# Create, triage and close defects Source: https://docs.qualflare.com/docs/defects/manage-defects · Last updated: 2026-10-27 Create a defect in Qualflare, find the ones it creates for you, then triage, route to a team, change the status, reopen, verify fixes and report on trends. To work with defects in Qualflare, open **Defects** under **Analysis** in the project sidebar; creating, triaging and closing defects needs the Editor role or higher in the project, on every plan. ## Before you begin * Reading defects needs (requires the Viewer role or higher in the project), creating, triaging, assigning a team and commenting need (requires the Editor role or higher in the project), and deleting in the app needs (requires the Owner role in the project). Your role on a project is the higher of your project role and your workspace role, but in the web app today, buttons follow your project role. See [Roles and permissions](https://docs.qualflare.com/docs/administration/roles-permissions). * Routing needs project [teams](https://docs.qualflare.com/docs/administration/teams), under **Teams** in the project sidebar. * For fields, statuses and categories, see [Defects](https://docs.qualflare.com/docs/defects). ## Create a defect *Figure: Create Defect starts a defect at Medium severity with no environment, and the panel cannot change the environment later.* ### Step 1: Open the Defects page In the project sidebar, under **Analysis**, click **Defects**, then **Create Defect**. ### Step 2: Fill in the Create Defect form Enter a **Name** of 3 to 128 characters and an optional **Description**. **Severity** defaults to Medium and **Environment** to No environment; pick the environment now, because the panel can't change it later. ### Step 3: Save the defect Click **Create**. You should see the new defect as **Active**, with the category **Unknown**. ### Step 4: Add the expected and actual results In the defect's panel, on the **Overview** tab, click the edit button next to **Expected Result** and **Actual Result**. A useful report covers one bug, with a title like *\[Feature] + \[What happened] + \[Condition]* ("Checkout fails when billing address differs from shipping"), what happened, how to reproduce it, how often and the impact. Name the launch and test case: attachments stay on the case run. ## Find defects Qualflare creates Check for a defect Qualflare opened from a failure cluster, flaky test or redundant case notification ([How defects are created](https://docs.qualflare.com/docs/defects#how-defects-are-created)) before you log a duplicate. *Figure: Filter by Category, such as Flaky Test, or by Status to find the defects Qualflare created before you log a duplicate.* ### Step 1: Filter the list by category or status Filter **Category**, for example to **Flaky Test**, or **Status**. You can also type a token such as `category:flaky`. See [Search, filters and shortcuts](https://docs.qualflare.com/docs/get-started/search-and-filters). ### Step 2: Open the defect and check its source Cluster and flaky-detection defects show the **Automated** icon, and a cluster defect has a **Linked Cluster** card. Redundant-case defects show **Manual**. ### Step 3: Check the linked test cases Open the **Related Cases** tab; a test case's **Defects** tab lists the same links. A flaky-detection defect names its case instead. See [Failure clusters](https://docs.qualflare.com/docs/ai/failure-clusters). ## Triage new defects ### Step 1: List the new defects Filter **Status** to Active and **Severity** to Critical and High, then click **Date Created**: the first click shows the newest first. ### Step 2: Check the report If the name, description or results don't explain the problem, ask on the **Comments** tab. ### Step 3: Decide whether it's a real bug A test, environment or data problem, or a flaky test, is a **False positive**. A bug that's already tracked is **Closed**, with a comment naming the original. ### Step 4: Set the severity Use the **Severity** submenu in the row or panel **More options** (⋯) menu. See [Severity](https://docs.qualflare.com/docs/defects#severity). ### Step 5: Route it and set the status [Route it to a team](https://docs.qualflare.com/docs/defects/manage-defects#route-a-defect-to-a-team), and set **Action Required** when someone must act. Leave it **Active** while it waits for information. | Outcome | Status | Notes | | ----------------------- | --------------- | -------------------------------------- | | Valid bug, needs fixing | Action Required | Assign a team | | Valid bug, but not now | Active | Lower the severity if it's less urgent | | Not a bug (test issue) | False positive | Add an explanation | | Duplicate | Closed | Name the original defect in a comment | | Needs investigation | Active | Add a comment with questions | | Already fixed | Closed | Note the fix in a comment | ## Route a defect to a team ### Step 1: Pick a team in the Team column In the **Team** column, click **Assign team** (or the current team) and select a team. To clear it, click × on the chip or reselect the current team. See [Assigning teams to defects](https://docs.qualflare.com/docs/administration/teams#assigning-teams-to-defects). ### Step 2: Check who was notified Other team members get an in-app notification, and an email if **Team Assignment Notifications** is on in the [project settings](https://docs.qualflare.com/docs/administration/project-settings#project-email-notifications). To move a stuck defect to another team, pick the new team and say why in a comment. ## Change the status *Figure: Any defect can move to any of the four statuses from its Status submenu, in the list or in the panel.* ### Step 1: Open the Status submenu Click **More options** (⋯) on the defect's row or in its panel, then **Status**. ### Step 2: Choose the new status Choose **Active**, **Action Required**, **False Positive** or **Closed**. Any status can follow any other. Set **Closed** after a verified fix and **False positive** when the defect isn't real, with a comment, because there is no closure reason. ## Reopen a defect *Figure: Reopening a Closed defect needs a reason of up to 1,000 characters, and the defect returns to Active.* ### Step 1: Open the Closed defect Click a Closed defect's name to open its panel. ### Step 2: Choose Reopen Click **More options** (⋯) > **Reopen**. ### Step 3: Enter a reason and confirm Enter a **Reopen Reason** (required, up to 1,000 characters) and click **Reopen**. You should see it **Active**, with a **Reopen Reason** block on the Overview tab. False positive defects have no Reopen. ## Verify a fix *Figure: Related Cases lists the test cases to re-run before you close a defect. You can unlink a case here, but not link one.* ### Step 1: Find the affected test cases Open the **Related Cases** tab. For a flaky-detection defect, the case is in the defect's name. ### Step 2: Run the tests again Re-run the cases in CI, or start a new launch. See [Run tests](https://docs.qualflare.com/docs/runs) and [Case runs](https://docs.qualflare.com/docs/runs/launches#case-runs). ### Step 3: Close or reopen the defect If the tests pass, set **Closed**. If not, keep it open, or reopen it. Add a comment naming the launch. Also re-run nearby tests, and run an intermittent failure several times. Qualflare closes recovered flaky-detection defects and reopens cluster defects whose failures return ([Automatic status changes](https://docs.qualflare.com/docs/defects#automatic-status-changes)). No setting changes a defect's status from CI results. ## Check release readiness Defects aren't linked to milestones. ### Step 1: Filter for open Critical and High defects Filter **Status** to Active and Action Required, and **Severity** to Critical and High. ### Step 2: Review the milestone Under **Planning**, click **Milestones**, open the milestone and review its **Health** and **Launches** tabs. See [Milestones](https://docs.qualflare.com/docs/test-management/milestones). ### Step 3: Confirm the fixes Re-run the affected tests, as in [Verify a fix](https://docs.qualflare.com/docs/defects/manage-defects#verify-a-fix). Before you release, check that: * no Critical defect is open; * High defects are closed, or the exceptions written down; * fixes are verified by re-runs. ## Report on defect trends The [Overview](https://docs.qualflare.com/docs/analytics) **Quality** group has the Defects, Defects by Severity and Defects by Category charts for the last 7, 15 or 28 days, with an Environment filter, and a Defects Opened tile that compares today with the previous period's daily average. The app has no defect export, but the CLI prints defects as JSON ([Defects commands](https://docs.qualflare.com/docs/cli/read-commands#defects)): ```bash qf defects list --severity critical,high --status active qf defect get ``` AI clients read them with the MCP `list_defects` and `get_defect` tools ([Connect a coding agent (MCP)](https://docs.qualflare.com/docs/api/mcp)). Include: * defects opened and closed, by severity; * defects still open at the end; * categories that keep coming back. ## Comment on a defect ### Step 1: Open the Comments tab Open the defect and click **Comments**. ### Step 2: Post a comment Type in **Write a comment...** and click **Post**, or press Cmd+Enter (macOS) / Ctrl+Enter. ### Step 3: Reply, edit or delete Click **Reply** on a comment. Replies go one level deep, and only that comment's author is notified; there are no @mentions. To edit or delete your own comment, use its menu. Edited comments show **(edited)**. Comments work the same way on test cases, launches and milestones. See [Discuss work in comments](https://docs.qualflare.com/docs/administration/users#discuss-work-in-comments). ## Delete a defect > **Caution: Deleting a defect can't be undone** > > Delete takes effect at once. The row menu and the panel menu don't ask you to confirm; only bulk Delete does. Deleting a defect also deletes its comments, its links to test cases and its record of linked issues. Issues already created in GitHub, GitLab, Jira or Linear stay there. You can't undo a delete. 1. One defect: **More options** (⋯) > **Delete** in its row or panel deletes it at once. 2. Several: select them and click **Delete**, which asks you to confirm. In the app, **Delete** is enabled only for project Owners. ## Troubleshoot * `A minimum of 3 characters is required.`: the new name is too short. * `Must be at least 2 characters.`: **Edit** needs a name and a description. * `Reopen reason is required.` or `Maximum 1000 characters allowed.`: the reason must be 1 to 1,000 characters. * `Change status coming soon`: bulk **Change Status** isn't available; change statuses one at a time. * A name over 128 characters doesn't save, though the form accepts 200. * **Delete** is disabled: only project Owners can delete in the app. * Buttons are disabled although your workspace role is higher: the app follows your project role. * No way to link a case by hand: you can only unlink cases. * The panel can't change the environment: use MCP `update_defect` or the API. * A redundant-case defect shows **Unknown**: the app shows its category that way. * A deleted cluster defect doesn't come back. ## Next steps [Defects](https://docs.qualflare.com/docs/defects) · [Failure clusters](https://docs.qualflare.com/docs/ai/failure-clusters) · [GitHub](https://docs.qualflare.com/docs/integrations/github) · [Jira](https://docs.qualflare.com/docs/integrations/jira) · [Defects commands](https://docs.qualflare.com/docs/cli/read-commands#defects)