Our initiatives reside in Jira Align and I am trying to do a burn-up in Confluence

[Lorinda Quesenberry]

I am in need of a JQL where I can pull all the stories, tasks, spikes and defects associated with a particular initiative that resides in Jira Align.  Can anyone provide some assistance?

[Charles Johnson]

Understanding / Acknowledgement
Understood. You’re trying to create a JQL query that returns all delivery level Jira Work Types (Stories, Tasks, Spikes, and Defects) that are tied to a specific Initiative that exists in Jira Align. The intent is to maintain clear traceability and accurate reporting between Jira Align Initiatives and the underlying execution work in Jira. Any clarification around the fields synced from Jira Align or the recommended JQL pattern to establish that linkage would be helpful.

The Challenge

The integration between Jira and Jira Align once created establishes a connection which starts with thru Epic/Feature being the center point of that connection. All relevant digital data is synced though the Jira Epic/Feature. 

For you Understanding

The idea here is to intentionally separates strategy from execution so the Platform and the evolved software delivery tool operates respectfully at the highest value. Jira Align is the Platform of record for enterprise planning, investment, initiatives, and outcomes, while Jira Software is optimized for team execution, delivery, and flow.

Initiatives live only in Jira Align and sync one way to Jira, preserving strategic integrity and avoiding performance and reporting issues caused by forcing portfolio data into JQL. Leadership gets true initiative and outcome visibility in Jira Align, while delivery teams maintain fast, reliable execution reporting in Jira.

The result is a scalable, clean reporting model that protects platform performance, reduces complexity, and ensures executives see outcomes—while teams focus on delivery.

Few Facts

• There is no Work Item or Work Item Key that is created in Jira in the one way sync.
• There is no way to query an Initiative as a Work type using JQL

Note: Think of Jira Align as the Platform where all levels of planning are created and managed. Think of Jira as work execution and delivery. Only Initiatives, Capabilities and Themes objects live in Jira Align and only sync one way down to Jira.

Options

1. You can access the Initiative field that syncs from Jira Align. If Jira Align is set up to sync to a custom field and that field is added to the Jira Epic you will have the ability to add it to reports.
2. You can just due true Initiative reporting in Jira Align. This method would be ideal if you are looking to scale.

In Jira Align

• Strategy -> Initiatives -> Progress
• Portfolio -> Roadmaps
• Investment vs. Outcome views

Set a healthy reporting path

A common way that an Enterprise can ignite the ability to scale is to use the following success criteria for reporting between Jira and Jira Align:

1. Jira Align -> Strategy, funding, initiatives, outcomes
2. Jira Software ->Execution, velocity, throughput
3. JQL -> Epic/Story-level rollups tagged to Initiatives

Final Thought

To keep JQL clean and running in a timely manner don't push portfolio data into Jira mostly because that is what Jira Align is for. To be clear the input data and tools configuration drive report outcomes.