Skip to main content

Managing Contradictions

Learn how to review and resolve conflicting or duplicate requirements using Glossa's Conflict Detection feature.

Written by Ali
Updated over 2 weeks ago

Overview

Glossa automatically detects two types of conflicts between requirements: contradictions (requirements that conflict with each other) and duplicates (same requirement captured multiple ways). Regular contradiction review keeps your requirements consistent and prevents issues downstream.

When to Review Contradictions

Recommended cadence: After each discovery session

Why this timing:

  • Fresh in your mind

  • Easier to resolve while context is clear

  • Prevents accumulation

  • Keeps requirements clean as you go

How Conflict Detection Works

Automatic overnight processing:

  • Runs every night automatically

  • Reviews NEW requirements added since last check

  • Compares against existing requirements

  • Only within single project (not across projects)

No manual trigger needed - Just review flagged conflicts when ready.

Merge All Duplicates

If you'd rather not wait for the nightly job, you can trigger an on-demand duplicate scan and auto-merge:

  1. Go to Requirements → Conflicted Requirements tab

  2. Click the Merge All Duplicates button

  3. Glossa scans all requirements for duplicates with a 90% or higher match and merges them automatically

Key details:

  • Both requirements in a pair must be in Draft or In Progress status to be auto-merged.

  • Duplicates scoring 85–90% are still flagged for manual review in the Conflicted Requirements tab.

  • Only duplicates are auto-merged—contradictions always require your judgment.

  • A pop-up notification confirms the auto-merge has started if duplicates are found. Check the All Requirements tab and filter by Merged status to see results.

  • The nightly detection job still runs as usual—this is a supplement, not a replacement.

Viewing Conflicts

Two locations:

  1. Requirements → Conflicted Requirements tab

    • Shows all conflicts for entire project

    • Filter to show only Contradictory OR only Duplicate

  2. Within a Category

    • Open category

    • See conflicts only within that category

    • Same UI, just filtered

Resolving Conflicts

These four options apply to conflicts that Glossa has flagged. If you find duplicates that weren't flagged, use the Manual Merge button on the Conflicted Requirements tab to merge any two requirements directly — see Conflict Detection for full details.

1. Merge

  • Combines both requirements into one

  • Retains citations from both

  • Deletes original separate requirements

  • Sets merged requirement status to "Merged"

  • Use when: Same requirement captured twice with different wording

2. Ignore

  • Marks as not actually conflicting

  • Both requirements remain unchanged

  • Moves to "Resolved" history

  • Use when: False positive - requirements don't actually conflict

3. Cancel 1st

  • Changes first requirement status to "Canceled"

  • Second requirement remains active

  • Use when: First requirement is wrong or outdated

4. Cancel 2nd

  • Changes second requirement status to "Canceled"

  • First requirement remains active

  • Use when: Second requirement is wrong or outdated

Best Practices

Review Promptly

  • Check after each discovery session

  • Don't let contradictions accumulate

  • Resolve while details are fresh

Read Glossa's Explanation

  • Each conflict includes AI explanation

  • Read why it was flagged

  • Consider recommended resolution

  • Use your judgment

Be Decisive

  • Don't leave conflicts unresolved indefinitely

  • When in doubt, merge or cancel

  • Can always recreate requirement if wrong decision

Check Conflict History

  • Requirements → Conflicted Requirements → Resolved

  • See what was resolved and how

  • Learn from past decisions

  • Verify resolutions were correct

Common Scenarios

Scenario: Same requirement, different meetings

  • Action: Merge

  • Why: Consolidate into single requirement with citations from both meetings

Scenario: Requirements seem contradictory but aren't

  • Action: Ignore

  • Why: AI false positive, both requirements are valid

Scenario: Old requirement superseded by new one

  • Action: Cancel 1st, keep 2nd

  • Why: Latest information is most accurate

Scenario: Duplicate from same email

  • Action: Merge

  • Why: Remove duplication, keep all context

Scenario: Large batch of requirements just imported or generated

  • Action: Click Merge All Duplicates

  • Why: Bulk imports and AI-generated requirements often produce near-duplicates. Running an immediate scan catches them before they clutter your project, without waiting for the nightly job.

Scenario: You spot duplicates that Glossa didn't flag

  • Action: Use Manual Merge (on the Conflicted Requirements tab, next to Merge All Duplicates)

  • Why: Manual Merge lets you select any two requirements and combine them — preserving citations from both. This is better than canceling one and manually editing the other, which loses traceability. There are no status restrictions, so it works even for requirements that have already been approved.

History Tracking

Note that actions to merge and cancel requirements result in auditable records. On any requirement, open the Activity window, and see all changes made to the requirement, including prior value, who made the change, and when.

Did this answer your question?