Moving issues through a workflow
Change an issue's status, which moves its workflow allows, transition rules, the Definition of Done gate and reopening.
Issue → Status, or Board
An issue's status says where it is in its workflow — To Do, In Progress, In Review, Done or whatever steps your team uses. Moving it forward is how work progresses, and the workflow decides which moves are allowed.
Change the status
- On the issue, pick a new value in Status. It saves straight away.
- On the board, drag the card to another column.
- In the Issues list, select several issues and use Status in the bulk bar. See Bulk actions.
Which moves are allowed
Each issue follows one workflow: the one set for its type in that project, otherwise the project's workflow. If the workflow defines transitions, an issue can only move along them, and the Status list on the issue offers only the current status and the ones it can reach. A workflow with no transitions lets any status move to any other.
On the board, two cards in the same column can follow different workflows. While you drag, a column you cannot drop into explains why: the issue's workflow has no such step, or it has no transition from where the issue is.
Transition rules
An admin can attach rules to a transition. A move is refused, with the reason, when:
- only the assignee may take it and you are not the assignee;
- only certain roles may take it and you are not in one;
- required fields are empty;
- it requires every child issue to be done and some are not.
Moves made by automations count as meeting the who-may-move rules, but required fields and done children still apply.
The Definition of Done gate
A project's Definition of Done is a checklist copied onto each new issue. The project's Enforcementsetting decides what happens when an issue moves into a done status with items still unticked:
- Off — the list is guidance; nothing is enforced. This is the default.
- Warn — the move is allowed. No warning is shown in the app; the unticked items simply stay unticked on the issue's checklist.
- Block — the move is refused until every item is ticked.
Issues created before the project had a Definition of Done have no such checklist and are never blocked. Project admins set the list and the enforcement in the project's Settings → Definition of Done.
Reopening an issue
To reopen a finished issue, move it from its done status back to an earlier one — the same as any other move, as long as the workflow has that transition. No reason is asked for.