Sources

Introduction

What is the Sources screen?

The Sources screen is where you collect and organize every piece of input that describes what your software is supposed to do. Each item you store here is called a source — it might be a written requirement, a quick note, a JIRA story, or an uploaded document such as a specification or screenshot. Once a source exists, you can attach test cases to it, generate test cases from it, and prove that every requirement is covered by at least one test.

Think of the Sources screen as the filing cabinet for your ‘why’. If test cases are the answer to ‘how do we check this?’, sources are the answer to ‘what are we supposed to be checking, and where did that come from?’. Every drawer in the cabinet (the four tabs) holds a different kind of paperwork, but they all serve the same purpose: giving your tests a documented reason to exist.

Note

In one sentence: the Sources screen is the catalog of requirements, notes, JIRA tickets, and documents that your test cases are built from and traced back to.

Who this guide is for

This guide is written for anyone who needs to capture, organize, or review the requirements behind a test effort, including:

• Business analysts and product owners who write requirements and want them stored where the QA team can act on them.
• QA engineers and testers who need a single place to see every requirement and which test cases cover it.
• Test leads who care about traceability — knowing that nothing slipped through without a test.
• Anyone integrating with JIRA who wants to pull stories and tasks into Testver without re-typing them. No coding is required to use this screen. If you can fill in a form, click a button, and drag a file, you can use everything described here.

Key terms

Term	What it means in Testver
Source	A single stored item on this screen — a requirement, note, JIRA ticket, or document. Every source has a title and belongs to exactly one of the four tabs (its type).
Requirement	A formal statement of what the system must do. On the Requirements tab, each source carries a priority (Critical / High / Medium / Low) and is backed by an uploaded file.
Note	Free-form text — a requirement, user story, BDD scenario, edge-case description, or open question written in your own words. Stored under the Notes tab. (Internally this type is still labelled nlp for database compatibility.)
JIRA ticket	A story or task pulled in from a connected JIRA instance. Its title is shaped like PROJ-1234: Summary and it links back to the original issue in JIRA.
Document / Other Source	An uploaded file — a PDF, Office document, image, or text file — kept for reference under the Other Sources tab.
Content	The text body of a source. For Notes and JIRA tickets you type it; for Requirements and Documents it is extracted automatically from the uploaded file’s text.
Attachment	The binary file stored with a source (stored as base64). Images are previewed inline; other files show a name, type, and size.
Linked test case	A test case that has been associated with a source. The count of these appears on every source row as a TC badge.
Traceability	The chain that connects a requirement to the test cases that verify it. Deleting a source breaks this chain (the test cases survive, but the link is lost).
Quick Plan	A one-click action that bundles all of a source’s linked test cases into a ready-to-run test plan.

How it relates to other screens

Sources sits at the very front of the testing workflow — most other screens consume what you store here:

• AI Test Generation reads a source’s content and proposes test cases automatically, so the richer your source, the better the generated tests.
• Test Cases link back to sources; the number you see in the TC badge on each row reflects those links.
• Coverage and traceability views use sources to answer ‘is every requirement tested?’. When a source is deleted, Testver refreshes coverage statistics to reflect the lost link.
• Test Plans / Execution can be created straight from a source using the Create Plan button (Quick Plan), which gathers all linked test cases into a runnable plan.
• Connectors is where you configure the JIRA connection that powers the JIRA tab’s pull feature.

Tip

A good habit: capture the requirement here first, generate or write test cases against it, then watch the TC badge climb from 0 TCs to a healthy number. That badge is your at-a-glance coverage signal.

Getting Started

Opening Sources

1. From anywhere in Testver, navigate to the Sources screen (route /sources).
2. The screen opens on the Requirements tab by default. The active tab is also remembered in the URL via a tab query parameter, so you can bookmark or share a link to a specific tab.
3. If you have no sources yet on a tab, you will see an empty state with the tab’s icon and an Add button to create your first item.

Note

The four tabs are requirement, nlp (shown as Notes), jira, and document. The tab URL parameter accepts these exact values; an unknown value falls back to requirement.

The screen layout

Area	Where	What it does
Header	Top of screen	Shows the Sources title (bookmark icon) and the subtitle ‘Manage requirements, notes, JIRA tickets, and reference documents’.
Tab bar	Below the header	Four tabs: Requirements, Notes, JIRA, Other Sources. The active tab is underlined; a count badge shows how many items it holds.
Search box	Top of the content area	Filters the current tab’s list. Placeholder reads ‘Search <tab name>…’.
Add button	Right of the search box	Opens the add form. Its label changes per tab: Add Requirement, Add Note, Add Ticket, or Add Document.
JIRA pull panel	Only on the JIRA tab	A ‘Pull from JIRA’ panel for searching and importing issues (appears above the list).
Sources list	Main body	One collapsible card per source. Click a card to expand its details.
Empty state	Main body when list is empty	An icon, a ‘No <type> yet’ message, and an Add button.

At a glance

• Switching tabs clears the search box, closes any open form, and resets form fields — each tab starts fresh.
• The count badge next to a tab label only appears for the active tab and only when it has at least one item.
• Every source card is collapsible: the header shows a summary, and clicking it reveals full content, attachments, linked test cases, and metadata.
• Actions on each card — Create Plan, open external link, Edit, Delete, and expand — live on the right side of the card header.

The Sources List

Each tab shows its sources as a vertical list of cards. The four tabs hold four different source types; the card layout is shared but a few details differ by type.

The four source tabs

Tab	Type	Icon	Best for	Requires a file?
Requirements	requirement	Clipboard (blue)	Formal requirements with a priority, backed by an uploaded document.	Yes — file is mandatory
Notes	nlp	Speech bubble (purple)	Free-form text: requirements, user stories, BDD scenarios, ideas, or open questions in your own words.	No — typed content only
JIRA	jira	JIRA logo	Stories and tasks pulled from a connected JIRA instance, with a link back to the original issue.	No — content is the story / acceptance criteria
Other Sources	document	Paperclip (amber)	Reference documents and images: specs, API docs, screenshots, mockups.	Yes — file is mandatory

Anatomy of a source card

In its collapsed state, each card header displays:

Element	Description
Type icon	A small icon (left) indicating the source type.
Title	The source’s title, truncated if long.
Priority badge	Only on the Requirements tab — a coloured pill: Critical (red), High (orange), Medium (amber), Low (green).
Content preview	The first 80 characters of the content, with an ellipsis if longer.
File name	A paperclip icon plus the attached file’s name, when a file is attached.
TC badge	A grey pill showing the number of linked test cases, e.g. 3 TCs (or 1 TC, 0 TCs).
Create Plan button	Appears only when the source has at least one linked test case (see Section 5).
External link	An open-in-new-tab icon, shown when the source has an external URL (typically JIRA tickets).
Edit / Delete	A pencil and a trash icon for editing or removing the source.
Expand chevron	A downward chevron that rotates when the card is expanded.

Searching within a tab

1. Pick the tab whose items you want to search.
2. Type into the Search box at the top of the list. The placeholder shows which tab you are searching.
3. The list filters as you type — searching runs against the current tab’s sources on the server.
4. Clear the box (or switch tabs) to see the full list again.

Note

Search is scoped to the active tab only. To find a source across types, check each tab in turn.

Adding a Source

Click Add (top-right of the list) or the button in the empty state. A form appears inline above the list. The fields shown depend on which tab you are on.

Adding a requirement

1. Open the Requirements tab and click Add Requirement.
2. Enter a Title (required), for example User Authentication Flow.
3. Choose a Priority: Critical, High, Medium (default), or Low.
4. Attach a file — this is required. Click the dropzone or drag a file onto it. The file’s text content is extracted automatically and becomes the requirement’s description.
5. Click Save. The button stays disabled until both a title and a file are present (hover shows ‘Attach a file to enable Save’).

Adding a note

1. Open the Notes tab and click Add Note.
2. Enter a Title, for example Shopping cart checkout flow.
3. Type into the Content box: any free-form text — a requirement, user story, BDD scenario, edge case, or open question.
4. Click Save. Notes require only a title (content is optional but recommended).

Adding a JIRA ticket manually

Besides the automated pull (Section 4.6), you can add a JIRA ticket by hand:

1. Open the JIRA tab and click Add Ticket.
2. Enter a Title, for example PROJ-1234: Add SSO Support.
3. Paste the Story / Acceptance Criteria into the content box.
4. Optionally fill in the JIRA URL, e.g. https://yourcompany.atlassian.net/browse/PROJ-1234. This powers the external-link icon on the card.
5. Click Save.

Adding another source (document)

1. Open the Other Sources tab and click Add Document.
2. Enter a Title, for example API Specification v2.0.
3. Attach a file (required) by clicking the dropzone or dragging a file in.
4. Click Save.

Tip

When you drop or pick a file and the Title is still empty, Testver auto-fills the title with the file’s name to save you a step.

Supported file formats

The file picker on the Requirements and Other Sources tabs accepts the following formats:

Category	Extensions / types accepted	Notes
Images	any image/* (PNG, JPG, GIF, etc.)	Previewed inline as a thumbnail in the form and in the expanded card.
PDF	.pdf	Stored as an attachment.
Office documents	.doc, .docx, .xls, .xlsx	Stored as an attachment.
Text files	.txt, .csv, .json, .md (plus .xml, .yaml, .yml, .log, .html, .htm)	Text is read and used to auto-fill the description / content when it is still empty.

• Maximum file size is 10 MB. Files larger than this are silently ignored — nothing is attached.
• Files are stored as base64-encoded data inside the source, so the attachment travels with the record.
• You can attach one file per source. Dropping multiple files uses only the first.
• To remove an attached file before saving, click the small X on the file chip in the form.

Caution

If you drag a file larger than 10 MB, the upload area will simply do nothing — there is no error message. Check the file size if an upload appears to be ignored.

How content is extracted

Testver derives the searchable, AI-readable content of a source automatically:

• For text-based files (txt, csv, json, md, xml, yaml, log, html), the file’s text is read and placed into the content field when that field is empty — so the document’s text becomes the requirement description without retyping.
• For binary files (PDF, Office, images), the file is stored as an attachment; its name, type, and size are recorded, and images get an inline preview.
• For JIRA pulls, the issue’s description is converted from Atlassian Document Format (ADF) into plain text — including lists, tables, blockquotes, code blocks, mentions, and links — and any Acceptance Criteria field is appended under an ‘Acceptance Criteria:’ heading.

Note

This extracted content is what AI Test Generation reads. A document whose text was extracted cleanly will produce far better generated test cases than one stored only as an opaque binary.

Viewing a Source & Its Requirements

Click any source card to expand it. The expanded panel reveals everything Testver knows about that source.

The expanded source panel

Section	Shown when	Contents
Content	The source has text content	The full text body, scrollable, preserving line breaks (up to a fixed height, then scrolls).
Attachment	The source has a stored file	An inline image preview for images, or the file name with its size in KB for other files.
Linked Test Cases	One or more test cases are linked	A list of each linked test case showing its ID, title, and priority. The heading shows the count.
Metadata	Always	Who added the source (‘Added by …’) and the creation date.

Note

Linked test cases are loaded on demand — they are fetched only when you expand the card, so the first expansion may take a moment to populate the list.

Acting on a source

From a source you can move directly into the rest of the testing workflow:

• See linked test cases — expand the card to view every test case tied to this source, each with its ID, title, and priority.
• Track coverage — the TC badge on the card header is your coverage signal; 0 TCs means the requirement is not yet covered.
• Generate tests — feed the source’s content into AI Test Generation to have test cases proposed for you (the cleaner the extracted content, the better the results).
• Create a Test Plan (Quick Plan) — when a source already has linked test cases, a Create Plan button appears on its card.

Creating a test plan from a source

1. On a source that has at least one linked test case, click Create Plan in the card header.
2. Testver bundles all of that source’s linked test cases into a new test plan. A spinner shows while the plan is being built.
3. On success a ‘Test Plan Created!’ dialog appears, showing the plan name and the number of test cases included, with ‘Cycle ready’.
4. Click Go to Execution to jump straight to the Test Plans / Execution screen, or Close to stay on Sources.
5. If plan creation fails, a red toast appears in the bottom-right with the error message; dismiss it with its X.

Note

The Create Plan button only appears when the source has one or more linked test cases — a source with 0 TCs has nothing to bundle into a plan.

Pulling Issues from JIRA in Bulk

The JIRA tab includes a ‘Pull from JIRA’ panel for importing issues in bulk. It requires a configured JIRA connector.

1. Open the JIRA tab. If JIRA is not connected, you’ll see a ‘JIRA Not Connected’ card with a Go to Connectors link — configure the connector there first.
2. Once connected, choose a Project from the dropdown (required). Selecting a project auto-fills a default JQL Query like project = "PROJ" ORDER BY updated DESC.
3. Optionally refine the JQL Query, then click Search (Search is disabled until a project is picked).
4. Review the results list (up to 50 issues). Each row shows the issue key, summary, status, priority, type, and assignee.
5. Tick the issues you want, or use Select All / Deselect All. Issues already imported are greyed out, badged ‘Already imported’, and cannot be re-selected.
6. Click Import N to Sources. Each selected issue becomes a JIRA source with its description (and any acceptance criteria) extracted into content and a link back to the original issue.

Caution

A project must be selected before searching — JIRA rejects a search with no project, which usually returns zero issues. The Search button stays disabled, and an amber hint reminds you to pick a project.

Tip

Duplicate protection is automatic: Testver detects already-imported issues by matching the issue key in both the source title and its browse URL, so you cannot accidentally import the same ticket twice.

Editing & Deleting Sources

Editing a source

1. Click the pencil icon on a source card.
2. The form re-opens pre-filled with the source’s current title, content, priority, URL, and attachment.
3. Make your changes and click Update. The same Save rules apply (title required; file required on Requirements and Other Sources).

Deleting a source

1. Click the trash icon on a source card.
2. A confirmation dialog appears, worded to the source type (e.g. ‘Delete this requirement?’).
3. If the source has linked test cases, the dialog warns you how many — those test cases are not deleted, but their link to this source is removed and traceability is lost.
4. Click Delete to confirm, or Cancel to keep the source.

Caution

Deleting a source is permanent and cannot be undone. If a delete fails on the server (for example, leftover linked rows), Testver shows the real error in an alert rather than failing silently — read it and act on it instead of clicking Delete repeatedly.

Common Tasks (How Do I…?)

I want to…	Do this
Add a formal requirement	Requirements tab → Add Requirement → set title, priority, attach a file → Save.
Jot down an idea or user story	Notes tab → Add Note → title + free-form content → Save.
Store a spec or screenshot	Other Sources tab → Add Document → title + attach file → Save.
Pull stories from JIRA	JIRA tab → pick a project → Search → select issues → Import to Sources.
Find a specific source	Open its tab and type in the Search box (search is per-tab).
See which tests cover a requirement	Click the source card to expand it and read the Linked Test Cases list.
Turn a source’s tests into a runnable plan	Click Create Plan on the card (only shown when test cases are linked).
Open the original JIRA issue	Click the external-link icon on a JIRA source card.
Change a requirement’s priority	Click the pencil icon, adjust Priority, click Update.
Remove a source	Click the trash icon and confirm in the dialog.

Tips & Best Practices

• Pick the right tab. Formal, prioritized requirements belong on Requirements; quick text belongs on Notes; JIRA work belongs on JIRA; reference files belong on Other Sources.
• Upload text-friendly files when you can. Text-based formats have their content extracted automatically, which makes search and AI test generation dramatically better than opaque binaries.
• Let the title auto-fill. Drop the file first and Testver names the source after it; tidy the title afterwards if needed.
• Use priority deliberately. Critical and High requirements stand out with red and orange badges — reserve them so the colour stays meaningful.
• Import JIRA in batches. Use Select All to queue many issues at once; already-imported tickets are skipped automatically.
• Watch the TC badge. A source sitting at 0 TCs is an untested requirement — treat it as a to-do.
• Mind traceability before deleting. If a source has linked test cases, deleting it severs the link even though the tests survive. Re-point those tests first if traceability matters.

Troubleshooting & FAQ

Symptom	Likely cause	Fix
The Save button is greyed out	On Requirements / Other Sources, a file isn’t attached, or the title is empty.	Add a title and attach a file. Hovering Save shows ‘Attach a file to enable Save’.
I dragged a file and nothing happened	The file is over the 10 MB limit (ignored silently).	Use a file under 10 MB, or split / compress it.
My document’s text didn’t fill the content box	The file is a binary (PDF / Office / image) — only text formats are extracted.	Type the description manually, or upload a text version (txt, md, csv, json).
The JIRA tab shows ‘JIRA Not Connected’	No JIRA connector is configured.	Click Go to Connectors and set up the JIRA connector.
The Search button on the JIRA panel is disabled	No project is selected.	Pick a project from the dropdown; the default JQL fills in automatically.
A JIRA issue is greyed out and can’t be selected	It’s already imported as a source.	It carries an ‘Already imported’ badge — find the existing source on the JIRA tab; duplicates are blocked by design.
The Create Plan button isn’t on my source	The source has no linked test cases.	Link or generate test cases first; the button appears once at least one exists.
Delete failed with an error alert	The server rejected the delete (e.g. leftover linked rows).	Read the alert message and resolve the stated cause; don’t retry blindly.
I can’t find a source I know exists	Search is scoped to the current tab.	Check the other tabs — the source may be under a different type.
Linked test cases didn’t show when I expanded a card	They load only on expansion and may lag briefly.	Wait a moment; the list populates after the on-demand fetch completes.

Related

• Test Cases — where generated cases land.
• AI Test Gen — generates cases from sources.
• Coverage — visualizes source ↔ case traceability.
• Connectors → JIRA — wire JIRA in.