Eriksen Labs

Jira epic template

The outcome, the problem behind it, what is in and out, and how you will know it worked. The page people come back to when the stories start to drift.

Free to copy Standard team style

The template

Change it in the generator

Epic

[Outcome] for [who]

Priority
Jira’s default
Labels
None

Description

Goal

[The outcome in one or two sentences. What is different for users when this is done?]

Problem

[What is wrong today, and why it matters now.]

Scope

  • In: [what is included]
  • Out: [what is not]

How we will know it worked

[A measure, and the number to reach if there is one.]

Before closing

  • All child issues done or moved out
  • Success measure checked
Show it as Markdown 
### Goal

[The outcome in one or two sentences. What is different for users when this is done?]

### Problem

[What is wrong today, and why it matters now.]

### Scope

- In: [what is included]
- Out: [what is not]

### How we will know it worked

[A measure, and the number to reach if there is one.]

### Before closing

- [ ] All child issues done or moved out
- [ ] Success measure checked

When to use it

Use it for a body of work that takes several sprints and splits into stories. The epic holds the why; the stories hold the what.

Keep it short. An epic description that runs to pages is a specification, and belongs in a linked document.

What each section is for

Goal
Written as an outcome, not as a list of features.
Problem
Why now. It is what decides what can be cut when time runs short.
Scope
The Out line prevents more arguments than the In line.
How we will know it worked
Without a measure, an epic is done when the stories run out.
Milestones Detailed
Rough dates are enough here. Exact ones belong in the plan.
Risks and dependencies Detailed
Listed early enough to do something about them.

Sections marked Detailed are not in the template above. Switch them on in the generator, where you can also edit the text and the checklist.

Want this to appear automatically in Jira’s Create dialog?

Issue Templates & Create Defaults for Jira fills in the summary, description, checklist, labels and priority from a template when someone opens Jira’s own Create dialog with one of the issue types you choose. Each field it fills carries a note saying where the text came from, and once someone writes their own summary or description, the app leaves the form alone.

To take a template from this page into the app with its formatting, paste it into an issue’s description, then, as a project or Jira administrator, choose Save as template from the issue’s ••• menu.

Submitted to the Atlassian Marketplace and awaiting approval.

About the app Documentation

Other templates

Or build your own in the Jira issue template generator, and see what Jira Cloud does on its own.