Understanding Jira at SKAO#

Discover why SKAO uses Jira and how it integrates with the development workflow.

Why Jira?#

SKAO uses Jira as the central hub for project management because it provides:

  • Work tracking — All tasks, stories, and bugs in one place

  • Sprint planning — Agile boards for team coordination

  • Traceability — Link code changes to requirements

  • Visibility — Dashboards and reports for stakeholders

  • Integration — Connects with GitLab for seamless workflow

How Jira fits into SAFe#

SKAO follows the Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe). Jira supports this by:

  • Team level — Sprint boards for individual teams

  • Program level — Program boards for release trains

  • Portfolio level — Roadmaps and initiative tracking

Your Scrum Master manages the team-level board. Solution Architects and Release Train Engineers coordinate at higher levels.

The development workflow#

A typical workflow from Jira to deployment:

1. Create ticket in Jira
2. Assign ticket and move to "In Progress"
3. Create branch with Jira ID (e.g., ska-123-feature)
4. Commit code, referencing Jira ID
5. Create merge request in GitLab
6. Review and merge code
7. Move ticket to "Done"

The Jira-GitLab integration synchronises both systems automatically.

GitLab to Jira integration#

When you mention a Jira Issue ID in a GitLab commit or merge request:

  • GitLab hyperlinks the issue

  • Jira displays a link to the commit or MR

  • Jira shows a comment reflecting the GitLab activity

Example commit message:

git commit -m "SKA-34: Add gitlab-jira integration"

Closing tickets from GitLab#

Adding a keyword — Closes, Resolves, or Fixes — before a Jira issue ID in a commit message or merge request description marks the merge request as closing that issue and links it in Jira. The keyword takes effect when the branch merges into the default branch.

git commit -m "SKA-34: Add gitlab-jira integration, closes SKA-34"

Whether this also transitions the ticket (for example to Ready for Acceptance) depends on the project’s Jira workflow and integration configuration, and is not guaranteed at SKAO. If the status does not change on its own, move the ticket manually — drag it to the next column on the board, or open the ticket and use the status dropdown (see How to work with Jira at SKAO).

Jira development panel#

Jira displays a Development Panel on any ticket you reference in:

  • Branch names

  • Commit messages

  • Merge request titles

The panel shows linked branches, commits, and merge requests (GitLab merge requests appear in the panel as pull requests).

Jira Development Panel on the right of the issue screen, showing the linked branches, commits, and merge requests with their status.

The Jira Development Panel.#

See also#