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Amazon·Software Engineer·Online Assessment (OA)·Intermediate

Intermediate
Jun 2026

Summary

Amazon SWE assessment where you're handed a broken loan-application repo and told to fix it using an AI assistant until the test suite goes green. The known bugs are spelled out for you, but the catch is there are related edge cases lurking that nobody mentions.

Questions Asked (1)

Q1

You are given a loan-application repository with known bugs. Use an AI assistant to identify and fix them so the full test suite passes. The stated issues are: users cannot create a loan, users cannot view their existing loans, and users with insufficient balance can still fund a loan.

Root Cause AnalysisTechnical Trade-offsAPI & Integrations
Author's notes

The prompt hands you three bugs on a plate, which feels generous until you realize the test suite has opinions about things the prompt never mentions.

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AI HintsAI Generated

Suggested Approach

Start by reproducing the bugs through the failing tests to understand the expected behavior, then systematically trace each issue to its root cause using the AI assistant for code exploration and hypothesis testing. Fix the bugs one at a time, verifying with tests after each change, and ensure the fixes are minimal and don't introduce regressions.

Pro tip: Demonstrate that you use the AI assistant as a tool for accelerated debugging, not as a crutch: articulate your own reasoning and validate AI suggestions with tests and code review. This shows you can leverage AI while maintaining engineering rigor.

1. Reproduce and Understand Failures

Run the test suite to see which tests fail and read the error messages and stack traces to understand the expected vs. actual behavior for each bug.

2. Isolate Root Causes

For each bug, trace the code path from the failing test to identify the faulty logic, using the AI assistant to explain code, suggest potential causes, and locate relevant files.

3. Implement and Verify Fixes

Make targeted code changes to address each root cause, then run the specific test to confirm the fix and ensure no other tests break.

4. Run Full Suite and Refactor

After all fixes, run the entire test suite to ensure all tests pass, and review changes for code quality, edge cases, and potential improvements.

Key Points to Mention

  • Reproducing bugs via tests to confirm understanding and establish a baseline
  • Using AI to accelerate root cause analysis by generating hypotheses and explaining code
  • Validating AI suggestions with tests and manual code review to avoid blind acceptance
  • Making minimal, targeted fixes to reduce risk of regressions
  • Running the full test suite after each fix to ensure no new failures
  • Documenting the root causes and fixes for future reference and knowledge sharing

AI-generated suggestions, not part of the candidate's original notes. May be inaccurate — verify before relying on them.