Create a work item and a subtask

The building blocks of any project are work items. Work items contain the work that needs to be done. They travel through workflows within their projects until the work is complete.

A work item can have subtasks that can be assigned and tracked individually. You can also restrict a work item to certain members of your team.

This page focuses on the different ways you can create work items and subtasks, convert work items, and set work-level security.

For those just getting started, head over to our admin docs to discover how to configure work types or, find out how you can import multiple work items via a CSV.

Create a work item

To create a work item anywhere in Jira:

1. Select Create ().

2. Type a Summary for the work item.

3. Complete all required fields and any other relevant fields.

   1. Optional: To change which fields appear when you create another work item, select More 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 as any future work items created.

   2. Optional: To create more work items with the same Project and Work type, select the Create another 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. 

If you create a work item on a board that’s using a JQL filter, the work item will inherit fields such as custom values and labels.

Your newly created work item will appear at the top of your backlog, unless;

• you've selected a work item in the backlog. Your work item will be created right below the selected work item

• you've specified a sprint when creating the work item. Your work item will be created at the bottom of the sprint.

You can quickly create work items using the inline create in the Backlog (for Scrum boards, backlog, and future sprints only). Just select + Create. 

If your board's filter specifies more than one project, you'll still need to complete the full Create work item dialog.

When you create work items inline, your work items won’t be restricted to certain roles in the project. These work items can be accessed by anyone who can see your project. To restrict work items, you can create them using the global navigation bar.

You can also create a work item that automatically belongs to a particular epic. If you're using epics, select Configure Fields and add the Epic Link field to the screen. Then, you can add work items to epics as you create them. Read more about working with epics.

Clone a work item

Quickly create a duplicate of a work item in the same project. The cloned work item contains most of the same details stored in the original work item, like the summary, labels, 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. Edit any unique fields, like the Summary.

4. You can also choose to:

   • Clone subtasks to copy existing subtasks

   • Clone attachments to add any existing attachments

   • Clone links to add any existing linked work item

   • Clone sprint values to copy across the work item’s current and closed sprint values

5. Select Create.

Automatically clone a work item

With Jira automation rules, you can set a work item to clone automatically on a schedule.

Once the new work item is cloned and created, it inherits the automation rule and it will be turned on automatically.

Split a work item

Splitting a work item is useful when a work item is so big that it's better to divide it into two or more work items and make work more manageable. You can only split a work item from the Scrum backlog or the Kanban backlog (if enabled), and not from active sprints or the Kanban board.

1. Navigate to the Backlog of your Scrum or Kanban project.

2. Select a work item, then choose Split work item. 

You'll also find the option to split a work item in the sprint or Selected for Development section of your Backlog. Discover more about your Kanban backlog.

Access the new work item

From a Scrum backlog

If you split a work item in the backlog, the new work item will be sent to the Backlog section. If you split a work item in an active sprint, you can choose to send the new work item to either the backlog or a future or active sprint.

In a Kanban backlog

After splitting a work item, the new work item will be sent to the Backlog section. This depends on the column configuration of your Kanban board, but this is essentially the section for the column that's mapped to the initial status of your workflow.

Edit the new work item

The new work item will be of the same work type as the original. For example, if you split a story into two or more work items, the new ones will also be stories.

Other details

• The new work item will have most of the same details stored in the original, including priority, component, label, custom fields. Some details won’t be copied over, including work log, comments, history and links. The original work item will be linked to the new work item.

• If the original work item has estimates, you'll be able to enter estimates for the new one as well. You can also update the estimate of the original as necessary.

• The status also returns to the first step of the corresponding workflow, and the resolutions are cleared.

Create a subtask or child work item

Subtasks in company-managed projects, or child work items in team-managed projects, allow you to assign different aspects of a work item to different people. You can only create subtasks in company-managed projects if your administrator has enabled subtasks, and has added the subtask work type to the project's work type scheme.

In most cases, child work items can only be created and nested under standalone work items. In company-managed software projects, you can assign subtasks directly to an epic using the Add parent link on the work item.

To create a subtask or child work item:

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

2. Select Add or create related work () under the work item’s summary

   1. If you’re in a team-managed project, select Add a child work item ()

   2. If you are in a company-managed project, select Create subtask ()

3. Add a summary, then select Create.

A subtask will inherit the project, work security level, and sprint value (software projects) from their parent.

Change the parent work item of a child work item

To change the parent work item:

1. Open the child work item or subtask.

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 or subtask.

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 a work type

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

To change the work type:

1. Open the work item you want to update.

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 menu.

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

Convert a subtask to a work item

In a company-managed project:

1. Navigate to the subtask you want to convert.

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

3. Select a new work type, then select Next.

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

5. In Step 3. Update fields, complete any additional fields. If there’s no change, all fields will be updated automatically. Select Next.

6. Review your changes, then select Finish.

7. The new work item will be displayed, without a parent work item linked at the top of the screen.

In a team-managed project, the process is slightly different:

1. From the subtask you want to convert, select More actions (•••), then Move.

2. On the table that appears, use the dropdown to change the work type. Select Next to continue.

3. If required, you'll be prompted to enter any additional fields. To update those watching the space, check Send mail for this update, or leave it unchecked. Select Next to continue.

4. Review your changes, then select Confirm.

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

Convert a work item to a subtask

To convert a work item to a subtask in a team-managed projects, use the procedure to Convert a subtask to a work item. On step 2, select Subtask.

In a company-managed project:

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

2. Select Subtask from the list of available work types

3. Select the parent work item for the new subtask

4. Follow the steps, then select Finish to create the subtask.

Restrict access to work items in software projects

While we recommend working openly, there are times where you may want to restrict who can view a particular piece of work. For example, you may want to restrict who can view tasks related to sensitive financial information, hiring or other personal employment information, or security-related software engineering work.

Restrict access to a work item in a company-managed project

In company-managed projects, you can restrict access by setting a security level to the work item.

To set the security level on work items in company-managed projects:

1. Choose the lock icon at the top-right of the work item. This icon only appears if the project has a security scheme configured.

2. Select the desired security level.

You can also remove a security level by selecting the lock icon and selecting Remove security level.

Jira admins can add, edit, or remove security levels (and their membership) through work item security schemes. Find out about work item security schemes.

Restrict access to a work item in a team-managed project

In team-managed software projects, you can restrict access to specific roles in your project.

To restrict access, you must have a role with the Restrict any work item permission in the project. Find out more about roles and permissions in team-managed projects.

To restrict access when creating a work item:

1. Select + Create from the navigation bar.

2. Complete any required fields for the work item.

3. Select the Restrict to field in the list of fields.

4. Select the roles you want to allow to see the work item from the dropdown.

5. Select Create.

To restrict a work item to certain roles, you’ll have to create the work item using the above steps. If you create a work item using any other method, it won’t be restricted.

If you create a subtask of a work item that has restrictions, then the subtask will inherit the restrictions from the parent work item. You won’t be able to change the restrictions of the subtask individually. To set restrictions to subtasks, you will have to update the restrictions for the parent work item.

To restrict access after a work item is created:

1. Choose the lock icon at the top-right of the work item.

2. Select the roles you want to allow to see the work item from the dropdown.

3. Select Restrict.

You can also remove roles by selecting the cross (X) next to the role’s name in the menu.

Team-managed project admins can add, edit, or remove roles and their membership in the Access page. Go to Project settings by selecting the more actions () menu in the sidebar, then select Access. Find out more about roles and permissions in team-managed projects.

While bulk moving work items from a company-managed project to a team-managed project, your work items will get moved without any restrictions and these become open.

Deleting a custom role that has associated work items restrictions will make the work items unaccessible to the role. For instance, if there is a custom role Developer, and the work items are only restricted to this role, then the work items become unaccessible when the role is deleted. If the work items are restricted to a set of roles which includes Developer, then the work items can be accessed by other roles when Developer role is deleted.

Delete a work item

To delete a work item:

1. Navigate to the work item.

2. Select More actions (), then select Delete.