Trace types define the vocabulary of your traceability: verifies, derives, satisfies and so on. Traceability rules then say, per item type, which of those traces must exist and how changes propagate. Both are managed in Organization settings and need org admin permissions.
Trace types
Click the settings gear, choose Organization settings, then Trace types. The table lists every trace type with its icon, Usage (how many rules and traces use it, or Not used), Created and Updated dates. The built-in types carry a System defined tag and cannot be edited or deleted. Use Search trace types to filter the list.
Create a trace type
Click New trace type.
Enter a name in Trace type. Names must be unique.
Click Select icon and pick an icon. It appears on every trace of this type.
Choose a Direction:
Directed - the trace has a source and a target, like verifies.
Undirected - both ends are equal, like is related to.
Either - users choose directed or undirected each time they create a trace.
Enter the verbs shown in the app. Directed types have a Downstream verb (e.g. verifies) and an Upstream verb (e.g. is verified by). Undirected types have an Undirected verb (e.g. is related to). Leave a verb empty to use the defaults is downstream of, is upstream of and is related to.
Check the Preview, which shows how each verb reads between items A and B, then click Save.
To change a custom type later, click its ... button and choose Edit. Delete asks for confirmation first; check the Usage column before deleting a type that traces or rules still use.
Traceability rules
Rules live on the item type. Go to Organization settings > Item types, open a type and scroll to Traceability rules. The graph at the top draws the type and every rule that touches it; the cards below are the rules themselves.
Add a rule
Click New rule (or Add new rule when rules already exist). A new card appears with the current type as the source and an undirected Related trace.
Pick the item types at both ends of the rule. One end must be the type you are editing, and the two ends must differ.
In Select relation, choose the trace type and its direction. Rules read from the upper type to the lower one, so a rule Requirement - is verified by - Test case means each requirement should have a downstream test case. Use the swap button to flip the two types.
Set the two switches:
Required - every item of this type must have at least one trace matching the rule. Items without one show a Missing row in their Traced to list.
Triggers suspect - if the upper item changes, the trace to the lower item is marked Suspect until someone clears it.
Changes save immediately. Duplicate rules are rejected with a warning. Delete a rule with the bin icon on its card.
Traces outside the rules
Below the rules is the switch Allow trace creation with any other item type not specified in these rules. Leave it on and users can trace items of this type to anything. Switch it off and traces of this type that match no rule are flagged as Invalid trace in the Traced to list, with a See trace rules link back to this page. Items with no type are never checked against rules.
How rules appear to users
The Traced to section of every item lists a Missing row for each required rule that is not yet satisfied. Clicking it opens a guided screen to create the trace.
Suspect and Invalid trace marks appear on the affected rows, with See changes, Clear and See trace rules actions in the item preview.
The dashboard's Trace Rules tab shows the rules of the whole organization as a graph.
For the day-to-day side, see Traceability.