Readers

A reader is a pluggable component that fetches projects, baselines, and requirements from a specific data source. The service ships with three built-in readers and supports custom readers.

Built-in readers

Reader	Data source	Extra dependencies	Best for
JSONL	.jsonl files on disk	None (included in base install)	Simple file-based requirements, CI pipelines, testing
Excel	.xlsx, .xls, .csv, .tsv, .txt files	pip install testbench-requirement-service[excel]	Spreadsheet-based requirement management
Jira	Jira REST API	pip install testbench-requirement-service[jira]	Teams managing requirements in Jira as issues

Choosing a reader

JSONL Reader

The default reader, so no extra installation is needed. Use this when:

• Your requirements are exported or generated as JSON Lines files.
• You want the simplest possible setup with no external dependencies.
• You need a well-defined JSON schema for automation.

Get started: JSONL Reader

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Excel Reader

Reads from Excel workbooks and delimited text files. Use this when:

• Your requirements live in .xlsx, .xls, .csv, .tsv, or .txt files.
• You need flexible column mapping to match your spreadsheet layout.
• You want to be able to override the configuration for a project using .properties files.

Supports dataframe buffering for performance with large files.

Get started: Excel Reader

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Jira Reader

Connects to Jira Cloud or Jira Data Center via the REST API. Use this when:

• Your requirements are managed as Jira issues (Epics, Stories, Tasks, etc.).
• You need live access to Jira without manual exports.
• You want per-project JQL customization and field mapping.

Supports multiple authentication methods (Basic, PAT, OAuth1) and SSL/mTLS.

Get started: Jira Reader

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Custom Reader

None of the built-in readers fit? You can create your own by subclassing AbstractRequirementReader.

Learn how: Custom Readers

Configuring a reader

Set reader_class in your config.toml and provide reader-specific settings under [testbench-requirement-service.reader_config]:

# config.toml
[testbench-requirement-service]
reader_class = "JsonlRequirementReader"   # or ExcelRequirementReader, JiraRequirementReader

[testbench-requirement-service.reader_config]
# reader-specific settings go here

Alternatively, keep reader settings in a separate file using reader_config_path:

# config.toml
[testbench-requirement-service]
reader_class = "JiraRequirementReader"
reader_config_path = "jira_config.toml"

# jira_config.toml
# reader-specific settings go here

See the Configuration reference for details.