Cheriton researchers create tool to automate bug reproduction tests

Friday, March 27, 2026

A trio of Cheriton researchers have developed an AI-powered tool that can accelerate software debugging via test automation. 

One of the first steps in software debugging is bug reproduction, where a programmer will replicate a bug to understand and decipher its behaviour. They can convert their replication instructions into a bug reproducible test (BRT), a test that fails if the bug is present and passes once it’s gone. 

“As a software engineer, you must be able to reproduce any problems that your customer is facing before you attempt to solve them,” explains Noble Saji Mathews(MMath ’25), a computer science alum. “Let’s say they clicked on a button and the entire program crashed. So, if I make changes to the software and run a BRT, in this case, clicking on the same button as my customer and seeing if the program will crash, I can confirm if the bug has been fixed.”

Read the full article from Computer Science to learn more. 

A trio of Cheriton researchers have developed an AI-powered tool that can accelerate software debugging via test automation. 

One of the first steps in software debugging is bug reproduction, where a programmer will replicate a bug to understand and decipher its behaviour. They can convert their replication instructions into a bug reproducible test (BRT), a test that fails if the bug is present and passes once it’s gone. 

“As a software engineer, you must be able to reproduce any problems that your customer is facing before you attempt to solve them,” explains Noble Saji Mathews(MMath ’25), a computer science alum. “Let’s say they clicked on a button and the entire program crashed. So, if I make changes to the software and run a BRT, in this case, clicking on the same button as my customer and seeing if the program will crash, I can confirm if the bug has been fixed.”

Read the full article from Computer Science to learn more.