JIRA applications overview

The JIRA family of applications are built on the JIRA platform. JIRA Core is the default application of the JIRA platform, and will always be present in a JIRA instance. You may also choose to include other applications in your instance, such as JIRA Software and JIRA Service Desk. A user may require access to one, all, or any combination of these applications. 

Application features and project types

Each application delivers a tailored experience for its users, and has an associated project type which in turn offers application specific features. Below is a list of the project types, and their associated application specific features.

Application	Project type	Application specific feature set
JIRA Core	Business projects	Available to all licensed users
JIRA Software	Software projects	Integration with development tools Agile boards Release hub for software versions
JIRA Service Desk	Service Desk projects	Service Level Agreements (SLAs) A customisable web portal for customers Permission schemes allowing customer access

All users that can log in to a JIRA instance will be able to see all the projects in that instance (pending permissions), but they will only be able to see the application-specific features when they have application access. For example, a Software project is able to display information from linked development tools, such as Bitbucket and FishEye, as well as agile boards, but this information is only viewable by a JIRA Software user. A JIRA Core user would be able to see the Software project, but would not be able to see the Software-specific features, like agile boards or the information from linked development tools. Likewise, a JIRA Software user would not be able to see any JIRA Service Desk application-specific features on a Service Desk project, only a basic view of the project and its issues.

A list of the applications, their user roles, and their project's application specific features is listed below:

			JIRA Core	JIRA Software	JIRA Service Desk
			JIRA-Core-user	JIRA-Software-user	JIRA-ServiceDesk-agent	Customers
Business Projects	Project level	Create
		View
	Issue level	Create
		View
		Comment
		Transition
	JIRA Gadgets	View
Software Projects	Project level	Create
		View
	Issue level	Create
		View
		Comment
		Transition
		View Development Information
		View Release information
	Board level	Create
		View
	JIRA Software gadgets	View
Service Desk Projects	Project level	Create
		View
	Issue level	Create
		View
		Comment
		Transition
	SLA level	Create
		View
	Queue level	Create
		View
	JIRA Service Desk gadgets	View