Create work items

Work items are the building blocks of any project. Think of them as packets of work that travel through workflows in a project until they’re completed.

Business projects have different types of work items, including epics, tasks, and subtasks. A work item can also have child work items, which are assigned and tracked separately.

How to configure work types

How to import multiple work items from a CSV file

Before you begin

You need the Create work item project permission for the work item’s relevant project. The type of work items you can create will depend on the work types your admin has enabled for your project.

Create a work item

To create a work item anywhere in Jira:

1. Select Create.

2. Add a Summary for the work item.

3. Complete all required fields and any other fields that you want.

   1. Optional: To change which fields appear when you create a work item, select Actions (•••), then Configure fields. Select Custom fields from the dropdown menu, then choose the fields you want. This will update the fields in the work item you’re currently creating as well any future work items created.

   2. Optional: To create other work items with the same Project and Work type, select the Create another work item checkbox. Depending on your configuration and work item creation history, some fields may be pre-populated. Review these before creating the new work item.

4. When you're finished, select Create. 

Clone a work item

Clone a work item to quickly create a duplicate of it in the same project. The cloned work item contains most of the same details stored in the original work item, like the summary, affected versions, and components. Some details aren't cloned, like time logged, comments, history, and links to Confluence pages. The work item status also returns to the first step of the corresponding workflow, and the resolutions are cleared. The cloned work item can be linked to the original work item, but doesn't have to be.

To clone a work item:

1. Open the work item.

2. Select More actions (•••), then Clone.

3. If you want to, edit the cloned work item’s Summary.

4. If applicable to the work item you're cloning, you can also select:

   • Attachments to copy existing attachments

   • Subtasks to copy existing subtasks

   • Links to copy any existing linked work items

   • Clone sprint value(s), including current and closed sprint values

5. Select Clone.

Create child work items

In business projects, we use “child” and “parent” to describe related work items. If you have a task with a related subtask, that task would be considered a parent work item while the subtask would be a child work item. Similarly, a task could be a child work item of an epic.

To create a child work item:

1. Open the work item you’d like to be the parent work item.

2. Select Add a child work item () under the summary of the work item. If you are in a company-managed project and want to create a subtask, select Create subtask ().

3. Add a summary for the work item and select Create.

Create child work items suggested by AI

Use Atlassian Intelligence to generate a list of suggested child work items, based on the details of the parent work item.

When you accept a suggestion, a new child work item will be created and linked to the parent work item.

To see a list of AI-generated suggestions:

1. Open the parent work item.

2. Select Add a child work item under the summary. If you are in a company-managed project and want to create a subtask, select Create subtask.

3. Select Suggest work items.

We’ll then create a list of suggested child work items which you can accept, edit, or decline.

Change the parent work item of a child work item

To change the parent work item of a child work item:

1. Open the child work item.

2. Select the work type icon in the top-left corner next to the key of the parent work item.

3. Select a new parent work item for your child work item.

In the timeline and list views, you can also change the parent work item of a work item by dragging and dropping it underneath a new parent work item.

Define the work type

Change the work type in the work item

After you create a work item, you may want to change its type to better represent the work that needs to be done. For example, you may want to turn a work item that was raised as a task into a bug.

Read more about work types

To change the work type:

1. Open the work item you're working with.

2. Select the current work type icon, which is shown next to the work item key, above the summary.

3. Choose a new work type from the drop-down list.

If there are different fields in the new work type, or if it has a different workflow, we'll open an additional screen to help you complete the change.

Convert a subtask to a work item

If you’re in a company-managed project:

1. Navigate to the subtask you would like to convert.

2. Select More actions (•••), then Convert to work item.

3. In the Step 1. Select work type screen, select a new work type (i.e. a standard work type) and select Next.

4. If the subtask's current status is not an allowed status for the new work type, the Step 2. Select New Status screen is displayed. Select a new status and select Next.

5. In the Step 3. Update Fields screen, you will be prompted to enter any additional fields if they are required. Otherwise, you will see the message 'All fields will be updated automatically'. Select Next.

6. The Step 4. Confirmation screen is displayed. If you are satisfied with the new details for the work item, select Finish.

7. The work item will be displayed. You will see that it is no longer a subtask, that is, there is no longer a parent work item number displayed at the top of the screen.

If you’re in a team-managed project:

1. Open the work item and select Actions (•••), then Move.

2. In the Operation Details screen, select Task and select Next.

3. You will then be prompted to enter any additional fields if they are required. Otherwise, you will see the message ‘All field values will be retained’. Select Next.

4. The Confirmation screen is displayed. If you are satisfied with the new details for the work item, select Confirm.

5. Once the work item is migrated, select Acknowledge.

Convert a work item to a subtask

If you’re in a company-managed project:

1. Open the work item and select on the work type icon at the top-left of the work item.

2. Select Sub-task from the list of available work types.

3. Select the parent work item for the new subtask.

4. In the Step 1. Select Parent and Sub-task Type screen, select the parent work item for the new subtask and select Next.

5. If the work item’s current status is not an allowed status for the new sub-task, the Step 2. Select New Status screen is displayed. Select a new status and select Next.

6. In the Step 3. Update Fields screen, you will be prompted to enter any additional fields if they are required. Otherwise, you will see the message 'All fields will be updated automatically'. Select Next.

7. The Step 4. Confirmation screen is displayed. If you are satisfied with the new details for the work item, select Finish.

8. The new sub-task will be displayed. You will now see a parent work item number displayed at the top of the screen.

If you’re in a team-managed project:

1. Open the work item and select Actions (•••), then Move.

2. In the Operation Details screen, select Sub-task, select a parent work item, and select Next.

3. You will then be prompted to enter any additional fields if they are required. Otherwise, you will see the message ‘All field values will be retained’. Select Next.

4. The Confirmation screen is displayed. If you are satisfied with the new details for the work item, select Confirm.

5. Once the work item is migrated, select Acknowledge.
   
   

Delete a work item

To delete a work item:

1. Open the work item you want to delete.

2. Select Actions (•••), then Delete.