What Are Jira Action Items?
Jira action items are a newly introduced feature from Atlassian that allow you to include checkboxes in Jira rich text fields (Description, Comments, etc.). Similar to Confluence action items, users can create Jira action items by:
- Selecting the checkbox icon in the text formatting menu
- Typing a pair of square brackets “[ ]”
- Using the “/ action Item” slash command
What are the Alternatives to Jira Action Items?
If the idea of creating a checklist on your Jira issues sounds appealing, then we’ve got even more good news. Along with Jira action items, you also have the option of using the Checklist for Jira app. To help you decide which option is best for your team (and there’s nothing stopping you from using both), we’ve included some common functionality and use case questions below.
Jira Action Items FAQ
This article was written when Jira Action items rolled out at the beginning of December 2024. Functionality may evolve over time.
Do Jira Action Items work with Jira Automation ?
When Atlassian announced the release of Jira action items, one of the first questions posed was whether or not action items can be created via automation. As of this writing, Atlassian has not replied, but a few brave souls gave it a try using markdown. No success so far. If you need checklist items that integrate with Jira automation, check out the many examples in the Checklist for Jira documentation.
Can Jira Action Items in JSM Projects Be Toggled by Both Agents and Customers?
Another user asked if Jira action items would be available in all project types and how action items would function on the JSM portal. Atlassian hasn´t yet replied, so here´s what I can report from testing in our Cloud premium instance:
- Jira Action items are available in Jira Software Projects
- Jira Action items are not currently available in Jira Business Projects
- In JSM Projects, action items are available in the agent view, but cannot be created by customers on the portal. (Neither the slash command, nor the icon are available in the portal, and typing square brackets does not create a checkbox.)
When an agent creates and/or checks a Jira action item, that update is shown on the portal. However, if a customer checks a Jira action item that the agent created, the change is not saved.
Similarly, Checklist for Jira allows a read-only copy of the checklist on the Customer Portal, but currently only allows agents to interact with the checklist.
Can You Search for the Completion State of a Jira Action Item ?
Another user asked about JQL, wanting to know if you can search for checked action items. This does not appear to be supported and searching for square brackets in a text field did not yield the needed results.
Alternatively, Checklist for Jira includes built-in search functionality, as well as JQL Expressions:
- activeChecklistItems
- checklistItemsCount
- hasActiveChecklistItems
What are the Uses of Jira Action Items and Checklists
Like any checklists, action items have multiple use cases:
- Breaking down work on an issue
Most issues will have a series of steps that need to be carried out before the issues is done. Jira action items allow you to spell out those steps without resorting to subtasks. This is a good use of action items, but there are a couple of limitations to consider. If your process requires a different set of steps between each status in your workflow, then it would be more advantageous to use a separate checklist which can be updated by Jira automation as the issue progresses through the workflow.
One thing to keep in mind is that to get an at-a-glance view of progress on those Jira action items, you need to open in the issue and look. Checklist for Jira offers more flexibility, allowing you to see checklist progress on board cards, and to format checklist progress as a ratio or percent. - Compliance and QA
Quality assurance is another great use of checklists, and you could certainly use Jira action items to do that. Here the main limitation is that you don’t have an easy enforcement mechanism. Built-in validators, and the Checklist Completed Custom field which can be used in automation, make it easy to not only list your requirements, but also to enforce them. - Agile Processes
Agile development begs for Checklists. You can use Jira action items for things like Definition of Done and Acceptance Criteria. The limitation to consider here is one of convenience. Your Definition of Done is probably the same across all of your dev projects, but the limits of creating Jira action items via automation make it hard to reuse a checklist. With Checklist for Jira, you can enjoy Global checklists that are applied to an issue via a context (available in the Enterprise version), and Checklist Templates (available in all versions) which can be applied to any issue on demand.
While Jira action items are a welcome addition, limitations such as the inability to integrate with automation, JQL and workflow behaviors may curb their usefulness. For a fully functional alternative, try Checklist for Jira.
