# Test Generation Settings

> Control per project which requirement types the AI extracts, which test strategies fire, and which severity tiers are kept—so generation focuses on what matters for that project.

Source: https://totalshiftleft.ai/help-center/product-documentation/test-generation-settings

## Overview

**Test Generation Settings** control *what* the platform generates for a single project: which requirement types the AI extracts from documents, which test strategies fire, and which severity tiers survive. They are distinct from the system-wide provider/model configuration in [AI Settings](/help-center/product-documentation/ai-settings). Use them to focus generation—for example, "critical + high only" for a release gate, or strategy fan-out paused while you iterate on requirements. Explore the capability at [test strategy fan-out](/features/requirements-intelligence/test-strategy-fanout).

## Before you begin

- You must be able to edit the project (open its project editor).
- Changes apply to the **next** *Generate tests* run—existing tests are unaffected.
- Nav path: open the project editor for a project, then click the **AI Generation** tab. The panel heading reads **AI Generation Settings**.

## Step 1 — Open the AI Generation tab

1. Open the project editor for your project.
2. In the tab row, click **AI Generation**. The panel loads with the heading **AI Generation Settings** and the summary *"Control which requirement types the AI extracts from documents, which test strategies fire on those requirements, and which severity tiers are kept."*
3. While it loads you'll briefly see *"Loading test generation settings…"*. Projects that never customized these inherit server-supplied defaults, so you see what is currently running before changing anything.

## Step 2 — Set the strategy fan-out master toggle

At the top is the checkbox **Enable strategy fan-out for this project**.

- **On** (default): strategy-driven tests are generated according to the Strategies grid below.
- **Off**: *no* strategy-driven tests are generated—this is the switch for "run no strategies at all." The help text notes that **spec-driven tests still generate, and the Requirement types and Severity filters below still apply.** Existing tests are unaffected.

If an administrator has disabled fan-out globally, a warning appears: *"Strategy fan-out is globally disabled by an administrator (TEST_STRATEGY_FAN_OUT_ENABLED=false). The settings below will be saved but won't take effect until that flag is re-enabled."*

## Step 3 — Choose requirement types to extract

In the **Requirement types to extract** card, tick the types the AI should persist when it extracts requirements from uploaded documents (BRDs, specs, backlogs, OpenAPI). Quick actions (top-right): **All**, **None**, **Field-only**, **Backlog-only**.

| Requirement type | What it covers |
|------------------|----------------|
| **Field constraint** | required, type, length, range, enum, format |
| **Business rule** | cross-field / conditional logic |
| **State transition** | e.g. pending → processing → completed |
| **Cross-field dependency** | depends_on / mutually_exclusive |
| **Security constraint** | auth, scopes, PII |
| **Performance constraint** | latency / throughput SLA |
| **Data format** | timestamps, currency, conventions |
| **Error handling** | status codes, error envelopes |
| **Integration dependency** | external service contracts |
| **User story** | backlog "As a … I want …" |
| **Acceptance criterion** | Given / When / Then |
| **Capability** | feature area / tag rollup |
| **Use case** | multi-endpoint journey |

At least one type must be selected—otherwise the inline error *"Select at least one requirement type to extract."* appears and Save is blocked. **Field-only** selects field constraint, error handling, and data format; **Backlog-only** selects user story, acceptance criterion, capability, and use case.

## Step 4 — Choose which strategies fire

In the **Strategies** card, tick the test families to generate. Quick actions: **All**, **None**, **Defaults** (the card lists the current defaults inline). These controls are disabled while fan-out is off.

| Strategy | What it emits |
|----------|---------------|
| **Positive (happy path)** | valid, expected-success requests |
| **Negative (rule violation)** | requests that break declared rules |
| **Boundary (min/max edge values)** | edge values around limits |
| **Equivalence partitioning** | one representative per input class |
| **Decision table (conditional rules)** | combinations of conditional rules |
| **Pairwise (combinatorial)** | pairwise parameter combinations |
| **HTTP semantics (405/415/etc.)** | wrong method / media-type handling |
| **Auth depth (token/scope checks)** | token and scope enforcement |
| **Schema fuzz (type/format violations)** | malformed types/formats |
| **Security probes (SQLi/XSS/etc.)** | injection / scripting probes |
| **Performance / latency SLA** | latency threshold checks |

While fan-out is on, at least one strategy must be selected. If none are, the inline error reads *"No strategies selected. Pick at least one, or turn off \"Enable strategy fan-out\" above to disable all strategy-driven tests."* and Save is blocked.

## Step 5 — Set the severity filter

In the **Severity filter** card, keep only the tiers you care about—**Critical**, **High**, **Medium**, **Low** (ISTQB S1–S4). Each option shows an ISTQB hint (for example, Critical = *"system-down / breach class…"*). Quick actions: **All**, **Critical + High only**. Tests outside the selected set are dropped before persistence across **every** generation path (strategy fan-out, spec-driven, gap/edge)—so this filter applies even when fan-out is off.

## Step 6 — Save

1. Click **Save settings** (label shows **Saving…** during the request). Save is disabled while any validation error above is present; hovering the button shows the blocking reason.
2. On success a green notice appears: *"Saved. New settings apply to the next \"Generate tests\" run."* The panel reloads to show the server-canonical resolved view.
3. If the save fails, a red banner shows the server error.

## Troubleshooting

- **Save disabled / error banner** — resolve the inline validation errors first: at least one requirement type, and (while fan-out is on) at least one strategy.
- **Settings saved but nothing changes in generation** — an administrator has globally disabled fan-out (see the warning banner). Ask an admin to re-enable `TEST_STRATEGY_FAN_OUT_ENABLED`.
- **New settings didn't affect existing tests** — by design; they apply to the *next* *Generate tests* run only.

## Related articles

- [Generate endpoint test cases](/help-center/product-documentation/ai-generated-tests)
- [AI Settings](/help-center/product-documentation/ai-settings)
- [Understanding Rule Intelligence](/help-center/product-documentation/understanding-rule-intelligence)
- [Coverage and fidelity](/help-center/product-documentation/coverage-and-fidelity)