Squad to Zephyr Upgrade Guide
This guide is designed to help teams upgrading from Zephyr Squad to Zephyr, offering improved performance, advanced automation capabilities, and modern user experience. It outlines the upgrade path, migration process, and key considerations.
Why Upgrade to Zephyr?
Zephyr offers:
Consistent modern experience, with AI-powered automation workflows.
High-performance, robust backend system with enhanced capabilities to support AI-powered features and advanced automation needs.
Support for advanced compliance and automation needs.
Key Features
Cross-project test management
Test repository
Test case versioning
Test data and parameters
Test plans
Multi-level folder structure
Enhanced reporting
Improved performance
AI-powered no-code automation
Record & play test generation
Test-step suggestions
Data residency and compliance support
Upgrade path to Zephyr Advanced (includes cross-browser testing, parallel testing, email/SMS testing and 4x more AI test runs)
Check also Product Comparison and Feature Comparison for detailed information.
Upgrade Experience
Upgrading from Zephyr Squad to Zephyr involves:
A dedicated migration UI with:
Project-level migration
Progress tracking and retry options
Migration logs
- The ability to migrate individual projects
Validation per project, during or after migration
App Availability During Migration
Zephyr Squad remains usable during the data migration process. The app is not blocked by default, allowing you to continue creating or modifying data.
If you want newly added or updated data in Squad to reflect in Zephyr, you need to re-run the migration, which overwrites previously migrated data.
Any existing data in Zephyr will also be overwritten. Merging or delta migrations are not supported.
The migration UI allows blocking Squad during migration to prevent data inconsistencies. While optional, we recommend enabling this to ensure data integrity.
Environment Options
Production Migration. Fully supported. Zephyr Squad is usable during migration.
Sandbox Migration. Possible, but requires manual setup. Squad data cannot be copied directly from production. Use CSV export/import for test cases and test steps.
Note
The CSV export/import feature supports only the import of test cases and test steps. It does not support importing test cycles or test executions.
For detailed, step-by-step guidance on the upgrade process, including UI screenshots and comprehensive instructions, check Upgrade to Zephyr – Step-by-step guide.
Migrated Data
All primary test management entities are migrated, including:
Test cases
Test cycles
Test executions
The following data is not migrated:
BDD data
Test execution history
For full data mapping details, check Data Mapping Reference. For a list of non-migrated data, check Non-migrated Data Details.
Roadmap for Non-Migrated Data
We are actively working to support the migration of currently non-migrated data.
Data Type | Expected Availability |
|---|---|
BDD Data | Q4 2025 |
Test Execution History | Q1 2026 |
We will update this guide as these features become available. Note that the expected availability timelines are subject to change.
You can track and submit feature requests on our Feature Request Portal.
Time and Effort Required to Upgrade
The backend infrastructure and migration process is the same for both upgrade paths.
In Squad to Zephyr, data migration is done project by project, allowing individual validation.
The REST API endpoints in Zephyr differ from those in Zephyr Squad. When upgrading from Squad, you must update your automation scripts to use the new endpoints.
For details, check the Zephyr API Documentation.
For a detailed comparison of API differences between Squad and Zephyr/Essential, see the API Differences Reference.
Overall time required will depend on the volume of data and the number of projects.
Pricing and Licensing
Upgrade to Zephyr requires a new license. If there are more than six months left to run on the Zephyr Squad for Jira Cloud subscription, a pro-rata discount is available on request. The discount is in the form of a promo code, which you can use to apply a discount on the new Zephyr subscription. You can let the Zephyr Squad license expire.
During the upgrade/UAT phase, we can arrange for dual licensing upon request. We provide a limited free license if you have a paid or commercial license in place. If you have any questions about licenses, feel free to email [email protected].
Register for the Upgrade
If you want to upgrade to Zephyr, create a support ticket with our team. Based on your selected upgrade path, our support team will guide you through the next steps.
See Also
Upgrade to Zephyr – Step-by-step guide
Known Issues and Troubleshooting
For any open issues, bugs, or ongoing investigations related to the upgrade process, refer to our Migration Known Issues Tracker.
If you encounter any problems not listed there, feel free to contact our support team.