are copied to the duplicate.
The duplicate appears directly after the original in the same step.
If the step is categorized as 'In progress', you'll be prompted to select a start date for cycle time tracking.

Bugs in 'Done' or 'Won't do' steps:

The workflow step, assignee, backlog, and timebox are cleared on the duplicate.
The bug is moved to Bug triage.

After duplication, the copied bug includes a new activity entry showing it was created by duplication, with a clickable link to the original. A confirmation toast appears with a link to open the new bug.

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Duplication limitations

Comments, activities, and cycle time aren't copied.

Duplication isn’t available if the bug is on a managed backlog and you don’t have permission to create items there.

Reference bugs

You can copy a bug's Item ID or URL, and mention other items in a bug so your team can get to related work quickly.

Copy a bug's Item ID

Copy the Item ID (for example, BUG-27) to paste into other tickets or communications.

In the bug header, next to the Item ID, click the Copy ID icon. The Item ID is now saved to your clipboard, ready to paste elsewhere.

Copy a bug URL

Copy a bug's URL to share it with your team, so they can open the bug directly.

In the bug header, click the Copy URL icon. The URL to the bug is now saved to your clipboard.

Mention other items

If you mention another story, bug, or epic by its Item ID (for example, STORY-123, BUG-456, or EPIC-789) or paste its full URL from your workspace into the body of a bug, Atono automatically shows it as a clickable pill with the item's Item ID and title. Hover over the pill to see key details, or click it to open the item.

Mentions don't officially link the items, but they give you and your team a quick way to navigate to referenced work. If a referenced item has been deleted, its pill is styled to show that and can't be clicked. To create an official link between items, see Link items.

Attach files

Attach screenshots, screen recordings, logs, and other files to a bug to give your team the context they need to diagnose and fix it. For more details, see Attachments.

Add comments

Use comments to share findings, ask questions, and post updates while a bug is being resolved, and mention other users to bring them into the conversation. In the bug header, 'Add comment' changes to the comment icon with a count once the bug has open comments. For more details, see Comments.

Add subtasks

Use subtasks to break a bug into the individual pieces of work needed to resolve it, and check them off as you go. You can also give each subtask a status and an assignee to track the work more closely. Subtasks appear below the bug's content, above the Activities section, but they aren't shown when you view the bug in Bug triage. If you move the bug to a 'Done' step while it has unfinished subtasks, Atono asks you to confirm. For more details, see Subtasks.

Follow a bug

Follow a bug to keep track of it from your Home page and the Everything page. Following only affects what you see. It doesn't send you notifications when the bug changes, and it doesn't affect the bug or other users.

You can follow a bug only from inside the bug. In the bug header, click the star icon to follow or unfollow it.

A filled star means you're following the bug.
An outlined star means you're not.

Followed bugs appear in these places:

Home page: The 'Following' widget shows the stories and bugs you follow. For more details, see Following.
Everything page: Use the 'Following' filter to show only the items you follow, or add the 'Following' column to see which items you're following. For more details, see Available filters and Available columns.

View pull requests

If your workspace uses the GitHub integration, a pull request icon in the bug header shows how many pull requests are linked to the bug. For more details, see GitHub.

Bug activities

Every bug includes an Activities section with a detailed record of all actions related to the bug, from changes in assignees and team backlog to updates to the bug description and the reporter. This history helps your team track progress and understand how decisions were made over time.

For more details on how to sort, filter, and manage activities, see Activities.

Version history

Atono tracks changes to a bug's content, so you can see how it has evolved and restore an earlier version if needed. Version history is available only once a bug has more than one version. For more details, see Version history.

Mark a bug as an outlier

If a bug's cycle time is unusually long, you can mark it as an outlier to exclude it from average cycle time calculations, cycle time reports, and staleness indicators. For more details, see Outliers.

Delete a bug

You might want to delete a bug when it's no longer valid, was reported by mistake, or has been resolved through other changes in the project. However, resolved bugs are often worth keeping around for reference. They help your team track the history of issues, understand past fixes, and provide context for diagnosing future problems, especially if similar issues resurface.

Do one of the following:
- In the bug header, click the ellipsis (...) icon and select Delete bug from the menu.
- Right-click the bug in list or board view and select Delete.
In the deletion dialog, confirm by clicking Delete, or click X to cancel.

Item IDs in Atono are assigned sequentially. If you delete a bug, its number won’t be reused unless it’s the next available ID. For example, if your workspace has 47 bugs and you delete BUG-7, the next bug created will be BUG-48. If you delete BUG-47, the next bug created will use that number. This keeps your bug numbers in a logical sequence.