Eriksen Labs

Jira spike template

One question, a fixed amount of time, and an agreed output. Without those three, a spike is open-ended work under another name.

Free to copy Standard team style

The template

Change it in the generator

Spike

Spike: [question to answer]

Priority
Jira’s default
Labels
spike

Description

Question

[The one question this spike answers.]

Timebox

[How long, for example two days. When it runs out, stop and write down what is known.]

Why it matters

[The decision or story waiting for the answer.]

Output

[What comes out: a recommendation, a prototype or a comparison. Agree it before starting.]

Done when

  • Question answered, or the reason it could not be
  • Findings written up and linked here
  • Follow-up issues created
Show it as Markdown 
### Question

[The one question this spike answers.]

### Timebox

[How long, for example two days. When it runs out, stop and write down what is known.]

### Why it matters

[The decision or story waiting for the answer.]

### Output

[What comes out: a recommendation, a prototype or a comparison. Agree it before starting.]

### Done when

- [ ] Question answered, or the reason it could not be
- [ ] Findings written up and linked here
- [ ] Follow-up issues created

When to use it

Use it when the team cannot estimate or decide something until someone finds out more: a library, an approach, a performance question.

Jira has no Spike issue type by default. Many teams create spikes as tasks with a spike label, which is what the label in this template is for.

What each section is for

Question
One question. Two questions are two spikes.
Timebox
The timebox is the point: when it runs out, the spike ends with what is known.
Why it matters
Names the decision waiting for the answer, so the answer can be judged by whether it settles it.
Output
Agreed up front, so nobody expects production code from a spike.
Approach Detailed
Useful when someone other than the author may take the spike.

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.