Service Test Management error messages

reference australia Updated Oct 13, 2026 3 min read stm-error-messages.md

Raw file servicenow.com

Find the cause of a Service Test Management error message and the action that resolves it.

Test group messages

Message	Cause and resolution
No test definition is associated with this test group. You can not publish it.	A manual test group needs at least one test definition. Add a test definition, or change the execution type to Automated before you publish. See Map test definitions to a test group.
Test group state must be in Draft state.	You can change the definition mappings of a test group only while the group is in the Draft state.
Test group state must be in Published state.	Publish the test group before you relate it to a specification or a product model.
A record with the same Test Definition and Test Group already exists. Please provide unique values.	The test definition is already mapped to this test group. A definition can be mapped to a group only once.
You cannot update the 'Execution Type' field when the state is 'Published'.	Choose the execution type before you publish the test group.

Relationship messages

Message	Cause and resolution
Provide exactly one of Specification or Product Model.	Fill in one of the two fields, not both and not neither.
Conditions cannot be set with Product Model; condition scoping is specification-driven.	Use a specification if you want to set conditions. See Define conditions for a test group relationship.
Product Model must be populated.	Without the Product Model plugin, a test group relationship needs a product model.
A record with the same Product Model and Test Group already exists. Please provide unique values.	The test group already has a relationship for that product model.
Invalid update: this relationship creates a cyclical relationship between test definitions.	Choose a related test definition that doesn't lead back to this one.

Test definition messages

Message	Cause and resolution
Related Test Definition can only be added or modified when the test definition is not empty and state is in the draft state.	You can change relationships, test measure definitions, threshold rules, and measure consequences only while the test definition is in the Draft state.
This test definition is used in published test definitions. You cannot retire it.	Retirement is blocked while a published test definition uses this one as a related test definition. Remove the relationship first.
The following test definition(s) are used in published test definitions. So these test def(s) won't be retired.	You retired several test definitions from a list, and some are the related definition of a published test definition. The system retires the others and skips these. Remove the relationship from the published definition to retire them.
Changing the state from {0} to {1} is not permitted.	A test definition can't move back to an earlier state. See Test definitions in Service Test Management.
If Comparator Exact is true Target Exact must be populated.	One of several comparison messages on a threshold rule. Check the comparison rules in Threshold Rule form fields.

Other behavior

A test definition doesn't appear when you select one for a test run

A test run can reference only a published test definition. Publish the definition first. For more information, see Publish a test definition.
Archiving skips some test definitions and names them in a message

A test definition that a published definition uses as a related definition isn't archived. For more information, see Archive test definitions.

Keywords service test management errorstroubleshootingcannot publish test groupcyclical relationship

59 lines · 5.1 KB Wrap lines

---
title: Service Test Management error messages
description: Find the cause of a Service Test Management error message and the action that resolves it.
locale: en-US
canonical_url: https://www.servicenow.com/docs/r/australia/telecom-media-technology/stm-error-messages.html
release: australia
topic_type: reference
last_updated: "2026-10-13"
reading_time_minutes: 3
keywords: [service test management errors, troubleshooting, cannot publish test group, cyclical relationship]
breadcrumb: [Reference, Service Test Management, Telecommunications, Media, and Technology \(TMT\)]
---

# Service Test Management error messages

Find the cause of a Service Test Management error message and the action that resolves it.

## Test group messages

|Message|Cause and resolution|
|-------|--------------------|
|No test definition is associated with this test group. You can not publish it.|A manual test group needs at least one test definition. Add a test definition, or change the execution type to Automated before you publish. See [Map test definitions to a test group](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/australia/telecom-media-technology/add-test-definitions-to-test-group.md).|
|Test group state must be in Draft state.|You can change the definition mappings of a test group only while the group is in the Draft state.|
|Test group state must be in Published state.|Publish the test group before you relate it to a specification or a product model.|
|A record with the same Test Definition and Test Group already exists. Please provide unique values.|The test definition is already mapped to this test group. A definition can be mapped to a group only once.|
|You cannot update the 'Execution Type' field when the state is 'Published'.|Choose the execution type before you publish the test group.|

## Relationship messages

|Message|Cause and resolution|
|-------|--------------------|
|Provide exactly one of Specification or Product Model.|Fill in one of the two fields, not both and not neither.|
|Conditions cannot be set with Product Model; condition scoping is specification-driven.|Use a specification if you want to set conditions. See [Define conditions for a test group relationship](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/australia/telecom-media-technology/define-conditions-for-test-group-relationship.md).|
|Product Model must be populated.|Without the Product Model plugin, a test group relationship needs a product model.|
|A record with the same Product Model and Test Group already exists. Please provide unique values.|The test group already has a relationship for that product model.|
|Invalid update: this relationship creates a cyclical relationship between test definitions.|Choose a related test definition that doesn't lead back to this one.|

## Test definition messages

|Message|Cause and resolution|
|-------|--------------------|
|Related Test Definition can only be added or modified when the test definition is not empty and state is in the draft state.|You can change relationships, test measure definitions, threshold rules, and measure consequences only while the test definition is in the Draft state.|
|This test definition is used in published test definitions. You cannot retire it.|Retirement is blocked while a published test definition uses this one as a related test definition. Remove the relationship first.|
|The following test definition\(s\) are used in published test definitions. So these test def\(s\) won't be retired.|You retired several test definitions from a list, and some are the related definition of a published test definition. The system retires the others and skips these. Remove the relationship from the published definition to retire them.|
|Changing the state from \{0\} to \{1\} is not permitted.|A test definition can't move back to an earlier state. See [Test definitions in Service Test Management](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/australia/telecom-media-technology/test-definition-stm.md).|
|If Comparator Exact is true Target Exact must be populated.|One of several comparison messages on a threshold rule. Check the comparison rules in [Threshold Rule form fields](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/australia/telecom-media-technology/threshold-rule-fields.md).|

## Other behavior

-   **A test definition doesn't appear when you select one for a test run**

    A test run can reference only a published test definition. Publish the definition first. For more information, see [Publish a test definition](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/australia/telecom-media-technology/publish-test-specification-spm.md).

-   **Archiving skips some test definitions and names them in a message**

    A test definition that a published definition uses as a related definition isn't archived. For more information, see [Archive test definitions](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ServiceNow/ServiceNowDocs/australia/markdown/australia/telecom-media-technology/archive-test-definitions.md).