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Using the Zendesk Support for Jira integration

Yuri Mylis
  • Edited
Zendesk Product Manager

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The Jira integration encourages collaboration between product teams and the support team. For example, after a customer reports a bug in a ticket, the agent can file a bug in Jira directly from your Zendesk. After fixing the bug, a developer can add a comment to the ticket directly from Jira.

For information on configuring the Zendesk Support for Jira integration, see Setting up Zendesk Support for Jira integration.

This article covers the following topics:

Related articles:

Using the integration in Zendesk Support

As an agent, you can create a new Jira issue from a ticket, or link to an existing Jira issue from a ticket. You can then use the link to track the progress made by the product team on addressing the issue. For example, within Zendesk Support you can view details about a bug you filed in Jira to see if the engineering team fixed it.

A single Jira issue can be linked to up to 200 Zendesk Support tickets.

Topics covered in this section:

You can also automatically notify an agent or a customer when somebody changes the status of an issue in Jira. See Updating a ticket when the status of a Jira issue changes.

Creating a Jira issue from a ticket

You can create a Jira issue from a ticket in Support, for example, when the ticket is a feature request or a bug report from a customer.

To create a Jira issue from a ticket

  1. In Zendesk Support, go to the ticket you want to use as a basis for a new Jira issue.
  2. Click Create Issue in the Jira app next to the ticket.

    Note: If the Jira app is not displayed on the right side of the agent interface, click Apps.

  3. Click the Project drop-down options to display available Jira projects. If you start typing the name of the Jira project for the issue, the list of suggested projects is filtered to match.

  4. Enter the details about the issue.

    • If you’ve selected the option to transfer information from your ticket, this information is already entered.

    • You can click Copy fields from this ticket (see below) to populate the fields, then select the Always copy checkbox to make this the default behavior.

      Note that Copy fields from this ticket only copies the subject and most recent comment. It does not copy any additional custom fields.

    • If the assignee or reporter you're looking for doesn't appear in the suggested user list, enter the exact Jira username.

    The default fields are displayed in the image below. Administrators can add additional fields this form. For information, see Adding fields to the Jira app in Zendesk Support.

  5. (Optional) Click Add reporter as a watcher to include the reporter as a watcher to the newly-created issue. See Commenting and comment sharing for more information.
  6. Click Create issue.

A new issue is created in Jira and the ticket is linked to it. In Zendesk Support, the Jira app in the sidebar displays the Jira issue name, summary, and description.

For more information, see Customizing the summary and details views.

Creating a link to an existing Jira issue from a ticket

If you know that an issue is tracked in Jira and you receive a support request that's related to it, you can link the ticket to the issue. You can also link the same ticket to other issues in Jira.

You can keep track of the number of tickets linked to Jira issues, and use that metadata to prioritize your work. See Jira: Linked tickets reporting for more information.

To link to an existing Jira issue

  1. In Zendesk, go to the ticket you'd like to link to a Jira issue.
  2. Click Link Issue in the Jira panel.

    Note: If the Jira app is not displayed on the right side of the agent interface, click Apps.

  3. Enter your issue key (XXX-000) or paste a link to the issue.

    If you do not know your issue key, you can search Jira issues.

  4. Click Link issue.

The ticket is linked to the existing issue in Jira. In Zendesk Support, the Jira app in the sidebar displays the Jira issue name, summary, description, and comments.

Tracking a Jira issue from a ticket

The Jira app in the sidebar displays a summary of any issue linked to the ticket, as well as any comments associated with it:

Click the Show More Details (eye) icon next to the issue name to view more details about the issue:

The details view opens in a new window:

You can customize the information displayed in both the summary and details views. See Customizing the summary and details views below.

If you're a Jira user too, you can open the issue in Jira by clicking the issue name in the summary view. A new browser tab opens and displays the issue.

Customizing the summary and details views

You can customize the information that's displayed in both the summary and details views. For details about the views, see Tracking a Jira issue from a ticket above.

To customize the summary and details views

  1. Click the Admin icon in the upper-right side of the Jira app next to the ticket.

  2. Select the information you want to display in the summary and details views.

  3. Click Close to save your choices.

Adding a label to a Jira issue from a ticket

When creating or linking to a Jira issue from a ticket, a jira_escalate tag is added by default to the ticket and an identical jira_escalate label is added to the issue in Jira. You can add more labels to a linked issue in Jira at any time. Any ticket tag with a jira_ prefix is added as a matching label to any Jira issue linked to the ticket.

If the escalating agent has a custom agent role in the Enterprise plan, the role must allow the agent to edit tags. See Custom agent roles (Enterprise).

To add a label to a Jira issue

  1. Add a tag with a jira_ prefix in the Tags field in the ticket's left sidebar:

  2. Update the ticket by clicking Submit.

The new label appears in the Details section of the issue in Jira:

Unlinking a Jira issue from a ticket

  • Click the Unlink (x) icon in the Jira app next to the ticket.

Searching Jira issues

When linking a ticket to a Jira issue, you can search for Jira issues by keyword, or using the Jira Query Language (JQL). Starting your search with the project name in capital letters will limit the results to that project.

To search Jira issues by keyword

  1. In the Link Issue search field, enter your search terms . You can limit results to a specific project by starting the search with the project name in capital letters, or you can use JQL.

  2. As you're typing, ticket suggestions are made. You can select a suggested ticket, or continue typing to narrow down the results.

Using the integration in Jira

As a Jira user, you can view details about tickets linked to your issues, and add comments to linked tickets. You can also automatically notify an agent or a customer when you change the status of an issue in Jira. See Updating a ticket when the status of a Jira issue changes.

This section describes how to view the details of a linked Support ticket in your Jira issue. For information on adding comments to linked tickets, see Commenting and comment sharing below.

To view the details of a linked Zendesk Support ticket

  1. Navigate to the issue in Jira. In the sidebar under Zendesk Support, the number of linked tickets is displayed.

  2. Double-click on Linked Tickets to open the linked tickets page.
  3. If more than one ticket is linked to the issue, click the accordion to expand the ticket details.

  4. To view the ticket in Support, click the linked ticket heading.

Commenting and comment sharing

When you link Zendesk Support tickets and Jira issues, you can also share some commenting functionality between the two platforms.

While the commenting functionality doesn't fully integrate the commenting systems in Zendesk Support and Jira, it does allow you to perform the following tasks, which are described in this section:

However, you cannot perform some expected comment-related tasks, such as:

  • Automatically notify Zendesk collaborators when there are new comments on linked Jira issue, unless they are also watching the Jira issue.
  • Mark a comment as having been read by another user.

Adding a comment to a Jira issue from a ticket

If a Support ticket is linked to a Jira issue, you can add comments to the Jira issue from the ticket. This is useful for providing additional information from customers to the product team.

Both public and private comments added to a Support ticket are shared with any connected Jira issues.

To add a comment to a Jira issue

  1. Click the Notify button in the Jira app next to the ticket.
  2. Enter the comment you want to add to the issue in Jira.

  3. To save typing, you can transfer the last comment made on the ticket by clicking Copy the last comment.
  4. Any attachments in ticket comments are shown under Attachments. Click on the attachment to add it to the note.
  5. Click Notify issues. The note is added to the Activity section in the Jira issue.
  6. In the Show drop-down list, select Comments to view the comment.

 

Adding a comment to linked Zendesk Support tickets from a Jira issue

You can notify a Zendesk agent or a customer when you add a comment to the linked Jira issue.

When you add a comment to a Jira issue, it adds that comment to the linked Support ticket. When the comment is added to the Zendesk ticket, an email containing your comment is sent to the agent and any other agent who is copied on the Support ticket. If the comment is public, an email is also sent to the customer who submitted the ticket and any other end user who is copied on the ticket. Be mindful that a customer will read your message when you add a public comment. If in doubt, leave the comment private.

You can comment on a single linked ticket, or all linked tickets if you have multiple tickets linked to an issue. Commenting on all linked tickets can be performed in the sidebar or the Activity section of a Jira issue.

To add a comment to a linked ticket

  1. Navigate to the Jira issue, and in the Activity drop-down list, select Zendesk Support.

  2. In the Ticket drop-down list, select the Support ticket.

  3. Enter your comment . Select the Make public reply checkbox to make a public comment.
  4. Click Add comment.

     

To add a comment to all linked tickets in the Activity section

  1. Navigate to the linked issue in Jira, and in the Activity drop-down list, select Zendesk Support.
  2. Enter your comment, select the Add for all tickets checkbox, and click Save.

To add a comment to all linked tickets in the sidebar

  1. In the sidebar under Zendesk Support, double-click on Linked Tickets. The linked ticket page opens.
  2. Click Add comments to linked tickets, which opens a page.
  3. Enter your comment and click Send.

To make all comments private

  1. In the Jira top nav bar, select More > Apps > Manage your apps
  2. Click the Zendesk Support for Jira accordion, then click Configure.
  3. In the Settings > Other options section, select the Disable all public comments to Zendesk checkbox.
  4. Click Save.

Notifying Jira issue watchers when there are new comments on linked Zendesk tickets

Jira users who are watching a Jira issue linked to a Zendesk ticket, will receive a notification email from Jira for any comments added to the linked ticket(s).

To enable comment notifications

  1. In the Jira top nav bar, select More > Apps > Manage your Apps.
  2. Click the Zendesk Support for Jira accordion, then click Configure.
  3. In the Settings > Other options section, select the Send email notification to Jira issue watchers on new linked Zendesk Support ticket comments checkbox.
  4. Click Save.

Adding the reporter as a watcher when creating a new Jira issue

When creating a new Jira issue from a Support ticket, or when linking a ticket to an existing issue, you can add the reporter as a watcher to the newly-created issue.

Jira also allows you to watch an issue. When you watch an issue, you receive email notifications when certain updates are made. Depending on how your issue notifications are configured, you may receive an email when:

  • The story has been updated (such as the description)

  • The status changes (assigned, closed)

  • A comment is submitted

To add a reporter as a watcher

  • When creating a Jira issue from a Zendesk Support ticket, select the Add reporter as a watcher checkbox.

Adding the current agent as a watcher when linking Jira issues

When linking an existing issue to a ticket in Support, the current user is added as a watcher to that issue in Jira. Note that for this to be successful, the Jira user profile must contain the Zendesk agent's email or full name.

Displaying when the most recent comment was added

In the Zendesk Support panel in Jira, you can display how much time has elapsed since the last comment was added to the ticket in Zendesk.

To enable the last comment added display

  1. In the Jira top nav bar, select More > Apps > Manage Apps.
  2. Click the Zendesk Support for Jira accordion, then click Configure.
  3. In the Settings > Zendesk Support ticket fields section, select the Last Commented checkbox
  4. Click Save.
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364 Comments

  • Robert Cwicinski

    Hi Brian,

    the same here!
    Have you already raised a ticket at Zendesk? Not sure if the problem is related to Zendesk or JIRA.

    A workround at the moment for us is to create a ticket within JIRA and then manually link it in Zendesk.

    Best Regards,
    Robert.

    0
  • Brian Pavlovich

    I have now as it seems to be a bug, beyond just my own users.

    0
  • Dara Garvan

    Hi Robert & Brian,

    We're currently experiencing some issues with the Jira integration.

    I'll go ahead and create a ticket for you so we can keep you updated.

    Cheers,
    Dara

    0
  • Alan Jiménez

    Hello Dara Garvan! I am having this problem as well with the creation of JIRA issues not working. Can you also keep me updated about this?

    /Alan

    0
  • Dara Garvan

    Hey Alan,

    I've created a ticket for you.

    Cheers,
    Dara

    0
  • Alan Jiménez

    Many thanks indeed!

    0
  • Kevin Mooney

    Hi Team,

    Just happened upon this to see if there was something going on with JIRA integration, looks like there's an issue right now. Is there a centralized spot to check on status?

    Kevin.

    0
  • Danielle Jensen

    Hey Kevin,

    Unfortunately, we don't have a centralized spot that provides known issues specifically for the JIRA integration. We do, however, have a Product News & Announcements page that is updated frequently with known issues; this would be where JIRA integration issues will be posted as well. I recommend subscribing sections on that page so you'll receive email notifications when there are any known issues with Zendesk.

    https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/categories/200201796-Product-news-and-updates

    Please let us know if you have additional questions - thanks!

    -Danielle

    0
  • Karyn Tooke

    Hi, is it possible for the status to be set in the Jira app before hitting 'create issue'?

    We use a custom-built escalation process (in both zen & jira) and upon selecting one of the escalation levels using the radio button field we want the Jira web application to pick this up & follow the workflow which would change status from New to Escalated.

    0
  • Yvonne Martinez

    Hi Karyn!

    I'd like to take a closer look at your custom-built escalation process from both sides to see what we can do here. I'll create a ticket for you on this one so I can further investigate. I'll meet you there! :)

    Thanks!
    Yvonne

    0
  • Alex Zlatkus

    Is it possible to do custom field mapping? (ie. Entering in 'Time Estimate' in JIRA will automatically fill in custom 'Time Estimate' field in ZD.) Seems like there is only mapping of Status or Comment that can be done. Is this in the pipeline?

    0
  • Zin Kalvans

    Hi Alex,

    With the OnDemand integration, there is currently no ability to sync custom fields. You can view custom fields, but you're unable to sync them. This is technically possible in the v2 OnPremise integration, but unfortunately that is a feature unsupported by us and you would need to experiment on your own to get that up and running.

    Best,
    Zin

    0
  • Jakob Stoeck

    Hi there our Jira integration does not work anymore since one or two days. Can someone from support please contact me? Best, Jakob

    0
  • Maxime

    Hi Jakob

    I created a ticket on your behalf

    Thanks

    0
  • Julian McEwen

    Hi, apologies if this has been mentioned before.  

    Is there any way or any plans to allow the plugin (on demand) to set a default project when creating a new jira issue? 

    thanks!

    0
  • Sam Michaels

    Hi Julian,

    I'm afraid setting a default project is not possible at this time. Sorry about that! I wouldn't count out an implementation in the future, but as of today there is nothing yet set in stone.

    Best,

    Sam

    0
  • Julian McEwen
    Thanks for replying Sam, fingers crossed then!
    0
  • Angus Chan

    Hi Support Team,

    It is possible to link a JIRA ticket to the Zendesk one if the JIRA issue key or link is known, however is it possible to "search" for a JIRA ticket in the apps as well?

    0
  • Zin Kalvans

    Hi Angus,

    Yes, indeed you can link Zendesk ticket to a known JIRA issue via Link Issue button from JIRA widget but you cannot link from JIRA side. Linking tickets is possible only one way, from Zendesk.

    Zin

    0
  • Jennifer Haight

    Is it possible to track which JIRA issues have the most Zendesk tickets linked to them and when those Zendesk tickets were linked? For example, I want to be able to quickly see which JIRA issues are reported most frequently and which ones are trending with recent reports.

    1
  • Maxime

    Hi Jennifer 

    Unfortunately no that's not possible. That would be something we'd have to do on the JIRA side but it's not yet easy for the integration to store "metadata" on the JIRA issue. We'll have to investigate this and talk to JIRA about it.

    So the bottomline is that we have no immediate plans to do so but you're not the first one to ask for a bit more advanced reporting on this so we'll take that into account for the 2016 JIRA integration roadmap

    Thanks

    0
  • Jennifer Haight

    Thanks, Maxime. We used to track our bug and feature request reports on a Google Sheet and, while cumbersome, we were able to quickly see what our trending bugs and feature requests were. We love being able to link JIRA and Zendesk because it automates our process of following up when an issue is resolved, but I'm really missing the visibility to see what our users are reporting and when. 

    1
  • Maxime

    Gotcha, so you want to have an at a glance view of all the tickets that are currently escalate to JIRA? Or do you want to get even more granular than that?

    0
  • Jennifer Haight

    Ideally more granular than that. I read that there is a way to pull a report of all JIRA issues with the "JIRA escalated" tag on them, which helps a little, but without visibility into how many Zendesk tickets are linked to the issues and when the Zendesk tickets were linked, we don't have a good way to track trending issues. 

    2
  • Maxime

    Ok this is great feedback, I agree. I'll create a ticket on your behalf as well and have you chat with our new PM for the JIRA integration who starts very soon at Zendesk

    Be on the lookout for that, thanks for the feedback Jennifer!

    0
  • Daniel Wykrętowicz
    • Edited

    +1 for Jennifer's feature request. It is exactly the same functionality that we're missing at our company. We would like to have a better visibility on a given jira bug impact on zendesk contact rate and customer satisfaction. Having an easy way to extract the # of zendesk tickets linked to jira tasks would enable us to better adjust priorities and manage our jira backlog. 

    A perfect solution would be a report (either in jira or zendesk/gooddata) with the top unresolved jira tasks that have the highest no of linked tickets. Additionally, getting a hold on the list of ticket id's would be an asset.

    @Maxime, until this functionality is implemented, is there a way (through zendesk, jira, app's api' or other way) to manually fetch this data? From what I see, zendesk app created a custom field in jira for ticket reference. However, in our case with v3 integration this field is not populated with any values. Is it a normal behaviour? 

     

    0
  • Matt Hoffman
    Zendesk team member

    @Daniel - Thanks for taking the time to give your feedback. We are excited about the JIRA improvements that we have coming now that we have full-time resources in place to devote to this integration. That being said, there is nothing out of the box that will allow you to do the reporting that you've described - sorry about that :\

    The custom fields that you're referring to sound like vestigial traces of the v2 integration as no such field is used in v3. If you do think of a clever way to do this reporting please do share - we would all love to hear it!

    0
  • Stéphanie Rabeyrolles

    Hi, it seems that the comment is not displayed

    0
  • Joseph Gange

    Hi,

    Is it possible to auto-populate the JIRA ticket ID once it's linked to a Zendesk ticket? We are using the SFDC integration as well and it would be great to be able to push the JIRA ticket ID into Salesforce as part of the Zendesk ticket object.

    0
  • Yuri Mylis
    Zendesk Product Manager

    Hi Joseph,

     

    What you can do, is use the JIRA workflow post function to add the JIRA issue key as a comment on the linked Zendesk ticket/s, as explained here: https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/203660226

    1

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