> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.tela.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Test Cases overview > What a Test Case is, why you test, where the Test experience lives and the loop from the first run to a published version A Canvas, Workflow or Agent that works on the three documents you tried by hand is not yet something you can trust with a thousand. A **Test Case** is how you turn each example you checked into a check that runs again, every time you change the prompt, the model or a step. This section explains how to build that set of checks, how to read what it tells you, and how to use it to decide what to publish. The pages use one running example: a Canvas that extracts fields from supplier invoices. Its [Output Format](https://docs.tela.com/en/craft/output-format.md) has four attributes, `supplier_name`, `total_amount`, `due_date` and `category`, and it has one file variable, `invoice`. The test suite holds a handful of cases: a clean PDF invoice, a scanned one, an invoice with two currencies and a document that is not an invoice at all. ## What a Test Case is A Test Case is a saved input: the value of every variable of the Canvas, including the files, plus a title and optional labels. When you run it, Tela executes the Canvas with those inputs and stores the result as a **run** of that Test Case on that version. What makes it a test is what you attach to the result: * **Reviews**. Each attribute of the result gets a thumbs up or down. For the clean invoice, `total_amount` = `1,250.00` is **Good**; `due_date` = `2024-01-05` when the invoice says `2024-05-01` is **Bad**. * **Examples**. The values you mark are kept as **Expected Answers** and **Wrong Answers** of the Test Case. On the next run, an attribute that matches one of them is reviewed automatically. * **Rules**. Plain-language rules per attribute, such as *The total must be a number without currency symbol*, that an AI judge applies when no example matches. A Test Case has one run per version of the Canvas. Reviews, examples and rules belong to the Test Case, so they follow it from version to version. That is what lets you measure a new version against the same bar as the old one. > [!NOTE] > > In the API, a Test Case is a `test-case` object with `variables`, `variablesRichContent`, `files`, `title`, `answers` (the examples) and `validationRules`. Each run is a `generation`. See [Create Test Cases](https://docs.tela.com/api-reference/test-case/create.md). ## Why test * **Validate results on real inputs.** Running the invoice Canvas once in Craft tells you it works on that invoice. Five Test Cases with different layouts tell you where it does not. * **Measure quality over time.** The **Accuracy Score** of a version is computed from your reviews. It gives you a number you can compare before and after a change to the prompt. * **Catch regressions.** Changing the prompt to fix the scanned invoice can break the one with two currencies. Running the suite shows it before your team sees it in the Workstation. * **Decide what to publish.** A version with a reviewed, green suite is a version you can publish to Production and hand to the API with confidence. See [Publishing and environments](https://docs.tela.com/en/craft/publishing.md). * **Learn from production.** Every task your team corrects in the Workstation is a real input with a verified output. Turning it into a Test Case closes the loop between production and the next version. ## Where Test Cases live Every Canvas, Workflow and Agent has three experiences in the top center of its page: **Craft**, **Test** and **Usage**. Test Cases live in **Test**. ![Test experience of the invoice Canvas, with the summary card (Run, Review, Accuracy Score, Reviewed, Attributes), the New test case and Drop files here cards, and the table of Test Cases](https://mintcdn.com/meistrari/M2w7BduKZAFA1Sbx/images/test-cases/test-experience.png?fit=max\&auto=format\&n=M2w7BduKZAFA1Sbx\&q=85\&s=1e4653cc09ce041521087d46504720ab) The **Test** experience has three parts: | Part | What it shows | | - | - | | Summary card | A status headline, the **Run All** and **Review** buttons, and the metrics of the version you are viewing: **Accuracy Score**, **Reviewed** test cases and reviewed **Attributes** | | Creation cards | **New test case** (create manually) and **Drop files here** (one Test Case per file) | | Table | One row per Test Case: **Name**, **Status**, **Score**, **Labels**, one column per output attribute with the value of the last run, **Version**, **Created**, **Reviewed By** | Click a row to open the Test Case in full screen: the result on the left, attribute by attribute, and the inputs on the right. This is where you review. The **Test** experience always shows the runs of the version you are viewing, the one marked **Current** in the **Version History**. Switch versions and the table, the statuses and the metrics switch with it. > [!NOTE] > > **Test** is hidden when file storage is disabled for your Workspace. When data retention is turned on, a banner at the top of the experience tells you after how many hours files and Test Cases are deleted. ### In Workflows A Workflow has the same **Test** experience. A run executes every step, and the result is grouped by step; the attributes you review are those of the Output Formats of the AI steps. The Workflow docs explain [what becomes reviewable](https://docs.tela.com/en/workflow/outputs-and-results.md#what-becomes-reviewable) and the specifics of [Test Cases in a Workflow](https://docs.tela.com/en/workflow/running-testing-and-publishing.md#test-cases). ### In Agents Agents have their own Test Cases, with an **Expected output**, **Rules** for an evaluator and a pass or fail verdict with a reason. The metrics at the top of the experience are the same. The Agent docs cover them in [Testing an Agent](https://docs.tela.com/en/agent/testing.md#test-cases). ## The lifecycle **1. Create** Save a run you liked in Craft, turn a reviewed Workstation task into a Test Case, drop files on the **Test** experience, or create one by hand. For the invoice Canvas, start with the clean invoice and the document that is not an invoice. **2. Run** **Run All**, or open a Test Case and click **Run**. Each Test Case runs against the version you are viewing. **3. Review** Open each result and mark every attribute **Good** or **Bad**. Add the right value when something is wrong. The status moves from **Pending Review** to **Completed** when nothing is left to review. **4. Fix and rerun** Change the prompt in **Craft**, come back to **Test** and run again. Attributes that match your examples or pass your rules are reviewed for you; you only look at what changed. **5. Compare and publish** Open the previous version from the **Version History** and compare its **Accuracy Score** with the new one. When the new version is at least as good on every case that matters, **Publish**. > [!WARNING] > > A Test Case whose run finished shows **Pending Review**, not **Completed**. A suite that ran but was never reviewed proves nothing. The **Accuracy Score** only counts reviewed attributes. ## Pages in this section > **[Creating Test Cases](https://docs.tela.com/en/test-cases/creating-test-cases.md)** > > From a Craft run, from a Workstation task, from files, by hand, in bulk or through the API > **[Running and reviewing](https://docs.tela.com/en/test-cases/running-and-reviewing.md)** > > Run one or all, read the statuses, review attribute by attribute, rerun > **[Validation rules and metrics](https://docs.tela.com/en/test-cases/validation-rules-and-metrics.md)** > > Expected Answers, Wrong Answers, AI rules, and how the Accuracy Score is computed > **[Comparing versions](https://docs.tela.com/en/test-cases/comparing-versions.md)** > > Run the same Test Cases on several versions, read the difference and choose what to publish This documentation is built and hosted on [Mintlify](https://mintlify.com), a developer documentation platform.