MoSCoW Prioritization in Atlassian Projects – Portfolio-Level Planning with Custom Fields and Direct
This is the approach that works for me — there are certainly many other valid ways to implement MoSCoW prioritization in Atlassian Projects, and I'd love to hear how others have solved this in the comments.
The Problem: Prioritization Lives in Spreadsheets, Not in Atlassian
Many teams manage their project portfolio in one place and their prioritization decisions in another — usually a spreadsheet, a Confluence table, or a weekly PowerPoint deck.
If you're using the Atlassian Projects app (accessible via the 🚀 app switcher, part of the Goals & Projects platform), you already have a powerful way to track cross-team initiatives with status updates, goals, and teams. But one thing is missing out of the box: a structured prioritization field.
In this article I'll show you how to bring the MoSCoW method directly into your Atlassian Projects setup — using custom fields, directory filtering, and saved views — so your portfolio priority is visible right where the work lives.
What you'll build: A MoSCoW Priority custom field in Atlassian Projects, visible in every project's sidebar and filterable in the Project Directory — with saved views that give leadership an instant portfolio overview sorted by priority. No apps, no automation rules, no add-ons required.
What Is MoSCoW — and Why Use It at the Portfolio Level?
MoSCoW is a four-category prioritization method commonly used in requirements engineering and agile delivery:
|
Category |
Meaning |
|
M – Must Have |
Non-negotiable. Without it, the initiative fails or violates a commitment. |
|
S – Should Have |
High value, but not critical for the current period. Deliver if possible. |
|
C – Could Have |
Nice to have if capacity allows. First to drop when pressure increases. |
|
W – Won't Have (this time) |
Explicitly parked — not now, but potentially reconsidered next cycle. |
Most teams apply MoSCoW at the issue or story level inside Jira. What's far less common — but extremely valuable — is applying it at the initiative or project level.
When leadership asks "What are we actually focusing on this quarter?", being able to filter your entire project portfolio to Must Have initiatives in two clicks is a game changer. It replaces the status-theatre of slide decks with a live, always-current signal.
Prerequisites
Before you start, make sure you have:
- Access to Atlassian Projects via the app switcher
- At least a few projects already created in your Projects directory
Note: Creating custom fields (Step 1) requires Org Admin or Workspace Admin permissions. Setting the field value on a project (Step 2 onwards) can be done by any Project Owner or Contributor.
Note on automation: Unlike Jira, Atlassian Projects does not have a built-in automation engine for custom fields or i didn´t find it :D The MoSCoW field we create here is manually set by the project owner — intentionally, because the prioritization decision itself belongs to a human. What we gain is structure, visibility, and filterability across the entire portfolio.
STEP 1 — Create the MoSCoW Custom Field
Custom fields in Atlassian Projects are defined globally and apply to all projects in your workspace automatically once created.
1.1 click the ⚙️ Settings icon in the top navigation bar
1.2 navigate to:
1.3 Click + Add field
1.4 Fill in the form with the following values:
|
Setting |
Value |
|
Name |
MoSCoW Priority |
|
Field type |
Single-select text |
|
Description |
Portfolio-level MoSCoW prioritization. Set once per planning cycle by the project owner. |
1.5 Under Options, add the four values in this exact order:
code
- Must Have
- Should Have
- Could Have
- Won't Have
⚠️ Order matters! Atlassian displays single-select options in the order you define them. This also becomes your natural sort order in the directory view — Must Have appears first when sorting A→Z.
1.6 Click Save
✅ The field is now active and will appear in the sidebar of every project in your workspace.
📌 Workspace limit: Each workspace supports a maximum of 10 custom fields shared across both Projects and Goals. Plan your field usage accordingly before adding more fields later.
STEP 2 — Set the MoSCoW Value on a Project
2.1 Open any project in Atlassian Projects Projects app switcher entry
2.2 In the right-hand sidebar panel (Project Details), scroll down — your new MoSCoW Priority field will appear below the standard fields
2.3 Click on the field → a dropdown opens → select the appropriate value:
2.4 Click anywhere outside the dropdown — the value is saved automatically
💡 No separate Save button needed. The value is persisted immediately and visible to all followers of that project.
What the sidebar looks like after setting the field:
STEP 3 — Show MoSCoW as a Column in the Project Directory
The real portfolio power comes from seeing MoSCoW across all your initiatives at once in the directory.
3.1 Navigate to the Project Directory:
3.2 Click the Columns button (or the ⊞ column icon, top right of the table)
3.3 In the column picker, activate the toggle next to MoSCoW Priority
3.4 The column appears in the directory table — drag it to your preferred position (recommended: directly after Status)
Now it looks like this
STEP 4 — Create Saved Views for Different Audiences
Saved views let you store a filtered, configured directory snapshot with a name — think of it as a live strategic dashboard without any export or manual refresh needed.
View A: „🔴 Must Have – Portfolio Radar"
For weekly leadership check-ins and escalation reviews
4.1 Set filter: MoSCoW Priority = Must Have
4.2 Configure columns: Name, Status, MoSCoW Priority, Owner, Related Goals
4.3 Sort by Status (At Risk / Off Track first)
4.4 Click Create view (top right) → enter name: 🔴 Must Have – Portfolio Radar
4.5 Click Save
4.6 Click the ⭐ star icon next to the view name → the view is pinned to your personal quick navigation bar
You can build a view for every status, or whatever you need to show .
STEP 5 — Embed a Saved View in Confluence
The saved views can be embedded as live smart links in Confluence — always up to date, no manual export required.
5.1 With your saved view active, click the ⋯ menu next to the view name → select Copy Link
5.2 Open your Confluence page (e.g. Quarterly Planning, Leadership Dashboard, OKR Review)
5.3 Paste the URL directly into the page editor
5.4 Confluence automatically converts it to a Smart Link → click the link block → select Embed from the toolbar
5.5 The view renders as a live, filterable table inside your Confluence page
Stakeholders can now see the current portfolio priority without leaving Confluence — and the data is always in sync with what's set in Atlassian Projects.
What About Automation? (Honest Assessment)
You might be wondering: "Can I auto-calculate or auto-set the MoSCoW field based on other data?"
Short answer: Not natively in Atlassian Projects today, but Rovo, automations and so on can be used. I think ist a matter of time and cretivity.-
All steps in this article are based on my own testing and reflect the current state of Atlassian Projects to the best of my knowledge — features and navigation paths may change as the platform evolves.
Closing Thoughts
Atlassian Projects is still a relatively young platform app, and community documentation around it is sparse compared to Jira. I hope this blueprint gives you a practical, immediately usable starting point for portfolio-level prioritization.
If you're already using MoSCoW in Jira at the story or epic level, combining it with this project-level view creates a consistent prioritization language across your entire Atlassian ecosystem — from individual user stories all the way up to strategic initiatives.
The best part: this entire setup takes under 10 minutes and requires zero add-ons.
Have you tried other prioritization frameworks (RICE, WSJF, Kano) at the portfolio level in Atlassian Projects? I'd love to hear what's working for your team in the comments below.
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Kai Krause
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