Cycle Management
Clone cycles, export results to CSV, and review the complete audit trail of cycle changes.
Clone a Cycle
Cloning a cycle creates a new test cycle that contains the same set of test cases as the original. This is the fastest way to set up a new round of testing when the test case selection remains the same but the execution context changes (new build, new environment, new sprint).
How to Clone a Cycle
- Navigate to the test cycle you want to clone, either from the cycle listing or by opening the cycle detail view.
- Click the Clone action from the cycle's action menu (the three-dot menu or the cycle toolbar, depending on where you are).
- A new cycle is created instantly. The cloned cycle will appear in the cycle listing.
- Open the cloned cycle and update the title, summary, dates, and environment fields as needed for the new round of testing.
What Gets Cloned vs. What Does Not
| Attribute | Cloned? | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Test case selection | Yes | All test cases from the original cycle are included in the clone. |
| Cycle title | Yes | Copied with a Clone - prefix (e.g. Clone - v3.0 Regression). Rename it to reflect the new context. |
| Summary | Yes | The summary from the original cycle is copied to the clone. |
| Start / End dates | Yes | Copied from the original. Update them to reflect the new testing window. |
| Environment | Yes | Copied from the original. Update if testing a different environment. |
| Owner and Folder | Yes | Both are copied from the original cycle. |
| Cycle status | No | The clone always starts at open, whatever the original's status was. |
| Tester assignments | No | Assignments are not carried over. Reassign testers in the cloned cycle. |
| Execution statuses | No | All statuses are reset to "Not Executed" in the cloned cycle. |
| Actual results | No | Actual results are specific to the original cycle and are not copied. |
| Defect links | No | Defect associations belong to the original execution and are not carried over. |
Use Cases for Cloning
- Regression testing across builds -- Clone your regression cycle after each build to quickly set up the next round of regression testing with the same test case selection.
- Cross-environment testing -- Clone a cycle to run the same tests on a different environment (e.g., clone a Staging cycle to create a Production verification cycle).
- Re-testing after bug fixes -- Clone a cycle where failures were found, then re-execute only the previously failed tests in the new cycle. This preserves the original results as a baseline.
- Sprint-over-sprint testing -- If your regression suite is stable, clone the previous sprint's cycle and add any new test cases for the current sprint's features.
- Template cycles -- Create a "master" cycle with your standard regression test case selection and clone it whenever a new round of testing is needed. This acts as a reusable template that the team can rely on.
After cloning a cycle for a new build, immediately rename it and update the description with the new build number or version. This prevents confusion between the original and the clone in the cycle listing.
Download CSV
TestKase allows you to export a test cycle's execution results as a CSV (Comma-Separated Values) file. The CSV export provides a portable snapshot of the cycle that can be shared with stakeholders, imported into spreadsheets, or archived for compliance and audit purposes.
How to Export
- Open the test cycle you want to export.
- Click the Export CSV button — on the cycle's Test Cases tab toolbar, or in the Execute page's ⋯ menu.
- The CSV file is generated and downloaded to your browser's default download location.
CSV Columns
The exported CSV file contains the following six columns for each test case in the cycle:
| Column | Description |
|---|---|
| Test Case ID | The unique identifier of the test case in TestKase (e.g., TEST-42). |
| Title | The title of the test case. |
| Priority | The priority level of the test case (Blocker, Critical, Major, Minor, Trivial). |
| Execution Status | The current execution status in this cycle (Pass, Fail, Blocked, Not Executed). |
| Assignee | The name of the team member assigned to execute this test case. |
| Execution Date | The timestamp when the status was last updated. |
Example CSV Output
Test Case ID,Title,Priority,Execution Status,Assignee,Execution Date
TEST-101,Verify login with valid credentials,Blocker,Pass,Jane Smith,"2/28/2026, 2:30:00 PM"
TEST-102,Verify login with invalid password,Major,Pass,Jane Smith,"2/28/2026, 2:35:00 PM"
TEST-103,Verify password reset flow,Major,Fail,Jane Smith,"2/28/2026, 2:45:00 PM"
TEST-201,Add item to cart,Blocker,Not Executed,John Doe,Execution Date is written as a local date and time in your profile timezone, in US format
(M/D/YYYY, h:mm:ss AM) — not as an ISO/UTC timestamp. Set the column format in your spreadsheet
accordingly before doing date arithmetic on it.
Use Cases for CSV Export
- Stakeholder reporting -- Share test results with project managers, product owners, or clients who do not have access to TestKase. CSV files can be opened in any spreadsheet application.
- Compliance and auditing -- Archive test execution records for regulatory compliance (e.g., SOC 2, ISO 27001, FDA validation, HIPAA). The CSV provides a tamper-evident snapshot of results at a specific point in time.
- Spreadsheet analysis -- Import the CSV into Excel or Google Sheets for custom pivot tables, charts, or filtering that goes beyond what TestKase's built-in reports offer.
- Cross-tool comparison -- Compare results from TestKase with data from other tools by importing the CSV into a shared data pipeline or business intelligence tool.
For automated and scheduled reporting, consider using the TestKase API to programmatically fetch cycle results instead of manual CSV downloads. See the API Keys documentation to get started with API access.
Cycle History
Every test cycle in TestKase maintains a complete audit trail of all changes made to the cycle and its test case executions. The cycle history provides full traceability, which is essential for debugging test failures, understanding who changed what, and satisfying compliance requirements.
What Changes Are Tracked
The following events are recorded in the cycle history with a timestamp and the user who performed the action:
- Cycle created --
Test cycle TCYCLE-12 created. - Cycle metadata updates -- Changes to the cycle title, summary, start date, end date, environment, owner or folder, recorded with both the old and the new value.
- Test cases linked --
Linked 8 test case(s): TEST-101, TEST-102, .... - Test cases unlinked -- with the count and the removed test case identifiers.
- Execution status changes --
Updated execution status of TEST-101 to pass. The entry records the new status and the test case version. The previous status is not recorded. - Actual results recorded --
Updated actual result of TEST-101. - Bulk tester assignment --
Assigned 12 test case(s) to Jane Smith. - Version updates -- single and bulk test case version updates.
- Reset executions -- for the whole cycle or for a selection.
- Cycle cloned -- recorded on the new cycle as
Cloned from TCYCLE-9 with 42 test case(s).
Two things are not written to cycle history:
- Defect links and unlinks. Linking or unlinking a defect on an execution leaves no history entry.
- Single tester assignments made one at a time from the Execute page. Only the bulk Assignees action writes a history entry.
Viewing Cycle History
To view the history for a cycle, open the cycle and navigate to the History tab. The history is displayed in reverse chronological order (most recent changes first). Each entry shows:
- The action performed (e.g., "Updated execution status of TEST-101 to pass").
- The user who performed the action.
- The exact timestamp of when the action occurred.
- The affected test case (for test case-specific events).
Using History for Investigations
Cycle history is invaluable for investigating discrepancies and answering questions like:
- "When was this test case marked as Pass, and by whom?" -- Useful when a bug is found in production and you need to understand why the test passed during QA.
- "Was this test case ever marked as Fail before being changed to Pass?" -- The history lists each status that was set, in order, so you can read the sequence. Individual entries record only the status that was applied, not the one it replaced.
- "Who removed test case TEST-105 from this cycle?" -- Tracks test case additions and removals for accountability.
- "What was the original environment set on this cycle?" -- Metadata changes are tracked so you can see if the cycle was repurposed for a different environment.
Use cycle history in combination with the CSV export to create comprehensive compliance documentation. The CSV captures the final state of all executions, while the history provides the full timeline of how the cycle evolved from creation to completion.
Questions
▶Can I edit or delete cycle history?
Cycle history is read-only and cannot be edited or deleted. This ensures the audit trail remains tamper-proof, which is critical for compliance and quality assurance processes in regulated industries.
▶Does a cloned cycle stay linked to the original?
The cloned cycle is completely independent of the original. Changes to one (adding/removing test cases, updating statuses, changing metadata) do not affect the other. Both cycles can be compared side-by-side in the Reports view.
▶How do I re-run a cycle?
If you want to re-run the same cycle instead of creating a new one — for example, after a build fix or the start of a new sprint — use the Reset Executions feature on the execute page instead of cloning. Reset clears execution data in-place while keeping the cycle and its history.
