How to Use JQL to Identify All Issues in an Epic in Jira

If you’re managing projects in Jira—especially using Jira Software—tracking the progress of your epics can be crucial. An epic often represents a large requirement broken into stories, tasks, or bugs that are deliverable in smaller increments. Identifying all the issues under a specific epic isn’t always intuitive, particularly in Jira Cloud. In this blog, I’ll show you a simple JQL query to help project managers, Scrum Masters, and product managers easily retrieve this information and analyze it on a Jira dashboard.

Why You Need to Track Issues in an Epic

An epic represents a larger feature or requirement. To deliver it successfully, you break it down into smaller work items:

• Stories
• Tasks
• Bugs
• Test Cases

This traceability ensures the epic’s progress is visible, and any gaps can be addressed early.

For example, let’s say you’re working with Epic SSP-24. You want to track all the stories, bugs, and other issues linked to this epic, their statuses, and who they are assigned to. Jira’s JQL (Jira Query Language) makes this simple.

Step-by-Step: Using JQL to Find Issues in an Epic

Here’s a quick guide to fetch all items under a specific epic.

1. Understand the Key Field: Epic Link
   • The field Epic Link connects individual issues (e.g., stories, bugs) to an epic.

2. Write the JQL Query Use the following query to retrieve all issues under your epic:

   "Epic Link" = SSP-24

   Replace SSP-24 with your epic key.

   • To include multiple epics, use IN:

     "Epic Link" IN (SSP-24, SSP-25)

3. Verify Your Results
   • Run the query, and Jira will return all issues linked to your epic. Double-check the count and statuses.
4. Save the Filter
   • Save the query as a filter for future use, e.g., Backend Epic SSP-24.

Analyzing the Epic on Your Dashboard

Once you have the filter ready, you can use Jira dashboards to analyze progress. Here’s how:

1. Create a Dashboard Gadget
   • Go to your Jira dashboard and add the Two-Dimensional Filter Statistics gadget.
2. Configure the Gadget
   • Select your saved filter (e.g., Backend Epic SSP-24).
   • Choose fields to analyze, such as:
     • Status: See the breakdown of open, in-progress, or resolved items.
     • Assignee: Identify who is responsible for each issue.
3. Analyze Progress
   • The gadget will display a clear summary of the status and assignments.

   • For example:

     Status                     Assignee                Count

     Open                     Ravi                          2

     In Progress           Unassigned            3

4. Add Another View: Sprint Analysis

   • Add a second Two-Dimensional Filter gadget.
   • Configure it to show Sprint vs. Status.
   • This will help you identify items planned for specific sprints and their statuses.

   Example view:

   Sprint                         OpenIn             Progress              Resolved

   Sprint 5                    1                          2                            0

   Backlog                    2                          0                             1

Why This Approach is Useful

Using JQL with the Epic Link field helps you:

• Track all work items within an epic.
• Visualize progress through dashboards.
• Identify gaps such as unassigned tasks or items lagging in status.

Additionally, if you’re using Jira Premium, you can utilize the Parent Link field for advanced hierarchy tracking above epics.

Conclusion

With this simple JQL query and a well-configured Jira dashboard, you can efficiently track and analyze the progress of any epic. Whether you’re a project manager, Scrum Master, or product manager, this approach ensures transparency and traceability.

Start using JQL today to simplify your epic tracking and stay on top of your project milestones.

Until next time, happy querying!

Video link : https://www.ravisagar.in/videos/jira-cloud-find-all-issues-epic