Integration with Jira & DevOps

Using the External Task Connector (Connector) in Playbook, you can pull tasks from Jira or DevOps, then incorporate the tasks into the project plan using links etc.
Benefits of integrating Jira/DevOps tasks in Playbook
1. Integrating software development tasks in the Playbook project plan results in more accurate timelines, making it easier to prevent bottlenecks and understand schedule impacts when work slips.
2. Leaders gain clear visibility into dependencies, resource demands, and milestone risk while teams continue working in familiar workflows.
3. The result is more accurate forecasting, stronger alignment, and fewer schedule surprises.
Best practice - create a summary task in Playbook where the tasks from Jira/DevOps will reside by default. In this example, we have created a summary task called Software Development.
To configure the Connector, first select the Connector Type, Jira or DevOps...
In this example, we will create a connection to Jira. First, supply the URL and Project Key of your Jira project. Need a hand? Contact a Customer Success Engineer.
Next, you will need to create an API token in Jira. Visit https://id.atlassian.com/manage-profile/security/api-tokens for details. In DevOps these are called Personal Access Tokens and are created in a similar way. Need a hand? Contact a Customer Success Engineer.
Enter a valid Jira/DevOps email address and specify a summary task in Playbook for the external tasks. The email address must be the same as the person who created the token.
Click Next to proceed to the Pull Options page.
Jira's Source Types, Source Status, and Labels are automatically recognized by Playbook. Alternatively, an Epics filter can be enabled.
Best practice - use these options to pre- filter and limit what will be pulled from Jira/DevOps into Playbook by default. Otherwise, you might pull a lot of unwanted data from Jira/DevOps into Playbook.
Click Next to proceed to the Field Mapping page.
Standard Jira/DevOps fields will be mapped to standard Playbook fields. For example, Assignee in Jira will be mapped to Resource in Playbook. Typically, no changes are needed on this page.
Click Next to proceed to the External Tasks page. Use the Status filters to pre-filter and limit the items that will be pulled from Jira into Playbook. Otherwise, you might pull a lot of unwanted data from Jira/DevOps into Playbook.
Click Pull now to generate a list of tasks that will be pulled from Jira/DevOps. You can review the Jira/DevOps items' title, type, parent, state, and status.
Clicking Pull now gives you the ability to test the configuration before creating the tasks in Playbook.
Best practice - adjust the pre-filters on the Pull Options and External Tasks pages, then click Pull now to test the configuration. Only click Ok when the list of tasks to be pulled looks correct. Otherwise, you might pull a lot of unwanted data from Jira/DevOps into Playbook.
When Ok is clicked, the tasks are created in Playbook. These are called External tasks in Playbook. They are green and have a unique icon for quick identification.
Epics and any other types of items with a child are created as External Summary tasks in Playbook.
External Summary tasks behave the same as other Playbook summary tasks.
1. Have a Summary Owner, but no Resources.
2. No hours of Work (instead, the hours or work is the sum of the hours in the subtasks).
3. Duration can be set manually or auto-sized
4. Uses the Default calendar (Duration units = Weekdays)
5. Auto-complete
6. External icon in the taskbar is used to expand/collapse
All other types of items are created as External Work tasks.
External Work tasks behave the same as regular Playbook work tasks.
1. Resources are the same as the Jira assignee
2. Hours of Work (used in resource loading etc.)
3. Uses the Resource calendar (Duration units = Working Days)
4. Visible in the calendar and backlog in the Huddle and My Playbook views
5. External icon is visible in the taskbar
In Task Properties, there is a link to the item in Jira/DevOps icon. When you click the link, Jira/DevOps opens in a new browser tab and shows you that item in Jira/DevOps.
If a task was originally an External Work task, then a child is later added to it in Jira/DevOps, the next time it is pulled (updated) via the Connector, it is automatically converted to an External Summary task.
You can change a task from one type (External Summary, External Work) to another using Task Properties or the Task Grid. Note: External Summary tasks with subtasks cannot be converted to External Work tasks.
Links can be created to/from External tasks to/from all other tasks in the plan. The color of the External tasks (green by default) automatically changes to show their criticality (yellow, orange, pink) like all other Playbook tasks. This is one of the main benefits of integrating tasks from Jira/DevOps in the project plan - to know the priority of the software development tasks relative to all other tasks.
Regular Playbook tasks can be subtasks in External Summary tasks and External tasks can be moved anywhere in the plan.
External tasks can be updated using the latest information in Jira/DevOps "on demand". To do so, open the connector, click Pull now then click Ok.
Need a hand? Contact a Customer Success Engineer today!