Integrations

Integrations connect your test cases, runs, and sessions to issues in external tools — Jira Cloud, GitHub Issues, Azure DevOps, Linear, or a custom tracker. Once configured, team members can link any test object to an external ticket with a single click, and the linked issue’s title and status are fetched from the tracker.

This admin page was called External references until September 2026. Links to the old address — in the app or in these docs — redirect here.

GitLab Issues is not available. TestOrchestrator has no GitLab connector yet, so GitLab is not offered when you add a tracker. Every other provider — Jira Cloud, GitHub Issues, Azure DevOps, Notion, Linear and Custom Tracker — has a working implementation.

How it works

An external reference is a link between a TestOrchestrator object (a test case, run, session, cycle, or result) and an item in an external system. Each link records:

• Which external system the link points to (Integration Source)
• The external item's key or URL (e.g., PROJ-123 in Jira)
• The nature of the relationship (Relation — e.g., Relates to, Defect)

When a source supports reading issue details, TestOrchestrator fetches and caches the issue's current status and assignee so your team can see external issue state without leaving the app.

Linear goes further. Linear connects with one-click OAuth and adds live issue search when linking, an AI-written insight on each linked issue, and test-case generation from the Linear sidebar. See the Linear Integration guide.

Per-connector guides. Several providers have dedicated pages covering their authentication and AI test-case generation: Jira, Azure DevOps, Linear, and Notion. GitHub and custom trackers are covered by the generic Trackers page.

Two-part admin setup

Before team members can create external links in their projects, an admin configures two things on the Trackers and Link types tabs of Admin → Integrations (the third tab, QA agent, is covered in the Linear Integration guide):

1. Trackers — one entry per external system instance your organisation uses. Each tracker defines the provider (Jira, GitHub, etc.), how to sign in, what TestOrchestrator can do with it, and which projects can use it. Linear is connected rather than configured.
2. Link types — the labels available when creating a link. A link type answers "what kind of link is this?" — for example Relates to, Defect, or Blocks.

Built-in link types exist from the start, so once at least one tracker is set up and enabled, project members with the correct permissions can start linking test objects.

Example: linking a test case to a Jira defect

1. A tester opens a test case and clicks Add External Reference.
2. They select Our Jira as the source and enter PROJ-123 as the issue key.
3. They choose Defect as the relation type.
4. The link is saved. TestOrchestrator fetches the Jira issue's current status and assignee and displays them alongside the test case.

Who can manage external references?

The Integrations page is available to Tenant Admins and Project Admins with the required permissions. It is not plan-gated — external references are part of the admin surface on every plan, including Free.