Jira

You can import your Jira issues to GitLab. If you want to continue to use Jira, you can integrate Jira with GitLab instead.

Jira integrations

GitLab offers two Jira integrations. You can use one or both integrations depending on the features you need.

Jira issue integration

You can use the Jira issue integration developed by GitLab with Jira Cloud, Jira Data Center, or Jira Server. With this integration, you can:

  • View and search Jira issues directly in GitLab.
  • Refer to Jira issues by ID in GitLab commits and merge requests.
  • Create Jira issues for vulnerabilities.

Jira development panel

You can use the Jira development panel to view GitLab activity for an issue including related branches, commits, and merge requests. To configure the Jira development panel:

Feature availability

This table shows the features available with the Jira issue integration and the Jira development panel:

Feature Jira issue integration Jira development panel
Mention a Jira issue ID in a GitLab commit or merge request, and a link to the Jira issue is created. Yes No
Mention a Jira issue ID in GitLab, and the Jira issue shows the GitLab issue or merge request. Yes, a Jira comment with the GitLab issue or merge request title links to GitLab. The first mention is also added to Web links in the Jira issue. Yes, in the Jira issue’s development panel.
Mention a Jira issue ID in a GitLab commit, and the Jira issue shows the commit message. Yes, the entire commit message is displayed in the Jira issue as a comment and in Web links. Each message links back to the commit in GitLab. Yes, in the Jira issue’s development panel. A custom comment is possible with Jira Smart Commits.
Mention a Jira issue ID in a GitLab branch name, and the Jira issue shows the branch name. No Yes, in the Jira issue’s development panel.
Add time tracking to a Jira issue. No Yes, with Jira Smart Commits.
Use a GitLab commit or merge request to transition a Jira issue. Yes, only a single transition. Typically used to close the Jira issue. Yes, transition the Jira issue to any state with Jira Smart Commits.
View a list of Jira issues. Yes No
Create a Jira issue for a vulnerability. Yes No
Create a GitLab branch from a Jira issue. No Yes, in the Jira issue’s development panel.
Mention a Jira issue ID in a GitLab merge request, branch name, or any of the last 5,000 commits to the branch after the last successful deployment to the environment to sync a GitLab deployment to a Jira issue. No Yes, in the Jira issue’s development panel.

Privacy considerations

All Jira integrations share data outside of GitLab. If you integrate a private GitLab project with Jira, the private data is shared with users who have access to your Jira project.

The Jira issue integration posts GitLab data as comments on Jira issues. The GitLab for Jira Cloud app and the Jira DVCS connector share GitLab data through the Jira development panel. With the Jira development panel, you can restrict access to certain user groups or roles.