Add Debt Item
Enter details about the technical debt
Legacy authentication system
Architecture • High • 40h
5362.9h
total debt
Missing unit tests for core modules
Testing • Medium • 24h
268.4h
total debt
No API documentation
Documentation • Low • 8h
23.7h
total debt
Debt Summary
72h
Principal
5583.0h
Interest
5655h
Total Debt
Debt Projection
Shows how your debt grows with accumulated interest
Priority Ranking
Address the highest-impact debt first
Legacy authentication system
Architecture
40h → 5362.9h
+13307% interest
Missing unit tests for core modules
Testing
24h → 268.4h
+1018% interest
No API documentation
Documentation
8h → 23.7h
+196% interest
Guide
Technical Debt is the implied cost of additional rework caused by choosing an easy (limited) solution now instead of using a better approach that would take longer. Like financial debt, technical debt accumulates "interest" over time if not addressed.
Poorly written code, code smells, duplicate code, lack of refactoring. Compounds over time as it becomes harder to make changes.
Suboptimal system design, tight coupling, lack of modularity. Makes it difficult to scale or add new features.
Missing tests, low coverage, lack of automated tests. Increases risk of bugs and slows down development.
Missing or outdated docs, unclear APIs, no architectural decisions recorded. Onboarding becomes slower.
Security vulnerabilities, lack of encryption, no security audits. Puts the entire system at risk.
Slow queries, unoptimized code, lack of caching. Degrades user experience over time.
Glossary
- Principal (Initial Cost)
- The initial effort/time required to fix the debt item. This is what it would cost to fix right now.
- Interest Rate
- The rate at which the debt compounds over time. Higher severity issues have higher interest rates as they cause more problems.
- Total Debt
- The principal plus accumulated interest. This grows over time if the debt is not addressed.
- Debt-to-Effort Ratio
- A metric showing how much debt accumulates per unit of effort. Helps prioritize which debts to pay down first.
- Debt Age
- How long the debt has been present. Older debts typically have higher accumulated interest.