Marketing built a knowledge base with a search that does not search

“The AI understands the code.”— Group Controller

Reason:

Allegedly because someone said "GDPR" and the meeting went quiet. With 35 users and zero documentation.

Built by:

Ravi, an analyst

Build time:

19 minutes

Built with:

Excel macros, exposed over HTTP

Database:

a vector database containing invoices for reasons

Authentication:

the secret is in .env.example

Deployment:

deployed straight to production on a Friday, no staging

Responsible:

an agency acquired by another agency

Documentation:

a Word document called Suppliers_old.xlsm

Security situation:

the webhook secret is "secret"

Future disaster:

It will cause Security to ask "what application?".

Age: 2.0 years · originally expected to last 4 weeks · 4 owners so far · survived 1 reorganisation · last meaningful change 210 days ago · original builder left 393 days ago

Rated common mostly because: 2 accidental connections, nobody owns it, alive 24x longer than intended.