Introduction

TestBench Defect Service is a lightweight, asynchronous REST API service that acts as a bridge between imbus TestBench and external defect tracking systems.

What it does

TestBench works with defect data — creating, reading, updating, and deleting bug reports during test execution. The Defect Service provides a unified API layer that allows TestBench to communicate with any supported backend without being tied to a specific tool.

At its core the service:

• Exposes a stable HTTP API that TestBench calls to manage defects.
• Translates those API calls into backend-specific operations.
• Returns structured responses that TestBench can understand regardless of which backend is used.

Features

• Pluggable clients — swap the backend without touching TestBench configuration.
• Per-project configuration — control fields, attributes, and sync commands can all be overridden per project.
• Pre/post sync hooks — run custom shell commands before or after TestBench syncs defects.
• Authentication — simple username/password auth with salted bcrypt hashing.
• SSL/TLS support — optional HTTPS with one-way TLS or mutual TLS (mTLS).
• Interactive setup wizard — init and configure commands guide you through configuration interactively.

Architecture

The service runs a Sanic-based HTTP server and delegates all domain logic to a configured DefectClient implementation.

┌──────────────────────────────────────┐
│          TestBench DM Proxy          │
└───────────────────┬──────────────────┘
                    │  HTTP (Basic Auth)
┌───────────────────▼──────────────────┐
│      TestBench Defect Service        │
│                (Sanic)               │
├──────────────────────────────────────┤
│            DefectClient              │
├───────────────────┬──────────────────┤
│        JSONL      │       Jira       │
└──────────┬────────┴────────┬─────────┘
           │                 │
     .jsonl files      Jira REST API

Supported Backends

Backend	Class	Description
JSONL	testbench_defect_service.clients.JsonlDefectClient	Stores defects as newline-delimited JSON files on disk. No external dependencies. Ideal for local use and testing.
Jira	testbench_defect_service.clients.JiraDefectClient	Full integration with Jira Cloud or Jira Data Center / Server. Requires the optional [jira] extra.

The backend is selected via the client_class configuration key and can be switched at any time by updating the config file and restarting the service.

Where to go next

• New here? Start with the Installation and Quickstart guides.
• Configuring the service? See the Configuration page.
• Choosing a client? Check the Clients overview, then dive into JSONL or Jira.
• Running as a Windows service? See the Windows service guide.
• CLI reference? See the CLI commands page.