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Dev.to
Dev.to
6/5/2026
Old bug, new route.

Old bug, new route.

Short summary

When CI tests fail on commits that don't touch the failing code, the bug is usually latent—exposed when the diff routes execution through a previously-cold path. The author calls this 'Old bug, new route.' Named patterns like this change your debugging hypothesis: instead of grepping your diff, grep the producer-consumer contract at the failing call site. Three common cases: asymmetric implementations (async vs sync), cross-platform code (POSIX vs NTFS), and feature-flagged paths.

  • Latent bugs surface when new code routes through previously-cold paths, not from new code introducing the bug
  • Pattern name 'Old bug, new route' is a diagnostic prior that changes which haystack you grep—the diff or the contract
  • Most common in asymmetric implementations (async/sync), cross-platform code, and feature-flagged paths

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