Collaborate on work items with AI agents

Collaborate directly on work items with Rovo agents or other AI agents. Using artificial intelligence and machine learning, Rovo is an AI tool that is integrated into our cloud-based apps.

When you add an agent to a work item, you establish a two-way interaction with that agent. You can assign the agent to a work item or trigger the agent as work moves through your workflow. Agents help with first drafts, quick summaries, and specific tasks so you can keep work moving where it's tracked.

Once assigned a task and set to work, the agent provides an output for you to review in the Agents section on a work item. Only you can view, interact with, and share the agent's output.

When you’re happy with the result, you can share the output as a comment or attachment on the work item for your team to also view.

Once you add an agent to a space, you can collaborate in four ways:

• Add an agent to the assignee field.

• @ mention an agent in a comment.

• Add an agent to workflow transitions.

• Add an agent to a column on the board.

Set up a Rovo agent for collaboration

Have a think about which agent will best suit the task, and switch agents whenever your requirements change.

Once it’s set up to collaborate on work items, you can assign work to a Rovo agent by Atlassian, a Rovo agent created by someone on your space, and agents built by third parties. More: Add an external MCP server from Atlassian Administration

To connect a Rovo agent to your site:

1. In the top left navigation, go to Switch sites or apps ().

2. Select Studio, then Agents.

3. Choose either Browse agents or Create an agent.

Read more about creating or editing Rovo agents

After you add an agent, you will need to give it permission to collaborate with you. You’ll need to do this once per agent.

To set up an agent for collaboration:

1. Select the agent you’ve recently added.

2. In the sidebar, find Configuration.

3. Select Surfaces, then turn on the Work item toggle.

Now you can assign work to, or @mention the agent, from all spaces within your site. Turn this on or off any time. More: Control access to beta AI features

Assign work to an agent

There are four ways you can assign work to an agent. Keep in mind: only the person who adds the agent as an assignee, or transitions a work item that triggers an agent, can interact with the agent directly. The output, however, can be shared with your entire team.

The agent may use details from other work items in your site to build context.

Add an agent to the assignee field

To add an agent as a collaborator on a work item:

1. Open the relevant work item from any view.

2. From the Assignee field, search for, then add the AI agent you’d like to work with.

3. Once assigned, the agent will get to work on the task you’ve assigned it.

The agent will use the work item’s summary and description, and may use comments and attachments to build context.

@ mention an agent in a comment

To summon an agent in a comment on a work item:

1. Open the relevant work item from any view.

2. In the Activity section, choose the Comments tab.

3. In a comment, enter @, then the name of the agent you want to summon.

The agent will refer to the comment's context and may access information directly on the work item, such as the description or attachments. Then, it will get to work.

Add an agent to workflow transitions

You can begin to automate when an agent picks up work by assigning the agent to a workflow transition. In this case, the agent is triggered when work transitions from one status to another. Before you get started, make sure Rovo is enabled in your space and that all required permissions are granted. More on Rovo permissions

Keep in mind: the agent is triggered when any team member moves a work item to the allocated status.

To trigger an agent on a workflow transition:

Then, in the workflow editor:

1. Find a transition you’d like to add an agent to. Select Add rule.

2. From the dialog, select Trigger agent action.

3. In the dropdown, find Add agent. Enter an optional custom prompt, then select Add.

4. When you’re happy with your changes, select Update workflow, then Save.

Add an agent to a column on the board

To assign an agent to a column on your board:

1. If you’re not already there, navigate to the Board view.

2. Select More actions () in the top right of your chosen column.

3. Select Add agents.

The agent gets to work when anyone moves work into the column it’s added to.

Share the output

All agent activity and updates are displayed on a work item and in your Rovo chat history. It’s only visible to you, so you can explore ideas with the agent and choose when to share the final output.

To share what you and an agent have worked on:

1. Open the work item you and an agent are collaborating on.

2. Expand Agents to view the agent's activity.

3. Adjust the output and complete any steps that require your input.

4. Select Publish when you’re ready. This completes the task but doesn’t share the output.

5. To share the output, expand Agents.

6. Select Draft comment.

7. Tweak the comment, then select Save to share.