Gathering diagnostic information: questions, captures and diagnostic files
Collect the evidence a fix depends on: question in a funnel, separate facts from interpretations, capture the exact environment, time and error, write reproduction steps someone else can follow, and request screenshots, diagnostic bundles and browser HAR captures in a way that protects passwords, session cookies and personal data.
- Level
- Intermediate
- Length
- About 50 minutes
- Contents
- 3 lessons · 1 video · final exam
- Status
- Published · updated 1 Oct 2026
Skills you'll practise
- Use a questioning funnel (open, probing, closed, summary) to establish what happened, when, to whom and what changed
- Record the exact error text, time with time zone, versions, scope and any reference or request ID
- Write reproduction steps with preconditions, numbered actions, expected and actual results and frequency
- Explain what a HAR capture contains and request a sanitized capture through an approved channel
- Decide what to crop, redact or delete from screenshots and diagnostic files before they are stored or shared
Course outline
- 1.Gathering diagnostic informationVideo · 3 min
- 2.Questions that find the factsLesson · 16 min
- 3.Environment, time and reproduction stepsLesson · 17 min
- 4.Diagnostic files and HAR captures, safelyLesson · 17 min
- 5.Gathering diagnostic information: questions, captures and diagnostic files: knowledge checkKnowledge check · 19 questions
- 6.The HAR file in the ticketScenario
- 7.Final exam10 questions · passing it completes the course, so people who already know the material can test out
Sources it draws on
The lessons and questions are written from these references, so learners can go back to the original.
- Chrome for Developers: Network features reference (Preserve log, Disable cache, saving HAR files sanitized or with sensitive data)
- Google Admin Toolbox: HAR Analyzer (what HAR files contain and the redaction option)
- IETF RFC 3339: Date and Time on the Internet: Timestamps
- General technical-support practice
See it with your own jobs and topics
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