Using the Zendesk Support for Jira integration (Legacy)

The legacy Jira integration enhances collaboration
between support and product teams. You can create or link Jira issues
from tickets, track issue progress, and share comments between platforms.
Customize views and add labels to issues. Ensure smooth functionality
by using compatible browsers and consider migrating to the current version
for continued support.




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.

Note: Jira uses
security headers
that affect the behavior of the
Jira app within Firefox web browsers and may cause problems loading
content. If your team
uses the Jira integration and experiences problems, use another web
browser, such as Google
Chrome, to ensure that the Jira app functions as intended.


This article covers the following topics:


Using the integration in Zendesk
Support


Using the integration in Jira


Commenting and comment sharing


Related articles:



Setting up Zendesk Support for Jira integration


Updating a ticket when the status of a Jira issue changes


Reporting on the number of Zendesk tickets linked to a Jira
issue


Using the Jira field syncing feature





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:



Creating a Jira issue from a
ticket


Creating a link to an existing Jira issue
from a ticket


Tracking a Jira issue from a
ticket


Customizing the summary and details
views


Adding a label to a Jira issue from a
ticket


Unlinking a Jira issue from a
ticket


Searching Jira issues




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



In Zendesk Support, go to the ticket you want to use as a
basis for a new Jira
issue.


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.



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.





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.



Select the reporter for the issue. By default,
the reporter is set to the last
reporter that was selected when an issue was
created in this browser. 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 to this form. For information, see
Adding fields to the Jira app in Zendesk
Support.






(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.


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



In Zendesk, go to the ticket you'd like to link to a Jira
issue.

The ticket must be
an existing ticket. If you are creating a new ticket,
you'll need to save it
first.



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.



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.



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



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





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

You
can add pre-existing or custom Jira fields to these views.
See
Jira custom field type compatibility
for a
list of custom Jira fields that are compatible with the
Jira app.






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_escalated tag is
added by default to the ticket, and an identical
jira_escalated 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
Creating custom roles and assigning agents.


To add a label to a Jira issue



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





Update the ticket by clicking Submit.



The new label appears in the Details section of the issue in
Jira when the issue is
accessed through a browser, and the Zendesk app is expanded.
The label shows as being
added by the Jira user who opened the issue in the browser.







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




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.





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




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





Double-click on Linked Tickets
to open the linked tickets page.


If more than one ticket is linked to the issue, click the
accordion to expand the
ticket details.






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:




Adding a comment to a Jira
issue from a ticket




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




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




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




Adding the current agent as a
watcher when linking Jira issues




Displaying when the most recent
comment was added to either account




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



Click the Notify button in
the Jira app next to the ticket.


Enter the comment you want to add to the issue in Jira.





To save typing, you can transfer the last comment made on
the ticket by clicking
Copy the last comment.


Any attachments in ticket comments are shown under
Attachments. Click on the
attachment to add it to the note.


Click Notify issues. The note
is added to the Activity section
in the
Jira issue.


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



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






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






Enter your comment. Select the
Make public reply checkbox
to make a
public comment.


Click Add comment.



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




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


Enter your comment, select the
Add for all tickets checkbox,
and click
Save.




To add a comment to all linked tickets in the sidebar




In the sidebar under Zendesk Support,
double-click on Linked Tickets.
The linked ticket page opens.


Click Add comments to linked tickets,
which opens a page.


Enter your comment and click Send.








To make all comments private



In the Jira top nav bar, select More
>Apps > Manage
your apps.


Click the Zendesk Support for Jira
accordion, then click
Configure.


In the Settings >
Other options section, select
the
Disable all public comments to Zendesk
checkbox.


Click Save.






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



Users watching a Jira issue with linked Zendesk tickets can receive
a notification email
from Jira when public comments are added to linked tickets.





To enable comment notifications



In the Jira top navigation bar, select
More >
Apps >
Manage your apps.


Click the Zendesk Support for Jira
accordion, then click Configure.


In the Settings >
Other options section, select
the
Send
email notification to issue watchers when comments are added to linked tickets
checkbox.


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




In the Jira top nav bar, select More
> Apps >

Manage your apps.


Click the Zendesk Support for Jira
accordion, then click
Configure.


In the Settings >
Zendesk Support ticket fields
section, select the
Last Commented checkbox


Click Save.







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