Spike Report Template

Time-boxed technical investigation: question, success criteria, approach, findings with evidence, risks, recommendation and next steps

Logiciel & IngénierieLégerspike reportMis à jour 29 oct. 2026

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Mode d'emploi: Use it when the team needs an answer before it can estimate or decide. Write the question and the time box before starting. The main pitfall is a spike with no stop date or prototype code that slips into production.

Aperçu

Spike Report: [Question being investigated]

A short record of a time-boxed technical investigation: the question, why it matters, how it was explored, what was found, and what the team should do next. A spike produces knowledge, not production code. Based on common agile engineering practice; there is no formal standard. Replace every [bracketed] value and every line marked Example. Worked examples use Brindlemark, a fictional open-source Markdown editor.

Field	Value
Spike ID	[SPIKE-NNN or ticket number]
Owner	[@name]
Time box	[Example: 3 working days, YYYY-MM-DD to YYYY-MM-DD]
Actual time spent	[Example: 2.5 days]
Status	[Planned / In progress / Done / Stopped at time box]
Decision needed by	YYYY-MM-DD, for [Example: sprint planning of the sync epic]

1. Question

[The question this spike answers.]

Example: Can Brindlemark sync documents between two browsers with a CRDT library without growing stored data by more than 2 times on a 1 MB document after 1,000 edits?

2. Why it matters and success criteria

[The decision this unblocks and what "answered" looks like.]

Example: Measured storage size after 1,000 scripted edits for two candidate libraries.
Example: Merge of concurrent edits shown working in a throwaway prototype.

3. Approach

[Step, tool or experiment]
[Step]

Example: Built a throwaway prototype in a separate branch, scripted 1,000 random edits, measured stored size with each library.

4. Findings

Finding	Evidence
Example: Library A stored 1.6 MB after 1,000 edits on a 1 MB document (1.6 times)	Benchmark script and output in the spike branch
Example: Library B stored 3.1 MB (3.1 times)	Same script
[Finding]	[Link]

5. Risks and unknowns

[Example: Memory use on mobile browsers was not measured.]
[Unknown]

6. Recommendation and next steps

Recommendation: [Example: Use library A; confidence medium until the mobile memory test is done.]

Next step	Owner	Ticket
[Example: Measure memory on two mobile browsers]	[@name]	[#NNN]
[Example: Write ADR for the sync library choice]	[@name]	[#NNN]

Standard and licence note

Based on common agile engineering practice for time-boxed technical investigations ("spikes"); no formal standard defines this format. The structure and wording are original. Brindlemark is fictional, and the figures in the examples are invented for illustration. Template licence: MIT.

Modèles associés

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