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Linking Tasks and Issues to Epics

Linking tasks and issues to an epic is how you build the connection between individual work items and your high-level delivery themes. Once linked, the epic aggregates progress from all its child items.

Linking a task to an epic​

From the task detail page​

  1. Open the task.
  2. Find the Epic field in the task details panel.
  3. Click the field.
  4. Type the epic name or browse the list.
  5. Select the epic.

The task is now linked and appears in the epic's item list.

From the epic detail page​

  1. Open the epic.
  2. Click Add Items.
  3. Switch to the Tasks tab.
  4. Search for the task by title or browse by sprint.
  5. Click Add next to the task(s) you want to link.

Linking an issue to an epic​

From the issue detail page​

  1. Open the issue.
  2. Find the Epic field.
  3. Click the field.
  4. Search for and select the epic.

From the epic detail page​

  1. Open the epic.
  2. Click Add Items.
  3. Switch to the Issues tab.
  4. Search or browse for the issue.
  5. Click Add next to the issue(s).

To unlink a task or issue from an epic:

From the task or issue:

  1. Open the task or issue.
  2. Click the Epic field.
  3. Click the × next to the epic name to remove the link.

From the epic:

  1. Open the epic.
  2. Find the item in the linked items list.
  3. Click the Unlink icon (chain with slash) next to the item.

Removing a link does not delete the task or issue — it just removes the association.

One epic per item​

A task or issue can be linked to only one epic at a time. If you try to link an item that is already linked to another epic, you will be asked to confirm the change.

Multi-epic tracking

If a task naturally belongs to more than one epic, consider whether the task should be split, or whether one of the epics should be absorbed into the other. Overlapping epics often signal a planning structure issue.

Viewing all work in an epic​

The epic detail page shows all linked tasks and issues. You can:

  • Filter by status, assignee, sprint, or priority
  • Sort by planned date, status, or assignee
  • See progress per sprint — the items are grouped by which sprint they belong to
  • Switch to timeline view to see all items on a Gantt-style timeline

Bulk-linking from a sprint​

If you want to link all (or most) tasks in a sprint to the same epic:

  1. Go to the Tasks list or sprint board.
  2. Select multiple tasks using the checkboxes.
  3. In the Bulk Actions bar that appears, click Set Epic.
  4. Select the epic.
  5. Click Apply.

All selected tasks are linked to the epic at once. See Bulk edit for more on bulk operations.

Epic progress calculation​

Progress is calculated as:

Epic progress = (number of Done/Resolved items) ÷ (total linked items) × 100

Cancelled items are excluded from the calculation.

Items without dates

Tasks and issues without planned dates do not appear on the epic timeline view but are still included in progress calculations. Add dates to them if you want a complete timeline picture.