Working with Violations

When Dike detects a compliance violation, it automatically creates a Jira issue in your Compliance Violations project. This guide explains how to find, understand, and manage these violations using Jira's built-in features.

Finding Violations

Violations appear as Jira issues in the project you configured during setup. There are several ways to find them:

Using the Project Board

1. Navigate to your Compliance Violations project (e.g., "COMPVIOL")
2. Use the Board or Backlog view to see all violations
3. Filter by status, assignee, or other fields

Using Issue Search

1. Go to Filters → Advanced issue search
2. Enter a JQL query (see examples below)
3. Save useful queries as filters for quick access

Quick Access

Create a dashboard with violation gadgets or bookmark common JQL filters for one-click access to your compliance violations.

Understanding Violation Details

Each violation issue contains detailed information to help you investigate and resolve it.

Issue Fields

Field	Description
Summary	Brief description of the violation
Status	Current state in your workflow
Priority	Severity level: High, Medium, or Low
Description	Detailed information including the rule violated
Labels	Entity type (commit/pull-request), repository name
Created	When Dike detected the violation

Links in Description

The issue description includes direct links to:

• GitHub: View the commit or pull request on GitHub
• Related Jira Issue: The work item that should have been referenced (if applicable)

Severity Levels

Severity	Meaning	Examples
High	Critical compliance issue requiring immediate attention	Direct commits to main, PRs without any approval
Medium	Standard violation that should be addressed	PRs with failing checks, missing issue references
Low	Minor issue for awareness	Documentation-only changes without issues

Managing Violation Status

Violations progress through three statuses:

Open → Acknowledged → Resolved

Status Definitions

Status	Meaning	When to Use
Open	Newly detected, not yet reviewed	Default state for new violations
Acknowledged	Reviewed, work in progress	Team is aware and addressing it
Resolved	Issue has been addressed	Violation has been fixed or accepted

Updating Status

Update violation status through your normal Jira workflow:

1. Open the violation issue
2. Use the status dropdown or workflow transitions
3. Move through statuses as you address the violation

Your team can customize the workflow to match your compliance process (e.g., add review steps, require comments on resolution).

Using JQL to Filter Violations

Use Jira Query Language (JQL) to find and filter violations in Jira.

Basic Queries

All open violations:

project = "COMPVIOL" AND status = Open

High severity violations:

project = "COMPVIOL" AND priority = High

Violations from last 7 days:

project = "COMPVIOL" AND created >= -7d

Filtering by Type

Commit violations only:

project = "COMPVIOL" AND labels = "commit"

Pull request violations only:

project = "COMPVIOL" AND labels = "pull-request"

Combining Filters

Open high-severity PR violations:

project = "COMPVIOL" AND status = Open AND priority = High AND labels = "pull-request"

Violations in a specific repository:

project = "COMPVIOL" AND summary ~ "my-repo-name"

Useful Saved Filters

Create saved filters for common queries:

Filter Name	JQL	Purpose
Open Violations	project = "COMPVIOL" AND status = Open ORDER BY priority DESC	Daily review
Critical Issues	project = "COMPVIOL" AND priority = High AND status != Resolved	Urgent attention
This Week	project = "COMPVIOL" AND created >= startOfWeek()	Weekly report
Unresolved	project = "COMPVIOL" AND status != Resolved ORDER BY created DESC	Backlog review

tip

Replace "COMPVIOL" with your actual project key if you used a different name during setup.

Exporting Violation Data

From Jira

Export violations using Jira's built-in export features:

1. Run a JQL query to filter violations
2. Click Export in the search results
3. Choose format:
   • CSV - For spreadsheets and data analysis
   • XML - For system integrations
   • Print - For documentation

For SOC2 Audits

When preparing for a SOC2 audit, export:

1. All violations in audit period:

   project = "COMPVIOL" AND created >= "2024-01-01" AND created <= "2024-12-31"

2. Resolution status summary:

   • Group by status to show how violations were handled
   • Include acknowledgment and resolution timestamps

3. Trend data:

   • Export monthly violation counts
   • Show improvement over time

Best Practices

Daily Review

• Check open high-severity violations daily
• Acknowledge violations that are being addressed
• Close resolved violations promptly

Weekly Reporting

• Review violation trends by repository
• Identify patterns requiring process changes
• Update rules if generating too many false positives

Audit Preparation

• Ensure all violations have been triaged (none left as Open indefinitely)
• Document resolution actions for critical violations
• Export evidence showing compliance improvement over time