Building a Case

This page is a reference for the case editor, not a walkthrough. If you want to build something step by step first, see Module 2 of the TEA Trainee curriculum, which uses the same controls described here on a worked example.

Create a caseCopy Anchor Link

From the dashboard, choose New Case (or the Create new case card if you already have cases) and fill in Name and Description in the Create New Assurance Case dialog, then choose Submit. This creates a blank working case with a single top-level goal, named G1 and holding a placeholder description for you to replace. There is no starter-template choice in this dialog; a separate Import File option on the dashboard creates a case from an existing JSON export instead.

Element typesCopy Anchor Link

An assurance case is built from ten element types, each with a fixed one- or two-letter prefix used in its generated name:

Goals, strategies, property claims and evidence make up the argument tree you build with the + control described below. Context, justification and assumption are added directly on the element they qualify, through its edit dialog rather than the + menu.

Add and edit elementsCopy Anchor Link

Each node on the canvas carries a + control, labelled Add child element. It opens a popover offering the child types valid for that node. A goal offers Add Strategy and Add Property Claim; a strategy offers Add Property Claim; a property claim offers Add Strategy, Add Property Claim and Add Evidence. Add Defeater, Add Away Goal and Add Module are offered alongside those on all three node types. Evidence nodes have no + control, since nothing can be added beneath them.

The pencil icon on a node, labelled Edit element (or View details if you only have view or comment access), opens that element's edit dialog. The dialog's fields depend on the element type — a description for every type, plus Context entries and an Assertion status selector on goals and property claims, and an optional assumption or justification field where relevant. Saving calls the dialog's submit button, labelled Update followed by the element type — Update Goal, Update Strategy, Update Property, Update Evidence and so on.

Assertion statusCopy Anchor Link

Goals and property claims carry an assertion status, set from the edit dialog. There are five values an author can choose from:

• Asserted — the author's stated position. This is the default.
• Needs support — flagged by the author as requiring further evidence.
• Assumed — taken as given by the author rather than argued for.
• Axiomatic — treated by the author as self-evidently true in this case.
• Defeated — marked by the author as refuted or withdrawn.

Assertion status records the author's own position; it is not an automated verdict on whether the evidence is actually sufficient.

Element names and the prefix ruleCopy Anchor Link

The editor generates each element's name automatically — you do not type one in the add or edit dialogs. If you import a case from JSON, any named element must follow the same pattern its type uses: a prefix followed by a number, optionally extended with dotted sub-numbers (for example P1, P1.1, G2). An import that breaks this pattern is rejected.

If names in your working case get out of order — after a lot of adding, deleting and restructuring — the toolbar's Reset Identifiers control renumbers every element using the same hierarchical naming the editor generates automatically. It requires edit access on the case.

Undo, redo and the toolbarCopy Anchor Link

The toolbar's history controls are Undo (Cmd+Z) and Redo (Cmd+Shift+Z); both operate on your recent add, edit and delete actions within the current session.

The Export control opens the Export Case dialog, which offers four independent ways to take a copy of your case:

• Export Raw JSON — the case data itself, suitable for import elsewhere.
• Export as Image — a rendered picture of the diagram.
• Export Report — a document summarising the case, including a full-report option.
• Backup to Google Drive — saves a JSON copy to your Google Drive, if your account is connected.

None of these dialogs has a separate whole-case "Save" button. Every add and edit dialog persists its own change the moment you submit it; export and backup are separate actions for taking a copy, not for saving your work.

Learn by doingCopy Anchor Link

Module 2 of the TEA Trainee curriculum walks through every control on this page in order, building a small practice case from a blank goal through to a supported property claim.