Jira issue integration

Tier: Free, Premium, Ultimate Offering: GitLab.com, Self-managed, GitLab Dedicated

The Jira issue integration connects one or more GitLab projects to a Jira instance. You can host the Jira instance yourself or in Jira Cloud. The supported Jira versions are 6.x, 7.x, 8.x, and 9.x.

Configure the integration

History
  • Authentication with Jira personal access tokens introduced in GitLab 16.0.
  • Jira issues and Jira issues for vulnerabilities sections introduced in GitLab 16.10 with a flag named jira_multiple_project_keys. Disabled by default.
  • Jira issues and Jira issues for vulnerabilities sections generally available in GitLab 17.0. Feature flag jira_multiple_project_keys removed.
  • Enable Jira issues checkbox renamed to View Jira issues in GitLab 17.0.
  • Enable Jira issue creation from vulnerabilities checkbox renamed to Create Jira issues for vulnerabilities in GitLab 17.0.
  • Customize Jira issues setting introduced in GitLab 17.5.

Prerequisites:

You can enable the Jira issue integration by configuring your project settings in GitLab. You can also configure the integration for a specific group or an entire instance on self-managed GitLab.

With this integration, your GitLab project can interact with all Jira projects on your instance. To configure your project settings in GitLab:

  1. On the left sidebar, select Search or go to and find your project.
  2. Select Settings > Integrations.
  3. Select Jira.
  4. Under Enable integration, select the Active checkbox.
  5. Provide connection details:
    • Web URL: Base URL for the Jira instance web interface you’re linking to this GitLab project (for example, https://jira.example.com).
    • Jira API URL: Base URL for the Jira instance API (for example, https://jira-api.example.com). If this URL is not set, the Web URL value is used by default. For Jira Cloud, leave Jira API URL blank.
    • Authentication method:
      • Basic:
        • Email or username:
          • For Jira Cloud, enter an email.
          • For Jira Data Center or Jira Server, enter a username.
        • API token or password:
          • For Jira Cloud, enter an API token.
          • For Jira Data Center or Jira Server, enter a password.
      • Jira personal access token (only available for Jira Data Center and Jira Server): Enter a personal access token.
  6. Provide trigger settings:
    • Select Commit, Merge request, or both as triggers. When you mention a Jira issue ID in GitLab, GitLab links to that issue.
    • To add a comment to the Jira issue that links back to GitLab, select the Enable comments checkbox.
    • To transition Jira issues automatically in GitLab, select the Enable Jira transitions checkbox.
  7. In the Jira issue matching section:
  8. Optional. To view Jira issues in GitLab, in the Jira issues section:
    1. Select the View Jira issues checkbox.

      caution
      When you enable this setting, all users with access to your GitLab project can view all issues from the Jira projects you’ve specified.
    2. Enter one or more Jira project keys. Leave blank to include all available keys.

  9. Optional. To create Jira issues for vulnerabilities, in the Jira issues for vulnerabilities section:
    1. Select the Create Jira issues for vulnerabilities checkbox.

      note
      You can enable this setting only for individual projects and groups.
    2. Enter a Jira project key.
    3. Select Fetch issue types for this project key (), then select the type of Jira issues to create.
    4. Optional. Select the Customize Jira issues checkbox to be able to review, modify, or add details to a Jira issue when it’s created for a vulnerability.
  10. Optional. Select Test settings.
  11. Select Save changes.

View Jira issues

Tier: Premium, Ultimate
History
  • Enabling Jira issues for a group introduced in GitLab 16.9.
  • Viewing issues from multiple Jira projects introduced in GitLab 16.10 with a flag named jira_multiple_project_keys. Disabled by default.
  • Viewing issues from multiple Jira projects generally available in GitLab 17.0. Feature flag jira_multiple_project_keys removed.

Prerequisites:

  • Ensure the Jira issue integration is configured and the View Jira issues checkbox is selected.

You can enable Jira issues for a specific group or project, but you can view the issues in GitLab projects only. To view issues from one or more Jira projects in a GitLab project:

  1. On the left sidebar, select Search or go to and find your project.
  2. Select Plan > Jira issues.

By default, the issues are sorted by Created date. The most recently created issues appear at the top. You can filter issues and select an issue to view that issue in GitLab.

Issues are grouped into the following tabs based on their Jira status:

  • Open: issues with any Jira status other than Done.
  • Closed: issues with a Done Jira status.
  • All: issues with any Jira status.

Filter Jira issues

Tier: Premium, Ultimate
History
  • Filtering Jira issues by project introduced in GitLab 16.10 with a flag named jira_multiple_project_keys. Disabled by default.
  • Filtering Jira issues by project generally available in GitLab 17.0. Feature flag jira_multiple_project_keys removed.

Prerequisites:

  • Ensure the Jira issue integration is configured and the View Jira issues checkbox is selected.

When you view Jira issues in GitLab, you can filter the issues by text in summaries and descriptions. You can also filter the issues by:

  • Label: specify one or more Jira issue labels in the labels[] parameter in the URL. When you specify multiple labels, only the issues that have all the specified labels appear (for example, /-/integrations/jira/issues?labels[]=backend&labels[]=feature&labels[]=QA).
  • Status: specify the Jira issue status in the status parameter in the URL (for example, /-/integrations/jira/issues?status=In Progress).
  • Reporter: specify the Jira display name of the author_username parameter in the URL (for example, /-/integrations/jira/issues?author_username=John Smith).
  • Assignee: specify the Jira display name of the assignee_username parameter in the URL (for example, /-/integrations/jira/issues?assignee_username=John Smith).
  • Project: specify the Jira project key in the project parameter in the URL (for example, /-/integrations/jira/issues?project=GTL).

Create a Jira issue for a vulnerability

Tier: Ultimate

Prerequisites:

  • Ensure the Jira issue integration is configured and the Create Jira issues for vulnerabilities checkbox is selected.
  • You must have a Jira user account with permission to create issues in the target project.

You can create a Jira issue from GitLab to track any action taken to resolve or mitigate a vulnerability. To create a Jira issue for a vulnerability:

  1. On the left sidebar, select Search or go to and find your project.
  2. Select Secure > Vulnerability report.
  3. Select the vulnerability’s description.
  4. Select Create Jira issue.

    If the Customize Jira issues setting is selected, you will be redirected to the issue creation form on your Jira instance, pre-filled with vulnerability data. You can review, modify, or add details before creating the Jira issue.

The issue is created in the target Jira project with information from the vulnerability report.

To create a GitLab issue, see Create a GitLab issue for a vulnerability.

Create a Jira Cloud API token

To configure the Jira issue integration for Jira Cloud, you must have a Jira Cloud API token. To create a Jira Cloud API token:

  1. Sign in to Atlassian from an account with write access to Jira projects.

    The link opens the API tokens page. Alternatively, from your Atlassian profile, select Account Settings > Security > Create and manage API tokens.

  2. Select Create API token.
  3. On the dialog, enter a label for your token and select Create.

To copy the API token, select Copy.

Migrate from Jira Server to Jira Cloud

To migrate from Jira Server to Jira Cloud in GitLab and maintain your Jira integration:

  1. On the left sidebar, select Search or go to and find your project.
  2. Select Settings > Integrations.
  3. Select Jira.
  4. In Web URL, enter the new Jira site URL (for example, https://myjirasite.atlassian.net).
  5. In Email or username, enter the email registered on your Jira profile.
  6. Create a Jira Cloud API token, and copy the token value.
  7. In API token or password, paste the API token value.
  8. Optional. Select Test settings.
  9. Select Save changes.

To update existing Jira issue references in GitLab to use the new Jira site URL, you must invalidate the Markdown cache.