Traceability links
Links are typed, directional relationships between artifacts. They are what turns a pile of requirements into a traceable system — and they feed the V&V coverage rollups and the traceability matrix.
Link types
| Type | Direction | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| verifies | test-case → requirement | The test demonstrates the requirement is met |
| validates | test-case → user-need | The test confirms the user need is met |
| satisfies | design-item → requirement | The design fulfills the requirement |
| mitigates | design-item → hazard | The design reduces or eliminates the hazard |
| decomposes-to | requirement → requirement | Parent requirement broken into sub-requirements |
| derives-from | requirement → user-need | The requirement originates from a user need |
| impacts | any → any | A change to one artifact affects the other |
| relates-to | any ↔ any | Loose, non-semantic association |
Direction matters: a verifies link always goes from the test case to the requirement. When you look at the requirement, the same link is shown with its inverse label ("verified by").
Creating links
Links are created from an artifact's editor / link panel:
- Select the source artifact and open its editor.
- Pick a link type — only types valid for the source artifact's type are offered.
- Pick the target artifact — the list is filtered to types the chosen link type allows.
Both the app and the server enforce these rules, so an invalid combination (say, a requirement "verifying" a hazard) is rejected with an explanation.
Viewing links
On the artifact details:
- Links from this artifact — outgoing links, grouped by type.
- Links to this artifact — incoming links, shown with inverse labels.
Clicking a linked artifact navigates to it.
Where links come from automatically
- The guided wizard creates links as it materializes drafts: user needs relate to their persona, requirements derive from their need, and verification stubs verify their requirement.
- Agents can propose links; with the default proposal write mode you approve them before they land (see Runs & runners).
The Traceability Matrix
Matrix in the project sidebar shows one row per requirement with columns for:
- Linked needs — user needs the requirement derives from
- Design outputs — design items that satisfy it
- Test cases + latest result — verifying tests, each chip showing its latest recorded result (pass / fail / blocked / not-run)
- Linked hazards
Extras:
- Baseline selector — view the matrix as of any baseline (read-only).
- Quick filter — type to filter rows across all columns.
- Export CSV — download the matrix for spreadsheets or reports.