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# undocumented feature

phrase (noun phrase, «an undocumented feature», plural «undocumented features»)

«undocumented feature» in the English dictionary: in the primary school — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova.

## In the primary school

Source: Mova's pupils' dictionary. Licence: [Elamur Cosmic License](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/docs/LICENSE/). Reviewed: the dictionary the pupils of Mova's primary school read; its examples quote the lessons and public-domain tales. Ships with Mova.

### Meaning

1. (humorous, computing) a bug or mistake in software, joked about as if it were a planned feature.
2. (literal) a real feature of a program that is not written in the manual.

### In the lessons

Programmers and IT staff use it jokingly to make an error sound deliberate («It's not a bug, it's an undocumented feature»). Also a literal technical term.

### Examples

- (joke) It's not a bug, it's an undocumented feature!
- (office) The printer's habit of eating paper is an undocumented feature.
- (programmer) That crash is an undocumented feature we're fixing now.
- (chat) my game lets you walk through walls, undocumented feature lol
- (literal) The manual doesn't mention it, but the shortcut is an undocumented feature that works.
- (review) The camera has some useful undocumented features.

### Note

Trap: usually a joke meaning «bug». The literal meaning — a hidden but working feature — also exists. «Documented» = written in the manual.