Schema

The RTM database is a CSV file with standardized columns for requirements traceability.

Core Schema

Column	Required	Description
req_id	Yes	Unique identifier (e.g., REQ-AUTH-001)
category	Yes	High-level grouping
subcategory	No	Secondary grouping
requirement_text	Yes	Human-readable description
acceptance_criteria	No	Verification criteria
test_module	No	Test file path
test_function	No	Test function name
verification_method	No	How requirement is verified
status	Yes	Current status
priority	No	Priority level
phase	No	Development phase number
notes	No	Additional notes
effort	No	Estimated effort
dependencies	No	Requirements this depends on
blocks	No	Requirements this blocks
owner	No	Responsible party
target_release	No	Target release version
actual_release	No	Actual release version
date_completed	No	Completion date
spec_path	No	Path to requirement specification

Status Values

Status	Description
COMPLETE	Requirement fully implemented and tested
PARTIAL	Requirement partially implemented
MISSING	Requirement not yet implemented
NOT_STARTED	Requirement not yet started
WIP	Work in progress
BLOCKED	Blocked by dependencies

Priority Values

Priority	Description
P0	Critical - must have
HIGH	Important - should have
MEDIUM	Nice to have
LOW	Future consideration

Requirement ID Format

Requirement IDs follow the pattern: REQ-{CATEGORY}-{NUMBER}

Examples:

• REQ-AUTH-001 - Authentication requirement 1
• REQ-DATA-015 - Data requirement 15
• REQ-UI-003 - UI requirement 3

Dependencies

Dependencies are pipe-separated requirement IDs:

REQ-AUTH-002,AUTH,...,REQ-AUTH-001|REQ-DB-001,...

This means REQ-AUTH-002 depends on both REQ-AUTH-001 and REQ-DB-001.

Schema Extensions

Phoenix Schema

Extended schema for Phoenix-style projects:

rtmx:
  schema: phoenix

Additional columns:

• compliance_ref - Compliance reference
• risk_level - Risk assessment
• verification_level - Verification level required

Custom Fields

Define custom fields in configuration:

rtmx:
  schema: core
  custom_fields:
    - name: customer_ref
      type: string
      required: false
    - name: sprint_id
      type: integer
      required: false

Example RTM Entry

req_id,category,subcategory,requirement_text,acceptance_criteria,test_module,test_function,verification_method,status,priority,phase,notes,effort,dependencies,blocks,owner,target_release,actual_release,date_completed,spec_path
REQ-AUTH-001,AUTH,LOGIN,System shall support OAuth 2.0 authentication,OAuth flow completes successfully,tests/test_auth.py,test_oauth_login,Unit Test,COMPLETE,HIGH,1,Implemented using authlib,2.0,,,@alice,v0.1,v0.1,2024-01-15,docs/requirements/AUTH/REQ-AUTH-001.md

Validation

Validate your RTM database:

rtmx health              # Full health check
rtmx config --validate   # Config validation only

Common validation errors:

• Duplicate requirement IDs
• Invalid status values
• Missing required fields
• Circular dependencies
• References to non-existent requirements