Single stale hash entry caused 29 of 59 test failures in one config file
A software project using hash-based freshness pins — rows that record file checksums to detect stale derived data — saw 29 out of 59 tests fail due to a single unrefreshed hash entry. The hash-refresh tool was only designed to update rows under one specific config header, missing a duplicate entry for the same file stored under a different header roughly 5,000 lines away. Because the test suite reads the pin table once and then runs all assertions against it, one broken row cascaded into 29 failures — not 29 separate defects. The fix was to retire the duplicate row rather than teach the tool a second header, since maintaining two cells for one fact was identified as the root defect. A supplementary control test also confirmed that migrating citations from line numbers to block IDs prevents silent breakage when lines are inserted above a referenced block.
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