Build & maintain the thread
An end-to-end walkthrough — create links, read the trace matrix, find coverage gaps, resolve suspect links, and run impact analysis before a change.
Traceability isn’t a module you fill in — it’s the connections you make as you work, made visible. This guide covers building those connections and keeping them honest. It uses the universal item actions from Working with items, and focuses on the trace-specific views. For the concepts, see The thread, Creating links, and The trace matrix.
Create the links
Links are deliberate and typed — a requirement verified by a test, an element that realizes a requirement, a risk that threatens a component.
- From an item, create a link to the item it relates to and choose the relationship type (see Links & attachments).
- Work upstream and downstream until each item is connected to what it satisfies and what satisfies it.
Result A connected thread. Coverage updates immediately on the affected items and your dashboards.
Read the trace matrix
The trace matrix shows relationships across modules in one grid — requirements against tests, requirements against risks, and so on.
- Open the Trace Matrix and choose the two item types to cross — for example requirements (rows) against tests (columns).
- Read the grid: a filled cell is a link; an empty row is an item with no coverage in that direction.
- Click into a cell to inspect or create the link it represents.
Result A live picture of Upstream and Downstream coverage you can read and act on directly.
Close coverage gaps
- Open the coverage view to list items missing the links they need — a requirement with no verifying test, a hazard with no control.
- Work through each Gap, creating the missing link or recording why none is needed.
Result Full, auditable coverage — gaps are findings you close, not surprises you discover before a submission. See Coverage.
Resolve suspect links
When an item changes, the links to and from it flag as suspect, so a downstream item is re-verified against the new version rather than silently assumed to still hold.
Before you start Open the suspect links view for your project.
- For each suspect link, open both ends and check whether the change actually affects the relationship.
- If the link still holds, Confirm it; if you've re-verified and updated the downstream item, Resolve it.
Result Suspect flags are cleared with a record of who re-verified what and when. See Suspect links.
Run impact analysis before a change
- Select the item you're about to change and run impact analysis.
- Review everything connected to it upstream and downstream — what you'll need to re-verify if you proceed.
Result You go into a change knowing its blast radius, not discovering it afterward. See Impact analysis.
Where to go next
To turn coverage and quality into a report or dashboard for a review or audit, see Dashboards and Reports.