Replace an outdated encryption method everywhere it is used
An outdated hash or cipher replaced everywhere it is used, with a written plan for the data already saved with it.
The ticket
Replace the deprecated primitive at every call site and handle the data already written with the old one.
Acceptance criteria
- No call site uses the old primitive
- Existing values still verify, through migration or a documented dual-read
- Tests cover the new path and the legacy path
- The pull request records when the legacy path can be removed
What lands as proof
A search showing no remaining call sites, plus tests proving values written by the old primitive still verify.
Why teams defer it
- The stored data is the hard part. Replacing the calls is straightforward. Deciding what to do with values already written using the old primitive turns it into a migration.
- Nothing about it is visible to users. It never arrives with a deadline attached.
- Whoever chose the original primitive has often left, and the reasoning left with them.
- A rollback plan is needed before anybody is comfortable merging it.
Questions
- What does the agent actually change?
- The ticket is scoped to one outcome: replace the deprecated primitive at every call site and handle the data already written with the old one. Work that serves that outcome is in scope, and anything outside it is left for a separate ticket, so the pull request stays reviewable.
- How do I know the work is done?
- The pull request carries the evidence, not only the diff. Here that means tests green, plus a clean search recorded in the description, so a reviewer can confirm the result without reproducing the work locally.
- How much oversight does this need?
- The run stops once the plan is written. Somebody reads the approach and approves it before any code exists, which is the cheapest moment to redirect the work.