Traceability shows which requirements (Jira issues) your test cases cover and how those tests last ran. You link test cases to the Jira issues they verify. Then you build a traceability report from the Jira projects you choose. Each version of a report is a snapshot of its requirements at the moment it was generated, with their linked test cases, latest results and defects.
This needs a Jira site connected to Probara and the Pro or Enterprise plan; see Jira Cloud integration. Without an active integration, the Traceability screen shows a notice and you cannot create reports. Existing reports stay readable. GitHub issues can be requirements too: see Traceability with GitHub.
Who can do what
| Action | Who |
|---|---|
| See reports, their versions and requirements | Anyone who can open the project |
| Create, generate versions, rename and delete reports and versions | Members, admins and owners (anyone who can edit test cases) |
| Link and unlink Jira issues on test cases | Members, admins and owners (anyone who can edit test cases) |
| Link and unlink test cases from inside Jira | Jira users who can edit the issue; see The Probara panel in Jira |
Link a test case to a Jira issue
- Open the test case and go to its Properties tab, or open the case in the full editor. The Jira issues section lists the Jira issues the case covers.
- Select Link Jira issue.
- Type words from the issue summary to search the Jira projects mapped to this project, or paste an
issue key such as
WEB-40. - Pick the issue. It appears under Jira issues with its live Jira status.
The issue gets a Probara link in Jira pointing back to the case. To remove an issue, select Unlink and confirm: the issue stays in Jira, and the case no longer counts toward its coverage. Archived test cases keep their links and can still be linked.
You can link only issues of Jira projects mapped to this Probara project. If an issue was moved in Jira, the project it lives in now must be mapped too.
Link many cases at once
- In the project’s Repository, select the test cases.
- In the selection bar, choose Link to Jira issue….
- Pick the story, epic or other issue these cases cover (search or paste a key).
Probara links them and sums it up in one message: how many were linked, how many already were, and how many were not found. Large selections are sent in batches of 200. If something fails part-way, the message says what went through; retrying sends only the cases that were not processed yet.
Create a report
- In the project’s side rail, select Traceability (under Cases). The entry is always visible.
- Select Create report.
- Enter a Report name. It starts as “Traceability report” followed by today’s date.
- Choose one or more Project. The list shows the Jira projects that each connected site allows, not only the projects this Probara project maps.
- Optionally choose Issue types. Leave it empty to include every issue type of the selected projects.
- Select Create report. Probara saves the report and starts its first version.
A report covers only the projects and issue types you chose, so a new report does not include every project of the site. A report holds up to 20 Jira projects and 50 issue types, and its name can have up to 200 characters.
Generate versions
Creating a report generates Version 1. To take a new snapshot with the same projects and issue types, select Generate new version in the report’s row menu, or on the version screen. Versions are numbered 1, 2, 3 and so on. A deleted version’s number is not reused.
Generation runs in the background. A version shows one of these statuses:
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Queued | Waiting to start. |
| Generating | Probara is reading the requirements from Jira. |
| Ready | The snapshot is complete. |
| Failed | Generation stopped. Nothing of the version is kept. |
You can leave the page while a version generates. The version screen shows Generating the snapshot and updates itself until the version is ready. Only a ready version shows its totals and requirements.
A ready version never changes. Later edits in Jira or Probara do not appear in it. To see the current state, generate a new version. You cannot generate a version while another version of the same report is queued or generating.
A version holds at most 5,000 requirements. A failed version shows why it failed:
| Reason shown | What to do |
|---|---|
| A selected project’s connection is no longer active, or no longer allows the project | Check the Jira connection in the integration settings. If the project is no longer allowed, create a report with the projects that are. |
| The filters match more than 5,000 requirements | Create a report with fewer projects or issue types. |
| The issue tracker could not be read | Wait a few minutes, then generate a new version. |
| Anything else | Generate a new version. |
Manage reports and versions
The Traceability screen lists every report with its Jira projects, issue types, number of versions, and the linked and unlinked counts of its latest version. Select a report to see its versions, with each version’s status, generation time and counts. Select a version to read it.
From a report’s row menu you can generate a new version, rename the report or delete it. Deleting a report deletes all its versions, and this cannot be undone. A version can be renamed or deleted on its own; deleting one keeps the others. Clearing a version’s name shows it again as “Version N”.
Read a version
A version opens with a one-line summary: the Jira projects it covers, how many requirements it holds and the share that has linked test cases. When it covers more than two projects or repositories, the summary names the first two; select +N more to see them all. Use the Version switcher to move between the versions of the report.
Requirements are split into two tabs:
- Linked lists requirements that at least one test case of this project links. A linked case counts even when it is archived. Archived cases show an Archived label.
- Unlinked lists requirements that no test case links. They point to testing gaps.
Each requirement is a card. Its header shows the Jira key and summary (the key opens the issue in Jira), its type, its status and its Jira update, the time it was last updated in Jira. On a narrow screen, the update and the status share one line below the summary.
On the Linked tab, a strip below the header shows Linked cases, with the total and, when some are stale, how many are Not updated. It also shows Defects with the total, followed by one chip for each defect status that has defects, such as Open 2. Open counts only the defects in the Open status, so a defect in progress counts under In progress.
Open a card with the chevron at the end of its strip to see its cases in three columns: Case status (the latest result, or untested), Test case (display ID, title and when the case was last edited) and Defect. Each defect has a compact mark that shows its status, followed by its ID and title. On a narrow screen, each case becomes a block: its status and test case share the first line, and its defects follow below.
A stale icon marks a case whose Jira requirement changed after the case was last edited. Any saved change to the case counts as an edit, including its steps and fields such as preconditions; running the case in a test run does not. Probara checks this when the version is generated, so changes made after that do not appear until you generate a new version.
Each requirement lists up to 200 linked cases, and each case lists up to 20 defects. The counts always include all of them.
Search and filter
Search finds requirements by Jira key (WEB-12, in any letter case) or by words in the title. The
filters combine, and several values inside one filter match any of them:
| Filter | Keeps requirements that | Tab |
|---|---|---|
| Requirement status | Are in the To do, In progress or Done category in Jira | Both |
| External project | Belong to the chosen Jira project | Both |
| Latest run result | Have a linked case whose latest result is Passed, Failed, Blocked, Skipped or Not run | Linked |
| Defect status | Have a linked defect that is Open, In progress, Resolved or Closed | Linked |
When a tab has 10 requirements or more, use the pager below them to move between pages. Choose 10, 25, 50 or 100 requirements per page.
Export CSV
Select Export CSV to download the requirements of the current tab, search and filters. The file has one row per requirement, with its key, title, type, status, category and last update, its linked and stale cases, its defects in total and in each status, the IDs of its linked cases, and its Jira URL. It holds every matching requirement of the version, and it opens correctly in spreadsheet apps.
Automate it
Scripts and CI jobs can build and read reports with an API token through the
traceability reports API. AI assistants use the
traceability tools in the MCP tool reference: list_traceability_sources,
list_traceability_source_projects, list_traceability_source_issue_types,
list_traceability_reports, create_traceability_report, generate_traceability_version,
list_traceability_report_versions, get_traceability_version and list_traceability_version_requirements. Linking and unlinking uses
list_test_case_jira_issues, link_test_case_jira_issue and unlink_test_case_jira_issue. See
Automate with the API and MCP.
Troubleshooting
| Message or situation | What to do |
|---|---|
| No Link Jira issue button | The project maps no Jira project yet, or your plan does not include integrations. |
| ”No integration is active” on the Traceability screen | Connect a Jira site or a GitHub account in the integration settings. Members see a message asking an organization admin to connect one. |
| ”Traceability is not included in your plan.” | Traceability needs the Pro or Enterprise plan. |
| ”One of the selected projects is no longer available. Review the selection.” | A connected site no longer allows that project. Select the projects again. |
| ”A version of this report is already being generated.” | Wait until that version is ready, then generate a new one. |
| ”This Jira project is not mapped to this Probara project.” | An owner or admin maps it in the project’s Settings › Jira, or in the organization’s default mapping if the project has no mapping of its own. |
| ”This Jira issue is already linked to this test case.” | Nothing to do. |
| ”You cannot change the Jira issues of test cases.” | Your role cannot edit test cases. |
| ”Showing the first 200 linked cases.” | The requirement has more linked cases than the list shows; its counts still include all of them. |