casewright

Documentation

Using Casewright

Casewright is a git-backed desktop editor for manual test cases — cases are Markdown files, suites are folders, and runs are plain files in your repository. This guide walks the everyday loop: open a repo, author cases, run them, and sync.

Open a repository

Casewright uses a Git repository as its data store — there's no separate database to set up. On the launcher, pick a recent repository or choose a folder to open.

A repository can hold one or more workspaces. Each workspace owns a set of suites and a display-ID prefix, so cases get stable, human-readable IDs like PAY‑0042. Manage workspaces from the File menu.

The workbench

The main window has three parts:

  • Title-bar menus — File, Edit, View, Git, and Help (see the reference below).
  • The sidebar — a tree of suites (folders) and cases. Drag the right edge to resize it; double-click the edge to reset.
  • The main panel — the case editor, or the runs view, depending on what you select. Switch between them from the View menu.

Author a case

Every case is a single Markdown file with YAML front-matter (title, display ID, status, tags) and five reserved ## sections:

Objective
A one- or two-sentence statement of what the case verifies.
Systems in Scope
The systems or components this case touches.
Setup
Named preconditions, each with a short markdown body.
Steps
Ordered, optionally nested actions for the tester to perform.
Acceptance Criteria
The observable outcomes that decide pass or fail.

The editor round-trips cleanly to those five sections with a single trailing newline, so diffs stay minimal and reviewable. Each case carries a status:

DraftActiveDeprecated

Draft is amber, Active reads green, and Deprecated is muted — the same colors the editor uses.

Organize suites

Suites are just folders, so the hierarchy is your filesystem. Drag cases and suites in the tree to reorganize — rename a suite and every case moves with it.

Create a New Case or New Suite from the Edit menu (or the tree's right-click menu). New cases land in the selected suite.

Run tests

Open the runs view from View → Runs and choose New run, then select the cases to include. A run is a folder under .casewright/runs — a snapshot you execute and commit alongside your cases.

In the run grid, record a result for each case and walk its setup, steps, and acceptance items with tri-state checks:

✓ Pass ✕ Fail ▲ Blocked » Skipped · Not run
[ ]
Unchecked

Not yet evaluated.

[x]
Pass

The item behaved as expected.

[-]
Fail

The item failed — add a note describing what happened.

A generated Summary surfaces the cases that need attention with their failed steps and notes. Capture sign-off with Tester and Reviewer approvals, and keep a written run summary and notes in the run's details panel. Closing a run freezes its snapshot.

Sync with Git

The Git menu drives the whole loop — Commit…, Pull, and Push. The status indicator shows your branch and how far ahead or behind you are, and the commit dialog lists exactly which cases and runs changed.

Because everything is plain Markdown and CSV on disk, you can diff it, grep it, and review it in a pull request — no proprietary format, no lock-in.

Ready to try it?

Download the desktop app and point it at any Git repository.

Download Casewright