The Project Manager's Toolbox

Smart Checklists are an easy way to include action items to be completed as part of the Jira ticket.
For example, a common use case is to create a “Definition of Done” checklist so your developers know everything that needs to be completed before a deliverable is considered to be “Done Done”.

You can easily create a Checklist template that automatically gets added when you create a new Story. Here’s how:

Step 1: Create your Checklist.

1. Open an Issue that you want to add a Smart Checklist.
2. Smart Checklists appear below the Description field of a Jira ticket. If you don’t see a Smart Checklist in the ticket, then you may need to add Smart Checklist as an App to your project (link to free version).
3. Add items to your list by typing into the textbox labelled “Add a checklist item”.

Step 2: Save as Template.

1. Click on the … to bring-up the Smart Checklist menu.
2. Select “Save as a template”.
   
3. Provide a name, and click “Save”
   

Step 3: Set a template as the default Checklist for an Issue Type.

1. Click on the … to bring-up the Smart Checklist menu.
2. Select “Manage template”.
   
3. Select the desired template from the list of saved templates.
4. Using the “Assign to issue types” checkboxes, select which issue type (Task, Epic, Story, etc) you’d like this Checklist template be automatically added when the Jira ticket is created. e.g. if you want this checklist to be automatically created when you create an Epic, then select Epic.
   

Now try it out! Create a ticket of the same type that you’ve assigned the Smart Checklist template to. Once you gone through the steps to create the ticket, you will find that the Smart Checklist has automatically been added to your issue.