Reporting a bug to Coachful support

Before you report: quick checks that save time

Something isn't working the way you expect — a button won't respond, a page throws an error, a payment didn't process, or a feature has simply vanished. Before you file a bug report with Coachful support, run through these quick sanity checks. Most issues resolve in under two minutes, and eliminating them first means the support team can focus on real bugs instead of environment issues.

• Hard-refresh the page. Press Ctrl + Shift + R on Windows/Linux or Cmd + Shift + R on Mac to bypass the browser cache. Cached JavaScript is a surprisingly common culprit.
• Try a different browser or private/incognito window. Browser extensions (ad-blockers, password managers, translation tools) frequently interfere with web apps. An incognito window disables most extensions by default.
• Check your internet connection. Coachful's real-time features — Stream Chat, video calls, live notifications — require a stable connection. A brief drop can cause the UI to freeze or show stale data.
• Log out and log back in. An expired session token can produce confusing errors. Go to app.coachful.co/sign-in to get a fresh session.
• Check the Coachful status page. If there's a platform-wide incident, the team already knows. Confirm there's no active outage before submitting a duplicate report.

If none of the above fix things, you've got a genuine bug worth reporting. Keep reading — a well-written report gets resolved significantly faster than a vague one.

Why a good bug report matters

Support engineers can't reproduce what they can't understand. A report that says "the program page is broken" might sit in a queue for days while the team asks follow-up questions. A report that says "on Chrome 124 / macOS 14.4, when I click Publish on a draft program with more than 10 weeks, the spinner runs indefinitely and the program status stays 'Draft' in the dashboard" gets triaged in minutes.

The difference is specificity. Every extra detail you include — browser version, account email, steps to reproduce, expected vs. actual behavior — cuts the back-and-forth and gets you back to coaching faster. Think of a bug report as a recipe: the engineer needs to cook the same dish in their own kitchen before they can fix it.

Tip: Coaches using Coachful can also ask Michelle, the built-in AI assistant, whether a behavior is a known issue or an expected platform feature before filing a report. Just open Michelle from your coach dashboard and describe what you're seeing — she can often clarify in seconds.

What to include in your bug report

Use the sections below as a mental checklist every time you report a bug. Copy and paste this structure directly into your support message if it helps.

1. A clear, specific summary

Write one sentence that names the feature, the action, and the broken outcome. Avoid words like "doesn't work" or "is broken" on their own. Be precise:

• Bad: "Bookings don't work."
• Good: "Clients receive a booking confirmation email but the session never appears on my Coachful calendar."

2. Steps to reproduce

List every click and action a support engineer would need to take to see the bug themselves. Number them. Don't skip steps you consider obvious — the support team doesn't have context about your workflow.

1. Log in as a coach at yourslug.coachful.co.
2. Navigate to Bookings → Availability and confirm availability is set.
3. Open the client-facing booking page.
4. Select a time slot and click Book Session.
5. Check the coach dashboard calendar — the session is missing.

3. Expected vs. actual behavior

State what should happen and what actually happens. This removes ambiguity about whether you're reporting a bug or requesting a feature.

• Expected: The booked session appears on the coach calendar and triggers a confirmation email to both parties.
• Actual: The client receives a confirmation email, but the session does not appear on the coach calendar and no coach-side email is sent.

4. Your environment details

Bugs are often environment-specific. Include:

• Browser name and version (e.g., Chrome 124, Safari 17.4, Firefox 126)
• Operating system (e.g., macOS 14.4 Sonoma, Windows 11, iOS 17.5)
• Device type — desktop, tablet, or mobile. If mobile, note whether you're using the Coachful PWA (app.coachful.co) or the native iOS/Android app.
• Screen resolution — only needed for layout/UI bugs.

5. Your account information

Include your coach account email address and your Coachful subdomain (e.g., yourname.coachful.co). If the bug affects a specific client, include the client's email too — but never share passwords. If a specific program, squad, or offer is involved, name it exactly as it appears in your dashboard.

6. Screenshots, screen recordings, and error messages

A screenshot is worth a thousand words. A screen recording is worth ten thousand. Use tools like Loom, CleanShot, or your OS's built-in screen recorder to capture the bug happening in real time. If the browser console shows a red error, take a screenshot of that too.

To open the browser console: press F12 (Windows/Linux) or Cmd + Option + J (Mac), then click the Console tab. Any red errors are high-value data for the engineering team.

7. Frequency and workarounds

Is this bug 100% reproducible, or does it happen intermittently? Can you work around it (e.g., using a different browser)? Has it always happened, or did it start after a specific date or action? These details help the team prioritize and isolate the root cause.

How to submit your bug report to Coachful support

Once you've gathered all the details above, here's how to get your report to the right place quickly.

Option 1: In-app support chat (fastest)

1. Sign in at app.coachful.co/sign-in.
2. Click the Help or Support icon in the bottom corner of your dashboard.
3. Start a new conversation, paste your structured bug report, and attach your screenshots or recording.
4. You'll receive a ticket reference number. Keep it — you'll need it for follow-up messages.

Option 2: Email support

Send your report to the Coachful support email address. Use a subject line that mirrors your one-sentence summary (e.g., "Bug: Booked sessions not appearing on coach calendar — Chrome 124 / macOS 14.4"). Attach your files directly to the email rather than linking to cloud storage — attachments are ingested into the ticketing system automatically.

Option 3: Ask Michelle first

If you're unsure whether something is a bug or expected behavior, open Michelle from your coach dashboard. Describe the issue in plain language. Michelle can tell you whether it's a known limitation, point you to a relevant help article, or confirm that the behavior sounds like a genuine bug worth escalating to human support.

Pro tip: Copy your bug report text into Michelle first. If she recognizes the issue, she may be able to resolve it instantly — saving you the wait for a support response entirely.

What happens after you submit

Once your report is in the system, here's the typical workflow:

1. Acknowledgement — You'll receive an automated confirmation with a ticket number within a few minutes.
2. Triage — A support agent reviews your report, assesses severity (critical / high / medium / low), and assigns it to the relevant team (frontend, backend, billing, video/chat, etc.).
3. Reproduction — An engineer attempts to reproduce the bug using your steps. This is where detailed reports save the most time.
4. Fix or workaround — For critical bugs (data loss, billing errors, login failures), the team targets same-day patches. For medium/low severity, fixes are batched into the next release cycle. You'll receive an update either way.
5. Verification — Once the fix is deployed, support will ask you to verify the issue is resolved in your account before closing the ticket.

Response times vary by tier. Coaches on the Scale plan typically receive prioritized triage. If your issue is blocking client sessions or affecting billing, say so explicitly in your report — severity language like "this is blocking a live client session" moves tickets up the queue.

Troubleshooting: common mistakes when reporting bugs

Reporting a feature request as a bug

If something has never worked the way you want it to, it might be a feature request rather than a bug. For example, "I can't add a custom color to my program banner" is a feature request. "My custom program banner color stopped saving after I updated it" is a bug. The support team handles them differently, so label yours correctly — it speeds up routing.

Forgetting to include your subdomain or email

Without your account email or subdomain (e.g., yourname.coachful.co), support can't look up your account data or reproduce account-specific issues. This is the single most common reason a ticket stalls. Always include both.

Sending one screenshot instead of a recording

A static screenshot of an error is helpful. A screen recording showing the exact steps that trigger the error is far more valuable — especially for timing-related bugs, animations that freeze, or multi-step flows. Loom's free tier is more than sufficient for most bug recordings.

Reporting on a cached or extension-affected browser

Always confirm the bug exists in an incognito window before reporting. If it disappears in incognito, the culprit is likely a browser extension or cached file — and that's the answer, not a platform bug. Note this in your report either way so support doesn't spend time chasing a phantom.

Not mentioning when the bug started

"This has always been broken" and "this broke two days ago" lead to completely different investigations. If you can tie the bug's onset to a specific date, a change you made (e.g., updated availability settings, launched a new program, changed your Stripe plan), or a Coachful release note, include it. Time context is investigative gold.

Submitting multiple tickets for the same issue

If you don't hear back within your expected window, reply to your existing ticket rather than opening a new one. Multiple tickets for the same issue split the support team's attention and can actually slow resolution. Use the ticket reference number in all follow-up communication.

Reporting billing or payment bugs

Billing bugs — incorrect charges, failed Stripe payouts, coupon codes not applying, payment plans not activating — follow the same report structure but require a few extra data points:

• The exact offer name and price as it appears in your Coachful dashboard.
• The Stripe payment intent ID or charge ID (found in your Stripe dashboard under Payments). Coachful uses Stripe Connect, so both your Stripe account and the platform-level account may be involved.
• The client's email address and the date/time of the transaction.
• Whether the client was charged, not charged, or charged an incorrect amount.

Never share full card numbers or CVVs. Support will never ask for them. Share only transaction IDs and the last four digits of the card if needed for identification.

Reporting bugs with Stream Chat or video calls

Coachful's messaging and video features are powered by Stream. If you're experiencing chat or video issues (messages not sending, video call not connecting, audio dropping), add these details to your report:

• Whether the issue affects all squad members or just specific users.
• The squad name or call link involved.
• Any error messages displayed in the chat or call UI.
• Network conditions at the time (e.g., Wi-Fi vs. mobile data, VPN in use).

Stream publishes its own status page at status.getstream.io — check it first if you're experiencing widespread chat or video problems.

Ready to get your bug resolved?

A thorough bug report is the fastest path to a fix. Use the checklist in this guide — summary, steps to reproduce, expected vs. actual behavior, environment details, account info, and a screen recording — and you'll give the Coachful support team everything they need to triage, reproduce, and resolve your issue without delay.

Sign in to your workspace now and reach out through the in-app chat with your report ready to go. The faster we understand the bug, the faster you're back to doing what matters — coaching your clients.

Sign in to your Coachful workspace to submit your bug report, or browse more guides in the help center if you need answers first.