{
  "schema": "vedokrok.public-item.v1",
  "release_id": "MHC-RPUB-20260920-75ad787a",
  "url": "/knowledge/trace-a-requirement-to-the-reason-and-test-that-justify-it",
  "id": "MHC-D-RESEARCH-1011",
  "version": "0.1.0",
  "title": "Trace a requirement to the reason and test that justify it",
  "summary": "A requirement number is an address, not an explanation.",
  "kind": "template",
  "body": "Connect the requirement to its parent need, design response and verification evidence. Read the chain in both directions: why does this feature exist, and how will this need be checked? Maintain the links when requirements change instead of keeping a traceability table that describes an earlier project.",
  "limits": [
    "A missing parent does not automatically make a derived requirement unnecessary. Review the rationale; a perfectly linked chain can still contain a mistaken assumption."
  ],
  "topics": [
    "work-05-transferable-expertise"
  ],
  "intents": [],
  "source_ids": [
    "RS-B75D1BA19EF45AF3"
  ],
  "evidence": [
    {
      "claim": "Requirements traceability links stakeholder expectations, requirements, design and verification artifacts so relationships and change impacts can be examined.",
      "source_id": "RS-B75D1BA19EF45AF3",
      "role": "supports",
      "note": "A link records an asserted relationship; it does not prove that the rationale is sound or the requirement is complete.",
      "locator": "Sections 6.2.1.2.2 through 6.2.1.2.4"
    }
  ],
  "use_when": [
    "A requested change has unclear value, or nobody knows what will be affected if it changes."
  ],
  "avoid_when": [
    "A missing parent does not automatically make a derived requirement unnecessary. Review the rationale; a perfectly linked chain can still contain a mistaken assumption."
  ],
  "example": "A reconciliation report traces to the need to detect missing relationships, a defined comparison rule and test cases containing deliberate omissions.",
  "check": "A reviewer can move from the need to its test and back without an unexplained link.",
  "template": "Need or derived rationale: [reason]. Requirement: [requirement]. Design response: [design]. Verification evidence: [test]. Affected links if changed: [impact].",
  "sources": [
    {
      "id": "RS-B75D1BA19EF45AF3",
      "title": "6.2 Requirements Management",
      "url": "https://www.nasa.gov/reference/6-2-requirements-management/"
    }
  ],
  "relations": [
    {
      "from": "MHC-D-RESEARCH-1011",
      "to": "MHC-D-RESEARCH-1010",
      "type": "useful_with",
      "url": "/knowledge/check-that-it-meets-the-specification-and-solves-the-real-problem"
    }
  ],
  "collections": [
    {
      "id": "RC-D7E536E5F014E0EC",
      "title": "Turn experience into expertise someone else can use",
      "url": "/collections/turn-experience-into-expertise-someone-else-can-use"
    }
  ]
}