Topic · software baseline

What is a software baseline, and how do I keep it true in CI?

Gist

A software baseline is the agreed set of shalls at a named gate. Proof snapshots that set. proof baseline create --name CDR-1 --description "Critical Design Review" writes baselines/CDR-1.baseline.yaml and a baseline/CDR-1 git tag, then proof baseline diff CDR-1 TRR-1 lists which IDs were added, removed, or changed.

proof baseline create --name CDR-1 --description "Critical Design Review"

Keep Jama if you author the programme. Keep DOORS if the supplier still baselines there. Proof is not a CM database, and a green create is not an electronic signature on the tag.

Request demo Last CCB pack vs this snapshot

01 · The file that becomes a tag

A Word pack from last CCB is not this push.

Configuration management wants a frozen reference. A person can export a PDF once. The next commit does not reopen that PDF.

The gate H1 lives on preliminary design review. The authoring H1 lives on Proof vs Jama. IBM DOORS stays a mention there, not a twin. This page is the snapshot: name, date, author, requirement IDs, status counts, formalization coverage.

Create writes YAML under baselines/. Duplicate names fail. Missing git metadata skips the tag and still writes the file. Diff takes two named baselines. It is not a magic HEAD token. Changed rows need both git tags; without them you still get added and removed IDs.

proof baseline create --name CDR-1 --description "Critical Design Review"
proof baseline list
proof baseline show CDR-1
proof baseline diff CDR-1 TRR-1
proof audit --fail-level warn

The first command is the freeze. The second and third are the inventory. The fourth is the change list for the next gate. Pasting last week's baseline into a share drive is how the freeze became wallpaper.

02 · The exhibit

Same shalls. A pack, or a snapshot.

The CCB pack still sits in email. The YAML will take this graph and refuse a second CDR-1. Click the tabs.

Share drive / DOORS CM

Opened CDR minutes, last Tuesday
PAY-SYS-025 ID in a PDF table

File received

This push

The pack did not notice the shall changed.

No snapshot

Share drive / DOORS CM

Still last Tuesday. Still a file.

Keep the ALM

Proof

Ask does CDR-1 still match this graph
Gate baseline create, then baseline diff

IDs added or removed since CDR-1

Same shalls. A pack, or a snapshot. Click the tabs.

Surface	What they do	What Proof does
Named software baseline	Agreed attributes of the product at a point in time	YAML under `baselines/` plus optional git tag `baseline/NAME`. Counts, IDs, formalization coverage.
IBM DOORS / Polarion / Jama	Programme authoring and CM baselines in the ALM	They still win at authoring. Proof snapshots the graph. That H1 lives on Proof vs Jama as a mention, not a twin.
PDR / CDR / TRR	The review board that accepts a baseline	The gate command is `proof gate pdr`. This URL is the freeze, not the minutes.
Microsoft ConfigMgr	Desired-state baselines for machines	Not this product. A requirement graph is not a collection of configuration items on a fleet.
Textbook SCM	Functional / allocated / product baseline vocabulary	FAQ on this page. The H1 stays software baseline. Proof does not assign those three labels.
Electronic signature	Signed freeze that binds a person to the record	Not supported. The tag is git metadata. A green create is not 21 CFR Part 11.

The snapshot is the IDs that existed when you named the gate. It is not a second copy of every YAML body. Diff against a later named baseline lists added and removed IDs. Field-level change needs both git tags. A failed tag still leaves the YAML, with a warning on stderr.

proof baseline create --name CDR-1 --description "Critical Design Review"
proof baseline diff CDR-1 TRR-1
proof audit --fail-level warn

A thin graph makes a thin freeze. Treat the snapshot as a view of the IDs, not as a second source of completeness. We have not run this against a frozen IBM / Polarion CM corpus, and we have not signed a baseline. The loss is named, not scored.

03 · The honest loss

A green Proof create is not a CM database.

Proof snapshots the graph. It does not author the programme. Jama still authors. DOORS still holds the supplier baseline.

Proof does not implement a CCB workflow, hardware configuration items, or electronic signatures on tags. Duplicate names fail. diff takes two baseline names, not HEAD. Changed fields need both tags. Intune configuration baselines are a different product. Baseline the loan-origination company is a different SERP. Object-code coverage on C still wants the qualified toolchain. That H1 lives on MC/DC for Go and on Proof vs LDRA. Proof generates inputs. It does not run them. Keep go test.

The gate H1 stays on preliminary design review. The ALM H1 stays on Proof vs Jama. Jama still authors.

Request demo How the install is bought

04 · Nearby questions

What people type next.

What is a configuration baseline? The systems-engineering name for the same freeze. Same URL. Not a twin.

What is a functional, allocated, or product baseline? Textbook SCM labels. Proof does not stamp those three. Same URL.

What is software configuration management? The process around the freeze. The 590-volume SERP is textbooks and CM tools. This H1 stays software baseline.

Is Proof a DOORS alternative? No. Jama owns that cluster. Proof vs Jama. DOORS is a mention there.

What is a preliminary design review? The gate that often consumes a baseline. PDR.

What is ReqIF? The interchange file, not the freeze. ReqIF.

What is a requirements traceability matrix? The matrix the graph can print after the freeze. RTM.

How do I measure MC/DC coverage for my Go code? The instrument, not the snapshot. MC/DC for Go.