August 2023 Summaries

Today we're launching Debug Timeline: an automatic list of everything that happened leading up to a bug. Engineers will now always get detailed repro steps without having to write them, thanks to the new feature which was developed after 20 rounds of feedback and iteration to ensure the details are just right. The feature includes automatic playback alongside video, jump-to-moment functionality from timeline to video, and easy copying of element attributes to build automated tests. The lead engineer and product manager recorded a tour of Debug Timeline, showcasing its capabilities.

We just launched a brand new WebSocket inspector in Jam, built to rival Chrome dev tools with added twists such as real-time playback and filtering of WebSocket messages, pretty printing with one click, and timestamp support. Due to the long-lived nature of WebSockets, building this required a re-think of how the Jam extension handles parsing and merging developer logs. The inspector is available on all Chromium browsers except Brave, due to technical reasons.

Debugging CORS issues can be frustrating, but a new feature in Jam dev tools has been released to help engineers debug these issues faster. The new feature allows developers to log a bug and share the link with an engineer, who can then instantly see what the CORS issues are in Jam. This new feature is part of the summer of dev tools sprint and aims to save time for engineers debugging CORS errors.

The Swimply team faced a challenging task in reproducing bugs for their online marketplace, which was taking nearly an hour per ticket. To address this issue, they discovered Jam, a tool that enables the quick reproduction of bugs by capturing just one click's worth of screen activity. With Jam's integration with Jira, the QA team can now create bug tickets instantly, reducing the time spent on reproducing and reporting bugs from hours to mere seconds. This has resulted in improved product velocity, as the team is able to focus more time on testing new features and shipping updates rather than fixing bugs. The tool's seamless integration with existing workflows has also streamlined the process, allowing the QA team to provide technical details that help engineers track errors faster. Overall, Jam has significantly reduced manual work and given the team more time to focus on building their shared passion spaces platform.

The network debugger is a crucial component of Jam's development tools, and its latest revamp aims to improve clarity and timing. The new version features an animated network timeline that perfectly synchronizes with video playback, enabling users to quickly identify issues such as UI breakage in relation to network requests. This release prioritizes user experience, allowing developers to instantly answer questions like "when did the issue occur?" and providing a more efficient way for engineers to spot bugs at a glance. The update is part of Jam's ongoing dev tools sprint, with additional upgrades planned for the coming weeks.

The company has introduced an easy link to help teams report bugs better to engineers, allowing them to create dev-friendly bug reports in just 2 clicks. This new feature aims to give everyone on the team a sense of responsibility for reporting bugs and provide consistent and detailed information to engineers. The link can be shared via Slack or any other platform, and it's available to teams who have created an account or found their invite link in settings. The feedback from users has been positive, with some builders expressing their love for the new feature and sharing their experience of how it has improved bug reporting within their team.