HBO: “This template is used by integration tests only.”

imgur.com

11 points·adanto6840··6 comments

Ah, sorry -- is a dupe of: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27546017

This kind of error can be caused by higher environment configs making their way into test environments. These types of email are generally sent via API to transactional email services. The prod api key is associated with the real subscribers.

I also just received this email - had to chuckle, someone just had a reallllll bad day.

Yep. Looks like somebody in the QA deparment has some explaining to do.

I feel like we've probably all made this kind of mistake at some point in our careers, so I do feel for the dev(s) that made the mistake. Ideally though, when your subscriber count is in the millions, you have policies/processes in place to prevent this kind of thing.

Anyways, I sure hope no one loses their job over it; it's a good learning experience & a great (even if embarrassing) way to improve overall process. :)

Understandably, most of us have been there. I know I’ve been a cog in motion in an instance just like this. Suits were more mad than any customer was (I heard nothing about it from customers).

Luckily, it’s just a simple textual email.

It’s a learning experience - and most notably - an obvious pointer to the fact that there’s some protections/documentation/processes that can be added to prevent this.

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