{
  "id": 13949850,
  "title": "An Empty Screen Is Not Always a Failure",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/12/an-empty-screen-is-not-always-a-failure",
  "topic": "tech",
  "section": "Tech",
  "published": "2026-10-12T12:09:05.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Dev.to",
    "slug": "dev-to",
    "url": "https://dev.to/anton_brilliantov/an-empty-screen-is-not-always-a-failure-o1p"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Many users encounter an empty screen when expecting to see markup. The service responsible for this issue is the rule-set-markup service, which is the last link before the screen. At first glance, blaming this single service seems reasonable, as it is the final point of contact for the user. However, upon closer inspection, it becomes clear that this conclusion is not accurate.\n\nInitially, the analysis involved running every object in the vertical through the endpoint and counting the responses. Roughly two-thirds of the objects returned a \"not found\" error, while others failed due to timing issues. This analysis led to the conclusion that 23 objects did not rebuild, falsely attributing the problem to the rule-set-markup service.\n\nUpon further investigation, a more detailed analysis was conducted. Each object was questioned about its input and output. It was found that every object with input also had an output. Additionally, a comparison between the service's output and production data showed that 1,752 entities produced the expected results, with no discrepancies.\n\nThe empty screens are a real issue, but the service blamed for them is not the root cause. Instead, the problem originates from six different causes, each belonging to a different owner. These include the configuration's schedule, lack of keyword queries, missing schedule activation, queued tasks waiting for collection, providers not covering certain regions, and timing failures caused by the pace of the analysis itself.\n\nThe breakdown of the problem shifts the focus from blaming a single service to identifying specific owners for each empty screen. This breakdown allows for a more targeted approach to resolving the issue, as each cause can be addressed by the designated owner. The cost of this breakdown was the time and effort required to conduct the detailed analysis, but it ultimately leads to a more effective and efficient resolution.",
  "summary": "One visible complaint, six different causes - five of them outside the service being blamed. 👋 Hi, I'm Anton - a software engineer working mostly in PHP/Symfony and Go. Most of what I do right now is carving a live PHP monolith into Go microservices, and much of that job is checking whether the extracted services behave the same way in production. This series is about one question that keeps…",
  "key_points": [
    "Empty screens not always due to rule-set-markup service",
    "Six different causes identified, each with distinct owner",
    "Targeted approach enables more effective resolution"
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}