Requirements Traceability¶

Track relationships between requirements, features, epics, and implementation for complete visibility.

What is Traceability?¶

Requirements traceability is the ability to trace a requirement through its lifecycle: from origin through specification, implementation, testing, and deployment.

Traceability in RequireKit¶

RequireKit maintains automatic traceability through markdown files with structured metadata:

EPIC-001 (Strategic)
    ↓ contains
FEAT-001 (Tactical)
    ↓ implements
REQ-001 (EARS Specification)
    ↓ verified by
BDD-001 (Test Scenarios)
    ↓ executed by (with guardkit)
TASK-001 (Implementation)

Types of Traceability¶

Forward Traceability¶

From requirements to implementation: - Which features implement this requirement? - What tests verify this requirement? - Which tasks implement this feature?

Backward Traceability¶

From implementation to requirements: - Why was this code written? - Which requirement justified this feature? - Which business objective does this support?

Horizontal Traceability¶

Between peer artifacts: - Which requirements relate to each other? - Which features share requirements? - Which tests cover multiple requirements?

Traceability Links¶

Epic Metadata¶

---
id: EPIC-001
title: User Management System
features: [FEAT-001, FEAT-002, FEAT-003]
---

Feature Metadata¶

---
id: FEAT-001
title: User Authentication
epic: EPIC-001
requirements: [REQ-001, REQ-002, REQ-003]
bdd_scenarios: [BDD-001]
---

Requirement Metadata¶

---
id: REQ-001
title: User login with valid credentials
feature: FEAT-001
bdd_scenarios: [BDD-001]
---

Benefits¶

Impact Analysis¶

Quickly understand the effect of changes:

Change REQ-003 → Affects:
  - FEAT-001 (must update)
  - BDD-001 (must regenerate)
  - TASK-001 (may need changes)

Change Management¶

Track why changes were made:

Code changed in TASK-001 → Because:
  - REQ-003 was updated
  - Which affected FEAT-001
  - To satisfy EPIC-001 goal

Compliance¶

Demonstrate requirement coverage:

Requirement REQ-001
  → Implemented by FEAT-001
    → Tested by BDD-001
      → Verified by automated tests

Gap Analysis¶

Identify missing coverage: - Requirements without features - Features without tests - Epics without features

Commands¶

# View complete hierarchy
/hierarchy-view EPIC-001

# Check requirement links
/requirement-trace REQ-001

# Generate traceability report
/trace-report EPIC-001

Example: Complete Traceability¶

Business Need: Secure user access
    ↓
EPIC-001: User Management System
    ↓
FEAT-001: User Authentication
    ↓
REQ-001: When a user submits valid credentials,
         the system shall authenticate within 1s
    ↓
BDD-001: Scenario: Successful login
         Given valid credentials
         When user submits login
         Then authenticate within 1s
    ↓
TASK-001: Implement authentication endpoint
    ↓
Code: auth-service.ts:42-89
    ↓
Test: auth.test.ts:15-35 (passes)
    ↓
Deployed: v1.2.0

Maintaining Traceability¶

During Requirements Gathering¶

/gather-requirements
/formalize-ears
# Requirements automatically linked to session

During Organization¶

/epic-create "Title"
/feature-create "Title" epic:EPIC-001
# Links maintained in frontmatter

During Implementation (with guardkit)¶

/feature-generate-tasks FEAT-001
# Tasks include requirement context

During Updates¶

# Update requirement
/formalize-ears --refresh

# Regenerate BDD
/generate-bdd --refresh

# Links automatically updated

Best Practices¶

✅ Always link requirements to features ✅ Update BDD when requirements change ✅ Use hierarchy commands to visualize ✅ Document rationale in requirement files ✅ Review traceability during changes

Tools¶

View Commands¶

/hierarchy-view EPIC-001  # Visual hierarchy
/requirement-trace REQ-001  # Requirement links
/feature-status FEAT-001  # Feature completeness

Export Commands¶

/epic-sync EPIC-001 --export  # Export traceability data
/feature-sync FEAT-001 --jira  # Sync to PM tools