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Missing validation on publish for required-content products: Two distinct product types (External/Affiliate and Downloadable) can be published with empty required fields — External publishes with no URL, Downloadable publishes with no download file — neither triggers a validation warning. The pattern is: WC's save handler does not enforce content requirements before setting
post_status=publish. Confirmed in:grouped-external-merchant(minor — empty URL),virtual-downloadable-merchant(major — no download file). Confidence: high. -
JS-driven tab visibility inconsistency (Variations tab): The Variations tab in the Product data meta box was expected (per recon S6) to be hidden until Variable type is selected, but the Tester observed it appearing for all product types. This may be a WC 10.7.0 regression or environment-specific JS loading order issue. The root cause is unclear — it did not prevent variation workflow from functioning, but it is a UI inconsistency. Confirmed in:
variable-product-merchant(major). Confidence: medium (possible env/JS timing artifact). -
Product Duplicate action silent/opaque result: Clicking Duplicate from the product list row action did not produce a clearly visible new product in the product list on reload — the duplicate may be created as a draft, filtered out of the default view, or silently failing. The pattern is that destructive/cloning operations with no immediate feedback are a usability blind spot. Confirmed in:
simple-product-merchant(as Question — not definitively reproduced as Problem). Confidence: medium.
- Variable products: 1 major Problem (Variations tab visibility) + 2 Questions. The variation configuration workflow is the most complex product type surface and produced the most findings. Worth deeper coverage on a next run, particularly around the JS tab-hide behavior and CLI-based variation creation syntax.
- Downloadable/External products: 2 Problems (1 major, 1 minor) both around missing publish-time validation. Both product types share the same save handler pattern — a single fix point likely addresses both.
- Shopper browse/search/filter: 0 Problems, 7 Praises. Shop page, sorting, category archive, search, out-of-stock display, and sale badges all functioned correctly end-to-end.
- Golden path (merchant → shopper): 0 Problems, 1 Praise. The primary value chain (publish → discover on /shop/ → detail page → add to cart) works correctly.
- Simple product CRUD: 0 Problems. Core create/publish/update/delete lifecycle is solid; Questions were around Duplicate opacity and Quick Edit availability.
- Product catalog admin (categories, tags, brands, bulk edit): 0 Problems, 2 Praises. Brands taxonomy (WC 10.x new feature) works correctly.
- The Variations tab appearing on all product types (not just Variable) contradicts recon S6 — the recon scout observed it hidden, but the Tester saw it visible. This is a runtime divergence that warrants a follow-up probe.
- Quick Edit availability for products in WC 10.7.0 is unclear — it may only be available in the WC Admin dashboard rather than the classic product list.