Overview
Acceptance Criteria (ACs) define the conditions that must be met for a requirement to be considered complete. Glossa can automatically generate comprehensive acceptance criteria in multiple formats, helping you bridge the gap between high-level requirements and specific, testable conditions.
Generating Acceptance Criteria
How to Generate
Acceptance criteria are not automatically created when requirements are generated. You must manually trigger AC generation:
Open a requirement
Go to the Acceptance Criteria tab
Click Generate Acceptance Criteria
Glossa creates ACs in up to four different formats
Important: ACs are never generated automatically — you must trigger generation either individually (from the Acceptance Criteria tab on a requirement) or in bulk (by clicking Generate ACs for All Requirements above the Requirements table).
Bulk Generation
You can also generate acceptance criteria for multiple requirements at once, rather than opening each one individually.
Go to the Requirements tab
Select the requirements you want to generate ACs for using filters
Click Generate ACs for All Requirements at the top of the table
The button it will indicate how many requirements will have automatically generated ACs
The number may not match the count of your filtered list, because the button will only generate ACs for requirements that don't already have any
Glossa will generate ACs for all selected requirements simultaneously
When to use bulk generation:
After initial file processing, when you want to draft ACs across an entire project at once
When you've approved a batch of requirements and are ready to prep them for delivery
To save time before a Jira handoff
Note: Bulk generation uses the same AI logic as individual generation — each requirement gets ACs tailored to its own content. Review the output for each requirement before sharing with your team.
What Gets Generated
Glossa attempts to create acceptance criteria in four formats:
Gherkin - Given/When/Then scenarios for BDD testing
User Story - As a/I want/So that format
Checklist - Simple bullet-point validation criteria
Freeform - Narrative acceptance conditions
Note: Not every requirement will get all four types. If a particular format isn't relevant for the requirement, Glossa won't generate it. Most requirements receive all four formats, but it depends on the nature of the requirement.
AC Formats Explained
Gherkin Format
Behavior-Driven Development scenarios using Given/When/Then:
GIVEN the user is logged in as an administrator WHEN they navigate to the user management page THEN they should see a list of all active users AND they should see options to add, edit, or delete users
Best for:
Automated testing
Technical teams familiar with BDD
Requirements with clear state-action-outcome flows
User Story Format
Classic user story structure:
AS AN administrator I WANT to manage user accounts from a central interface SO THAT I can efficiently maintain user access and permissions
Best for:
Agile teams
Communicating business value
Stakeholder-facing documentation
Checklist Format
Simple, scannable validation points:
☐ User management page displays all active users ☐ Add user button is visible and functional ☐ Edit user button appears for each user row ☐ Delete user button includes confirmation dialog ☐ Only administrators can access this page
Best for:
Manual QA testing
Quick validation during demos
Non-technical stakeholders
Freeform Format
Natural language acceptance conditions:
The user management interface must allow administrators to view all active users in a sortable table. Each user row must provide options to edit user details or delete the user account. Deletion must require confirmation. The page must be restricted to users with administrator privileges.
Best for:
Comprehensive written specifications
Requirements with complex conditions
Documentation that will be read sequentially
Managing Acceptance Criteria
Editing ACs
You can edit any AI-generated acceptance criteria:
Open the requirement
Go to the Acceptance Criteria tab
Click on the AC you want to edit
Make your changes
Save
Changes to ACs do not affect the parent requirement or other ACs.
Adding Custom ACs
Beyond the AI-generated criteria, you can add your own:
In the Acceptance Criteria tab
Click Add Acceptance Criteria button
Choose the format (Gherkin, User Story, Checklist, Freeform)
Write your custom AC
Save
This is useful when:
The AI missed important acceptance conditions
You need to add edge cases
Stakeholders identified additional validation criteria
Technical constraints require specific testing conditions
Viewing ACs
Acceptance criteria appear in the Acceptance Criteria tab of the requirement detail view. You'll see:
All four AC formats (if generated)
Any custom ACs you've added
Clear separation between AI-generated and manually added criteria
Reordering ACs
You can drag and drop Gherkin ACs to reorder them.
Exporting Acceptance Criteria
CSV Export
When exporting requirements to CSV:
ACs are exported with the requirements (not separately)
All AC formats are included in the export
See the Exporting Requirements article for details
Jira Integration
ACs can be sent to Jira on their own or in the body of requirements.
See the Jira Integration article for complete field mapping details.
Note: CSV is the only export format besides Jira. ACs cannot be exported to PDF, Word, or other formats independently.
When to Use Each Format
Use Gherkin When:
Working with development teams that use BDD tools (Cucumber, SpecFlow, etc.)
Requirements involve clear workflows or processes
You need executable specifications
Automated testing is part of your process
Use User Story When:
Communicating with product owners or business stakeholders
Emphasizing business value and user needs
Working in Agile/Scrum environments
Creating backlog items
Use Checklist When:
Performing manual QA testing
Conducting user acceptance testing (UAT)
Creating demo scripts
Providing validation criteria to non-technical stakeholders
Use Freeform When:
Writing comprehensive specifications documents
Requirements don't fit structured formats well
You need detailed narrative descriptions
Compliance or regulatory documentation is required
Best Practices
Generating ACs
Timing:
Generate ACs after you've finalized and approved the requirement text
Poor requirement language leads to poor ACs
Run AI Review on the requirement first, address issues, then generate ACs
Review:
Always review AI-generated ACs—don't trust them blindly
Check that ACs actually validate the requirement
Ensure ACs are testable and specific
Remove or edit ACs that are too vague or obvious
Customizing ACs
When to add custom ACs:
Edge cases the AI missed
Technical validation criteria (performance, security, etc.)
Compliance or regulatory requirements
Integration points with other systems
When to edit AI-generated ACs:
Language is too vague ("must work well" → "must respond within 2 seconds")
Technical details are wrong
The AC validates something other than what you need
Using Multiple Formats
Leverage different formats for different audiences:
Share Checklists with QA testers
Give Gherkin to automation engineers
Use User Stories in sprint planning
Include Freeform in detailed specifications
Don't feel obligated to use all formats:
If your team doesn't use Gherkin, you don't need it
Pick the 1-2 formats that work for your workflow
Delete or ignore irrelevant AC formats
Jira Integration
If you're using the Jira integration:
Decide upfront which AC formats to send to Jira
Map AC types to appropriate Jira fields
Be consistent across projects for easier reporting
See the Jira Integration article for mapping details
Troubleshooting
No ACs were generated
Possible reasons:
You haven't clicked Generate Acceptance Criteria yet
The requirement is too vague for the AI to derive conditions
There was a processing error
Solution:
Make sure the requirement is clear and specific
Try generating again
If it still fails, write ACs manually
Generated ACs don't match the requirement
This can happen when:
The requirement language is ambiguous
The requirement combines multiple unrelated items
The AI misinterpreted the intent
Solution:
Edit the requirement to be more specific
Re-generate the ACs
Manually edit or write the ACs
I need more than 4 AC types
Glossa only generates 4 standard formats. For additional formats:
Add them as custom ACs in the format closest to what you need
Use the Freeform type for flexibility
Maintain additional criteria in external documentation if needed