What is the workflow editor?
The workflow editor allows admins to define, customize, and manage how work items move through various stages of work. It visualizes the flow of work, allowing you to add statuses, transitions and rules to define operations or conditions in the flow.
You can use the workflow editor to automate routine actions, apply business rules, and configure different work item paths based on space or work type requirements.
Getting to know the editor
The workflow editor provides a single view where you can configure statuses, transitions, and transition rules without having to navigate around Jira, or multiple tabs.
Toolbar: Add statuses, transitions, and rules to create your workflow.
Update or discard: Publish your changes instantly. If you’re not happy with your changes, you can always throw them away and return to your original workflow.
Details: Select a status or transition from the diagram and edit its name, rules, properties, and more.
Diagram: Drag to move statuses and create transitions. Select a status or transition to see its details.
Relevant spaces: See which spaces use the workflow before you publish.
You can edit a workflow in text (rather than the diagram) by using the Text/ Diagram toggle to switch between views. In text mode, you can see workflow statuses and their related transitions, then select a status or transition to edit its details in the sidebar, just as you would in the diagram.
Watch a video walkthrough to see these features in action.
Edit and publish instantly
When you edit a workflow, you make changes directly in the same view where you manage statuses, transitions, and rules.
When you’re ready, select Update workflow to publish your changes instantly. If you don’t want to keep your changes, you can discard them and return to the workflow’s previous state.
You can also make supported updates to active workflows without copying the workflow or updating workflow schemes to activate it.
This means:
you can delete statuses in active workflows, and
if a status has no outgoing transitions (not including global transitions), new outgoing transitions can be added (regular or global).
Delete statuses and update work items
When you delete a status in your workflow, you’ll immediately be taken through steps to move work items from that deleted status to a new status.
Know which spaces use your workflow
Before you publish your workflow, you want to make sure you’re updating the right spaces, and now, you can do it right from the workflow editor itself.
Share transitions as you create
You can create transitions for work items in multiple statuses with a single set of rules and properties.
Apply a transition to multiple statuses by selecting multiple From statuses when you create the transition or edit an existing status.
Easily add rules to a transition
Rules is where you’ll find conditions, screen configuration, validators, and post-functions.
Use these rules to limit when your team can use a transition, or to automatically perform an action as they do.
If you were familiar with the old workflow editor in Jira, this table shows how rules map between the old editor and the new editor.
Old editor | New editor |
Conditions | Restrict transition |
Only Assignee Condition | Restrict who can move a work item |
Only Reporter Condition | |
Permission Condition | |
User Is In Group | |
User Is In Any Group | |
User Is In Project Role | |
User Is In Any Project Role | |
User Is In Custom field | |
User Is In Group Custom Field | |
Value Field | Restrict to when a field is a specific value |
Compare Number Custom Field | |
Previous Status Condition | Restrict to when a work item has been through a specific status |
Separation of Duties condition | Restrict users who have previously updated a work item’s status |
Sub-Task Blocking Condition | Restrict based on the status of subtasks |
Block transition until approval | Block transition until approval |
Hide From User Condition | Restrict from all users |
Always False Condition | |
Screen configuration | Request input |
Screen field (in transition details) | Show a screen |
Validators | Validate details |
Field Required Validator | Validate a field |
Field has been modified Validator | |
Field has single value Validator | |
Date Compare Validator | |
Date Window Validator | |
Regular Expression Check | |
Forms: Forms attached | Require a work item to have a form attached |
Forms: Forms submitted | Require form submission on a work item |
Parent Status Validator | Validate that parent work items are in a specific status |
Permission Validator | Validate that people have a specific permission |
Previous State Validator | Validate that a work item has been through a specific status |
User Permission Validator | Sunsetted. Use the Validate that people have a specific permission rule. |
Post-functions | Perform actions |
Update Issue Field | Update a work item’s field |
Update Issue Custom Field | |
Clear Field Value | |
Assign to Current User | Assign a work item |
Assign to Lead Developer | |
Assign to Reporter | |
Update Issue Field (for assignee field) | |
Copy Value From Other Field | Copy the value of one field to another |
Set issue security level based on user's project role | Set a work item’s security level |
Trigger a Webhook | Trigger a webhook |
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