Barriers to finding context — Knowledge data 2026 | Stack Overflow Developer Survey

Developer Survey 2026

Question

Which of the following make it difficult to get the context you need for work? Select all that apply.

multi select
Optional
v2026.1

Data

	Respondents	Percent
Information is incomplete	7,825	63.2%
Important context lives in people’s heads	7,541	60.9%
Information is outdated	6,989	56.5%
Information is spread across too many tools	6,603	53.4%
I do not know where to look	3,816	30.8%
Important decisions are hard to find later	3,226	26.1%
Different teams have different versions of the truth	3,144	25.4%
Search does not return useful results	2,881	23.3%
AI tools do not have enough context	2,471	20.0%
I do not know which source is authoritative	2,272	18.4%
AI tools use the wrong context	2,075	16.8%
Access or permissions prevent me from seeing what I need	1,961	15.8%
I usually have the context I need	1,193	9.6%
I intentionally limit context because of privacy or security concerns	753	6.1%
Not applicable	291	2.4%
Other	193	1.6%

Use this data

Citation

Response data is released under the ODbL 1.0, which asks that you attribute it.

Stack Exchange Inc. (2026). “Barriers to finding context”. Stack Overflow Developer Survey 2026. Licensed under ODbL 1.0. https://survey.stackoverflow.co/2026/knowledge/data/context-problems

JSON

Structured for code, with the question, the year and the source url alongside the numbers.

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  "asked": "Which of the following make it difficult to get the context you need for work? Select all that apply.",
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    {
      "response": "Information is incomplete",
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    {
      "response": "Important context lives in people’s heads",
      "count": 7541,
      "pct": 0.609
    },
    {
      "response": "Information is outdated",
      "count": 6989,
      "pct": 0.565
    },
    {
      "response": "Information is spread across too many tools",
      "count": 6603,
      "pct": 0.534
    },
    {
      "response": "I do not know where to look",
      "count": 3816,
      "pct": 0.308
    },
    {
      "response": "Important decisions are hard to find later",
      "count": 3226,
      "pct": 0.261
    },
    {
      "response": "Different teams have different versions of the truth",
      "count": 3144,
      "pct": 0.254
    },
    {
      "response": "Search does not return useful results",
      "count": 2881,
      "pct": 0.233
    },
    {
      "response": "AI tools do not have enough context",
      "count": 2471,
      "pct": 0.2
    },
    {
      "response": "I do not know which source is authoritative",
      "count": 2272,
      "pct": 0.184
    },
    {
      "response": "AI tools use the wrong context",
      "count": 2075,
      "pct": 0.168
    },
    {
      "response": "Access or permissions prevent me from seeing what I need",
      "count": 1961,
      "pct": 0.158
    },
    {
      "response": "I usually have the context I need",
      "count": 1193,
      "pct": 0.096
    },
    {
      "response": "I intentionally limit context because of privacy or security concerns",
      "count": 753,
      "pct": 0.061
    },
    {
      "response": "Not applicable",
      "count": 291,
      "pct": 0.024
    },
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      "count": 193,
      "pct": 0.016
    }
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}

Markdown

A formatted table, ready to paste into a document, an issue or a prompt.

|  | Respondents | Percent |
| --- | ---: | ---: |
| Information is incomplete | 7,825 | 63.2% |
| Important context lives in people’s heads | 7,541 | 60.9% |
| Information is outdated | 6,989 | 56.5% |
| Information is spread across too many tools | 6,603 | 53.4% |
| I do not know where to look | 3,816 | 30.8% |
| Important decisions are hard to find later | 3,226 | 26.1% |
| Different teams have different versions of the truth | 3,144 | 25.4% |
| Search does not return useful results | 2,881 | 23.3% |
| AI tools do not have enough context | 2,471 | 20.0% |
| I do not know which source is authoritative | 2,272 | 18.4% |
| AI tools use the wrong context | 2,075 | 16.8% |
| Access or permissions prevent me from seeing what I need | 1,961 | 15.8% |
| I usually have the context I need | 1,193 | 9.6% |
| I intentionally limit context because of privacy or security concerns | 753 | 6.1% |
| Not applicable | 291 | 2.4% |
| Other | 193 | 1.6% |

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