Agile Synchronizer

Dark Feature - Synchronizers are hidden by default

We recommend using Automation instead of Synchronizers. Automation is safer, provides additional functionality and flexibility, and uses fewer system resources.

To enable synchronizers, see Advanced Configuration and Dark Features.

The Agile Synchronizer lets you synchronize the position of issues in the structure and on an Agile board (such as a Scrum or Kanban board) using Rank synchronization, and synchronize Epic fields with the position of stories under epics in the structure.

Agile Synchronizer Parameters

This synchronizer supports both Import and Export / Resync into/from Structure (more about resync). Incremental synchronization watches both structure changes and Jira changes and applies the change to the other side.

CAREFUL! Please be careful when using this synchronizer, especially when you add multiple issues to the Structure, as this may lead to massive updates in the Agile ranks. There is no "undo" option.

Agile Synchronizer Rules

Common Rules

• Issues that do not belong to the synchronized project(s) are not affected.
• This synchronizer does not add issues to the structure (with two exceptions, explained below). You can use a Saved Filter synchronizer together with an Agile synchronizer to automatically add and position issues.

Sub-Tasks Synchronization

• With the Auto-add sub-tasks mode on, sub-tasks are added to the structure if their parent is in the structure.
• The sub-tasks are forced to stay under their parent. If you move a sub-task somewhere else, it will jump back under the parent again. You can rearrange the order of the sub-tasks, which will be sync'ed to the Agile Rank, if the Rank Field is configured.

Rank Synchronization

• Repositioning issues in the structure causes a Rank change and the repositioning of issues on the Planning Board.
• Rearranging issues on the Planning Board causes the issues to be rearranged in the structure.

• When issues are repositioned in the structure according to Rank, they are never moved under a different parent issue.

  

  This restricts the possible rank changes in Jira - you can only move an issue to the position of another issue that is under the same parent issue in the structure; otherwise, the issue will "jump back" later.

Epic Synchronization

• Placing an issue under an epic in the structure will cause its Epic field to change to that epic.
  • It does not matter what depth the issue is at in the structure. A sub-sub-sub-issue of an epic issue will still have its Epic field updated.
• If you move an issue in the structure so that it is not under any epic, its Epic field will be cleared.
• If you manually change the Epic field to point to a different epic, the issue will be repositioned under that epic in the structure.
  • An issue that has the Epic field pointing to an epic that is in the structure will be automatically added to the structure.
• If you clear the Epic field or change it to point to an epic that is not in the structure, the issue will be moved up in the structure until it is no longer under any epic.

How to Add Issues to Structure Sync'ed with JIRA Agile

When the Agile synchronizer is enabled, it automatically updates the Agile order in background when any Structure change happens. This means that if you carelessly add issues from the sync'ed project to the structure in some random order, their ranks will be updated according to that order.

To add issues to the structure without breaking the existing backlog order:

• If adding manually on the Structure Widget, use a JQL search and add the order by Rank clause to the end of the query, using the rank field that is used by the synchronizer. 
• Select the position of the added issues carefully (using drag-and-drop or copy/paste) - the order is likely to change unless you place issues under another issue without any other sub-issues (see Syncing Partial Orders below).
• If using a Saved Filter synchronizer to add issues, add the order by Rank clause to the Saved Filter's query. Note that any issues added by the Saved Filter synchronizer will appear at the end of the structure, and have the lowest ranking.

Syncing Partial Orders

Agile Boards are flat (except for sub-tasks), and the Structure is hierarchical - so it is not possible to precisely rearrange a structure to have all issues come in the same order as they do on the Planning Board, without changing issue parents or making the Structure also flat. 

To that end, the structure syncs subsets of the issues in the hierarchy with Agile Rank. For example, consider the following Structure:

It is not possible to rearrange the sub-issues so they come in the following order: B, E, C, F - although this is possible on the Planning Board. Instead, the structure will synchronize sub-sets of the issues in the Structure with Jira. The following sub-sets will be synchronized separately:

• A, D - top-level issues: A must come before D on the Planning Board
• B, C - sub-issues of A are sync'ed separately, so B must come before C on the Planning Board
• E, F - sub-issues of D are sync'ed separately, so E must come before F on the Planning Board

In Jira version 6.1 and later, the epics are treated as a separate set of issues, different from Stories and other non-Epics. To accommodate this, Structure updates the rank of issues using a "partial order" approach, syncing epics and non-epics separately. This means that if an epic comes before a Story on the Structure Board, it is not required that they come in the same order on the Scrum Board.