Our QA board on Jira 8 is supposed to show user stories alongside their linked test cases so the team can track testing progress in one view. However, the board filter isn’t pulling in all the test cases we expect. We have stories in the current sprint, and each story should have 3-5 linked test cases, but the board only displays the stories themselves - the test issues don’t appear in the swimlanes.
Our board filter JQL looks like this:
project = DEV AND type IN (Story, Test)
AND sprint = currentSprint()
The problem is that test cases are linked to stories but aren’t assigned to the sprint directly - only the parent story is sprint-assigned. So tests get filtered out even though they’re supposed to be visible through their story linkage. QA cannot see the full scope of testing work on the board, which makes sprint planning unreliable. How can we configure the board to show both stories and their linked tests without manually adding every test to the sprint?
For showing linked tests without sprint assignment, you’ll need an issue function in your board filter JQL. Something like: project = DEV AND (type = Story AND sprint = currentSprint() OR issueFunction in linkedIssuesOf("type = Story AND sprint = currentSprint()")). This pulls in stories from the sprint plus any issues linked to those stories. However, standard Jira 8 doesn’t have issue functions built-in - you’ll need a plugin like ScriptRunner or JQL Tricks to enable this query pattern.
The issue is that your JQL filter only shows issues directly in the sprint. Tests linked to stories won’t appear unless they’re also sprint members. You have two options: either add tests to sprints alongside their stories, or modify your JQL to include linked issues using a function. The second approach is cleaner because it maintains the story-centric sprint planning while still showing dependent test work on the board.
I’d recommend the sprint assignment approach. In our team, when we commit a story to a sprint during planning, we immediately add all linked test cases to that same sprint. This ensures complete visibility on the board and aligns with the principle that testing is part of the Definition of Done. You can even add a workflow validator on the story that prevents sprint assignment unless linked tests are also sprint-assigned. This enforces the practice and prevents the visibility issue from recurring.
Without plugins, your best native option is restructuring how you link tests to stories. Instead of using generic issue links, create a custom “Parent Story” field on Test issues and populate it with the story key. Then your board filter becomes: project = DEV AND (type = Story AND sprint = currentSprint() OR (type = Test AND "Parent Story" IN (DEV-101, DEV-102, ...))). Still not ideal because you need to list story keys, but it works with standard Jira. Alternatively, consider adding tests to sprints as a standard practice - they’re part of sprint scope anyway.
We don’t have ScriptRunner installed and getting budget approval for plugins takes weeks. Is there a native Jira configuration that can achieve similar results? Maybe using swimlane settings or quick filters instead of modifying the base board filter?