Narrative Sections
Narrative sections are the free-form content blocks within each report tab — scope, methodology, executive summary, and custom sections.
Narrative sections are the written content blocks inside each report tab. They provide the context around your findings — explaining what was tested, how testing was performed, and what the overall results mean.
Where Written Content Lives
A report's written content is split between report-level fields and per-tab sections:
| Content | Level | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Executive Summary | Report | High-level overview of results for non-technical stakeholders |
| Methodology | Report | The testing approach, tools, and standards followed (e.g., OWASP, PTES) |
| Additional sections (e.g. Scope) | Report | Define what was tested, exclusions, limitations — add as many as you need |
| Narrative sections | Tab | Free-form content specific to one testing area |
Custom Sections
You can add narrative sections to any tab to cover additional topics. Common examples include:
- Testing Environment
- Assumptions and Limitations
- Positive Observations
- Remediation Priorities
- Compliance Mapping
To add a custom section, use the Add Section button within a tab. Each custom section has a title and a content area.
Editing Content
Narrative sections use a TipTap rich text editor. The editor supports:
| Formatting | Description |
|---|---|
| Headings | H1 through H6 for structuring content |
| Bold / Italic | Emphasis and strong emphasis |
| Ordered lists | Numbered step-by-step lists |
| Unordered lists | Bullet point lists |
| Tables | Structured data within narrative content |
| Links | Hyperlinks to external resources |
Content is stored as HTML internally and rendered in the exported DOCX according to your template's styling.
The rich text editor provides a visual editing experience. You do not need to write HTML directly — the editor handles formatting through its toolbar.
Search and Replace
Narrative sections are included in Vulnsy's search and replace system. This lets you use placeholder variables throughout your narrative content and replace them in bulk before export.
For example, you might write:
Testing was performed between {{start_date}} and {{end_date}} against {{target_url}}.Then use search and replace to substitute the actual values across all narrative sections in the report at once.
Search and replace operates across all narrative sections in all tabs of the report. Double-check your replacements before exporting to make sure the correct values were applied everywhere.
How Narratives Appear in Exports
When you export a report to DOCX, narrative content is injected into the template using tags. Use the ~ prefix so the rich text renders with Word formatting:
| Content | Template Tag |
|---|---|
| Executive Summary | {~report.executiveSummary} |
| Methodology | {~report.methodology} |
| Additional sections (e.g. a section titled "Scope") | {~report.sections.scope} |
| Tab narrative sections | {~sections.<slug>} inside a {#tabs} loop, or {~web.sections.<slug>} using the tab's prefix |
Section slugs come from the section title, lowercased with spaces as underscores — a section titled "Testing Environment" becomes {~report.sections.testing_environment}.
Next Steps
- Report Tabs — understand how tabs organize narrative sections
- Report Findings — add findings alongside your narratives
- Template Tags Reference — full list of tags available for narratives