# Concepts

> The terms Arcus uses, grouped by where you meet them: structure, authoring, generation, coverage, automation, developer context, and integrations.

The terms Arcus uses, grouped by where you meet them.

## Structure

**Project** sits at the top of the hierarchy and holds the test cases, runs, and plans for one application, along with its own settings.

**Folder** groups test cases within a project, by feature, functionality, or test type. Folders nest, so a hierarchy can match how your application is built.

**Module** is the part of the application a test case covers. Coverage is reported per module.

## Authoring

**Test case** is a list of steps with expected results, and the building block of your library.

**Test step** is one action inside a test case, with the result you expect from it.

**Step group** is a saved sequence of steps reused across test cases. Write a login flow once, and link it wherever it is needed.

**Data set** holds reusable input values, so one test case runs against several sets of data without being rewritten.

**Test case properties** are the 4 built-in attributes every test case carries: **Test Case Priority**, **Test Case Status**, **Test Case Type**, and **Automation Type**. Their values are renamed under **Settings > Manage Properties**, and new ones cannot be added.

**Custom field** adds project-specific information to a test case, and becomes a filter on the library.

**Label** organizes test cases and test runs for filtering and tracking.

**Test Capture** is a browser extension that records screen, video, and network logs alongside manual testing, and turns them into test cases or bug reports.

**Version** records a change to a test case. Versions compare against each other, so you can see what changed and when.

**Review Management** puts a test case through approval before it counts as ready. A reviewer accepts it or sends it back.

**Test case template** is a starting shape for a new test case, so a team writes them in a consistent form.

**Run history** shows every execution of one test case, across every run it appeared in.

## Generation

**QI Home** is where test cases are generated, coverage is tracked, and automation happens.

**Context source** is what generation reads from: a Jira, Azure DevOps, Linear, or ClickUp story, a Confluence page, a Figma design, a file such as a PDF or Word document, or a video recording. Each needs its integration connected.

**Ad-Hoc** generates on demand. You attach context sources yourself, write a prompt, and start generation.

**Sprints** generates automatically. When a sprint starts in your connected project management tool, you confirm, and generation pulls the context linked to the sprint stories.

**Session** is one generation run, from the context you attached to the test cases it produced.

**Prompt** describes what you want covered. It shapes what generation produces from the same context.

**Scenario** groups generated test cases by feature area or by the story they came from. Review works scenario by scenario.

**Generated test case** is a proposal. It enters your library when you accept it.

**Gap** is a pending test case nobody has accepted, and the signal that an area is not yet covered.

## Coverage and quality

**Coverage** is the percentage of generated test output you have accepted, calculated as accepted divided by accepted plus pending. Rejected cases are excluded. **Coverage and Gaps** breaks the same figure down per module.

**Quality Intelligence Metrics** are the 5 measures in the session header, shown in evaluation order because each builds on the one before it.

- **Coverage** asks whether enough has been tested
- **Pass Rate** asks whether what was tested is working
- **Confidence** asks whether those results can be trusted
- **Release Readiness** combines the 3 into one score
- **Release Gate** turns that score into a decision

**Test plan** sets the scope, goals, and schedule for a round of testing, and links test cases to test runs. Plans are generated in 4 types, each a superset of the one before it: Smoke, Feature, Regression, and Deep Regression.

**Test run** records execution: which test cases ran, what each one returned, and any defects logged.

**Requirement traceability report** shows which test cases cover which requirements, and where coverage is missing.

## Automation

**Agentic Learning** walks a test case through your live application, observes how it behaves, learns the element interactions, and generates automated steps.

**Copilot** executes automated steps in a browser, with a live panel showing each step as it runs. It pauses, takes new steps mid-run, and saves the result.

**Testsigma Lab** is the cloud where a learning or execution session runs. The alternative is your own local device.

**Automated test case** has steps that execute without anyone performing them. A test case is manual until Agentic Learning automates it.

**Arcus CLI** runs tests from your own machine, outside the browser.

## Developer context

**Developer Context Mapping** keeps coverage aligned with what the team is building, by reading what developers do in their own tools.

**Unlinked Contexts** is the Context Management tab holding activity detected from Claude Code, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Codex, and GitHub pull requests, before anyone has assigned it to a module. Once mapped, an entry moves to **Linked Contexts**.

**Mapping** assigns a context entry to a module and sprint. Each entry arrives with a suggestion, and mapping it triggers test case generation or an update.

## Connecting other tools

**Integration** connects Arcus to a tool your team already uses, for requirements, defects, context, or notifications.

**Two-way integration** syncs in both directions, so test cases and runs are managed from Jira or Azure DevOps as well as from Arcus.

**API key** authenticates a call to Arcus from outside the application, such as a CI pipeline or a script.

**Import** brings an existing library into Arcus, from a [CSV file](https://testsigma.com/docs/arcus/v2/settings/import/import-via-csv/) or straight from another tool with [Quick import](https://testsigma.com/docs/arcus/v2/settings/import/quick-import/). **Export** takes yours out.