Core concepts

A few concepts run through every part of TraceUnified. Understanding them makes the rest of the platform straightforward.

Items

Almost everything you create is an item: a requirement, a test case, a risk, an architecture element, an SBOM component. Every item is a controlled record with its own identity, its own fields, a version history, and a place in its lifecycle. Items are the units that get linked, reviewed, signed, and reported on.

The thread

The thread is the web of governed links between items — the live traceability at the heart of the platform. A requirement links to the architecture that realizes it, the test that verifies it, and the risk that constrains it. Because these links are real records rather than inferred matches, the system can tell you exactly what is connected to what, where coverage is missing, and — when something changes — which downstream items are now suspect and need re-verification.

Lifecycle states

Items don’t just exist; they move through a defined lifecycle — for example from draft, through review, to approved. States are controlled: who can move an item, and what must happen first (such as a required signature), is governed by your configured workflow. This is what makes the records trustworthy enough to build a submission on.

Modules

A module is a workspace for one kind of item — the Requirements module, the Tests module, the Risks module, and so on. Each module gives you the right views, columns, and actions for that artifact, while sharing the same underlying item model and the same thread.

Projects

A project is the container for a body of work — a product, a product line, or a variant. Items live inside a project, and your active project sets the context for everything you see. The next article walks through creating one.