What is the difference between a child and a linked issue for an epic?

1 answer

2 votes

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These are two different relationship types! In summary...

Hierarchy: This is the parent/child relationship between issues - so there are Issue Types which are children of Epics - by standard that is Bugs, Stories, etc. In this relationship type, there can be one parent, and multiple children.
Linked Issues: These are sibling relationships, more often used for dependencies between issues. These are a many-to-many relationship, and use link types like blocks, clones, related to, etc.

Is there a specific concern you have in relation to these two?

Ste

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Ok, it makes sense, if in a current Epic I find bugs, I make them into Child of this current Epic? Thanks for your answer, @Ste Wright

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I would say this depends on how your team recognises and tracks bugs.

I've seen teams...

Add the Bug as part of the Epic - to show both the Stories/Tasks which make up the Epic, and Bugs which are found or created due to these changes.
Link the Bug to the relevant Story or Task - to show it blocks delivery, or is caused by the feature enhancement. This is sometimes used where a Bug does not block delivery of the Epic, or is found post-release.
Do both - to show impact to both a direct Story, but also indirectly up the hierarchy.

Ste

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