A developer FAQ for a new security tool should answer ten plain questions: what runs and when, what blocks a merge, how to fix or dispute a finding, how long it takes, what data leaves your network, and who to ask. Publish it before the first scan, and keep it short.
Why a FAQ beats an announcement email
An email is read once. A FAQ is found again when a check fails at an awkward moment. Developers will not read policy documents, but they will search for the error message. Write for that moment.
Ten questions to answer
- What is this tool and why are we adding it? Two sentences, the real reason, no slogans.
- When does it run? On pull requests, on a schedule, locally in the editor, or all three.
- What can block my merge? State the exact rule, such as "known exploited vulnerabilities in reachable code" and nothing vaguer.
- How long does it take? Give the current median and the target.
- How do I fix a finding? Link to an example of a good fix and any automated fix pull requests.
- What if I think the finding is wrong? Describe the dispute path, the reason you must provide, and the time to a response.
- What if the scanner is down or times out? Say whether the pipeline blocks or warns.
- What data is sent where? Say whether source code leaves your network, what is stored, and for how long. Check this with the vendor before you publish.
- Can I run it locally? Point to the editor plugin or command line.
- Who do I ask? A channel and a named owner, with typical response time.
Add a short section for managers
Managers need three extra answers: how coverage will be reported, how exceptions work and what the rollout dates are for their teams. Keep the language the same as the developer version, so the two never disagree.
Keep it honest
If a rule is likely to be noisy at first, say so, and say how you will tune it. People forgive a tool that admits its early flaws and fixes them. They do not forgive one that was described as perfect.
Maintain it
Give the FAQ an owner and a review date. After each rollout wave, add the questions people actually asked. Delete answers that have become wrong. A stale FAQ is worse than none.
Pair it with a five minute demo
A short screen recording of a pull request with a finding, a fix and a dispute does more than a page of text. Record it on a real repo, with the current version of the tool.
Quick check
Where should the FAQ live?
Next to the code and the pipeline docs developers already use, and linked from the check's own failure message.
Should the FAQ describe the vendor?
Only what developers need: what runs, what data moves and who to ask. Contract details belong with the tool owner.
Last reviewed: 19 October 2026.
