We couldn't link the work item error in Jira Cloud

Platform Notice: Cloud Only - This article only applies to Atlassian products on the cloud platform.

Summary

Users may encounter an issue where linking work items across projects. The error reads:

"We couldn't link the issue. Wait a few moments, then give it another try."

Linking work items has a unique permission associated with it in Jira Cloud. If users encounter this error message, they don't have this permission in one or more projects they're trying to link work items within. As a Jira administrator:

  1. Navigate to the project where the error appears

  2. Select Project settings > Permissions

  3. Ensure that Link work items has been granted to any affected users

  4. If users are trying to link work items between projects, repeat these steps on any other projects they are linking to

Please refer to Manage Project Permissions for more details on this and other project permissions.

Updated on April 30, 2025

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