R&D built a returns processing tool

“Claude can fix it if it breaks.”— Marketing Manager

Reason:

Honestly? Because the architecture diagram contains a box labelled "manual step". With 158 users and zero documentation.

Built by:

Nadia, a recruiter

Build time:

7 evenings

Built with:

React, Vite and enthusiasm

Database:

a global JavaScript variable

Authentication:

the security model is "it is behind Cloudflare"

Deployment:

deployed from a branch called fix-prod

Responsible:

whoever answers the support email

Documentation:

none, but the variable names are "pretty clear"

Security situation:

passwords are stored in a spreadsheet for emergencies

Future disaster:

It will be described as "legacy" before its first birthday.

Age: 1.4 years · originally expected to last 7 days · 1 owner so far · survived 1 reorganisation · last meaningful change 210 days ago

Rated common mostly because: 72% chance of becoming business critical, alive 75x longer than intended, 21 users.