Overview

When managing automated Rapise test cases in SpiraTest (or SpiraTeam/SpiraPlan), you may notice a difference in execution behavior depending on whether you are triggering the tests from the Spira web interface or directly from within the Rapise IDE.

This article clarifies how test execution is handled in both environments.

1. Executing from SpiraTest

Supported Execution: Test Sets Only

When triggering automated tests from the Spira web interface, execution is handled strictly at the Test Set level. Spira relies on Automation Hosts (via RapiseLauncher) to poll for scheduled automated runs. Because these automation hosts are designed to orchestrate and execute test sets, it is not possible to execute an individual automated test case directly from SpiraTest.

To run a specific test case from the web UI, you must first add it to a Test Set, assign the Test Set to an Automation Host, and schedule it for execution.

2. Executing from the Rapise Spira Dashboard

Supported Execution: Test Sets AND Individual Test Cases

The Spira Dashboard inside the Rapise IDE provides more flexibility for automation engineers. From this dashboard, you can seamlessly execute both full Test Sets and individual Test Cases.

How it works behind the scenes:
Because the Spira backend still requires a Test Set to orchestrate an automated run, Rapise performs a background workaround when you choose to run a standalone test case.

  1. You select a single Test Case and click Run in the Spira Dashboard.

  2. Rapise automatically creates (or updates) a temporary Test Set in Spira.

  3. This temporary Test Set is named after your current Automation Host.

  4. Rapise adds the selected test case to this temporary Test Set and instantly triggers the execution.

This allows testers to quickly debug and verify individual test cases without manually cluttering SpiraTest with single-test-case Test Sets.