Manage epics in a kanban project
This page is for company-managed projects
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More about the difference between company-managed and team-managed projects.
Before you begin
The functions for managing epics require different permissions. For example, you need the 'Edit work items' permission to add an issue to an epic. Read Permissions overview for more information.
There are some nuances around how work items and statuses appear in a Kanban backlog. Learn more about how to use your Kanban backlog before attempting to manage its epics.
Manage epics with the Kanban backlog
You can only use the Kanban backlog if it's already enabled by a Jira admin or board admin.
The Kanban backlog must be enabled for a particular board, for the board users to use it. See Enabling the Kanban backlog for more information.
The epic panel for the Kanban backlog must be enabled for a particular board as well, for the board users to use it. See Enabling the Kanban backlog for more information.
Go to the Backlog of your Kanban project.
Open the epic panel by using the toggle in the epic filter dropdown.
Task | Instructions |
Add a new epic | In the epic panel, select + Create epic. You can also select Create in the navigation bar, then change the work type to Epic. |
Update an epic's details | To expand an epic’s details, select the chevron (>) next to an epic’s name. Select View details to open the work item detail view, where you can update the epic’s details. |
Change an epic's color on the board | To expand an epic’s details, select the chevron (>) next to an epic’s name. Select View details to open the work item detail view, then select the colored square next to the epic’s name to view all color options. Select a color to apply it to the epic. |
Add a work item to an epic | To add an existing work item, drag and drop the work item onto the epic in the panel. To add a new work item, expand an epic’s details by selecting the chevron (>) next to an epic’s name, then select Create work item. While creating a work item, you can also add it to an epic by selecting it in the Epic Link field. |
Remove a work item from an epic | Drag and drop the work item onto the Work items without epics section in the panel. Alternatively, open the work item detail view, locate the Epic Link field, then select the 'x' in the epic name lozenge. |
Filter work items by epic | Select the relevant epic in the panel to show only work items in that epic. To remove the filter, ensure that no epic is selected in the panel. |
Complete an epic | Expand an epic’s details by selecting the chevron (>) next to an epic’s name, then select View details. In the work item detail view, you can change the epic’s status to “Done”. This will set the epic's Epic Status field to "Done", but will not affect the epic's workflow or its Status field, and none of the epic's work items will be affected. |
Need help? If you can't find the answer you need in our documentation, we have other resources available to help you. See Getting help.
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