within a single space can we setup 1 or more issue templates that the team could select from when op

[Kathryn Lee]

i have multiple scrum teams.

some teams have per team specific repeating issues (stories) that they execute each sprint as a new instance - e.g. run the weekly report.

they want to create different templates available to their team to select from when creating a new story.

is this possible? 

they have been using a dummy boiler plate actual story and cloning it, but those stories while sitting at the bottom of their backlog, are annoying to see as a long list of "CLONE THIS" prefixed stories.  ideally the solution would be a  drop down list of story templates e.g.  "story template for weekly reports" "story template for monthly reports" with the relevant Acceptance Criteria, DOD, tasks, overview "as a i need so that" and points already assigned as defaults

[Dorota Popowska - Vilisoft]

Hi @Kathryn Lee 

Let me share my approach to managing work item templates in Jira that would be close to your current approach.

I would recommend creating a small template library and applying a few simple rules:

1. Add a clear prefix to each template’s Summary, for example:

   • [TEMPLATE] Weekly report A

   • [TEMPLATE] Weekly report B

   • [TEMPLATE] Monthly report 1

   • [TEMPLATE] Monthly report 2
   • [TEMPLATE] Monthly report 3

2. Group related Story templates under dedicated Epics. Since you mentioned both weekly and monthly reports, you could create two separate Epics, for example, [TEMPLATE] Weekly Reports and [TEMPLATE] Monthly Reports. Each Epic would act as a container for a specific group of templates, making them easier to identify, manage, and present in your template library.

3. Keep the template Stories in a completed status, such as Done or Closed. This prevents them from being treated as work waiting to be completed and keeps them out of the active backlog in a standard board configuration.

4. Create a saved filter that returns all Stories or just Epics (up to your preferences). You can then use this filter on a dedicated dashboard to present the available templates as a simple library for the team.

Here is an example of the Dashboard you may have:

As an optional improvement, if you can (or you know an admin who can do it) add a custom field to your Jira instance, you could create a checkbox or Yes/No field called Template and mark reusable work items with Template = Yes. It makes filtering easier if the library later includes templates from multiple Epics, projects, or teams. In that case, the saved filter and dashboard can be based on the Template = Yes field instead of a specific Epic.

When a team needs to create a new instance, they can clone the relevant Story or full Epic using Jira’s native cloning functionality.

For more advanced scenarios, you could also use an app such as Clone Expert for Jira. It allows users to preview and customize the work items before cloning, for example, by changing due dates or assignees. Users can also choose which fields and elements should be copied and clone a single Story, selected Stories, or an entire Epic.

This is not exactly a dropdown available in the Create Story form, but it provides a structured and maintainable template library without cluttering the teams’ operational backlogs.

If you would like to discuss this approach in more detail or validate how it could work in your Jira setup, I would be happy to meet with you. You can book a convenient time in my calendar here. The session would be purely consultative and focused on your use case (no sales or marketing pitch :) ) 

[Kate Pawlak _Appsvio_]

Hi @Kathryn Lee ,

If you need a solution which works as a native feature, I can recommend you our Issue Templates Agent.

You can create multiple story templates per team (or shared across teams) - for example "Story template for weekly reports," "Story template for monthly reports" - each pre-filled with its own description ("As a... I need... so that..."), Acceptance Criteria, Definition of Done, subtasks, and default story points. Of course, you can define fields based on your needs - we support all of types. When someone goes to create a new story, they pick from a dropdown of available templates instead of hunting through the backlog for a "CLONE THIS" placeholder to duplicate.

A few things that solve the specific pain points you mentioned:

• Templates aren't real backlog items, so they don't clutter your backlog or show up in reports/velocity charts the way boilerplate clone-stories do.
• You can scope templates per team/project, so each scrum team only sees the templates relevant to them.
• Fields like AC, DoD, tasks, and points (and any other define in the template) are applied automatically on creation, so nobody has to remember to update them by hand each sprint.

Happy to point you to setup docs or a quick demo if useful.

[Paul Pavlovsky_AppLiger_]

Hi @Kathryn Lee ,

Yes, this is possible. Jira’s native Forms or scheduled Automation can cover some simpler cases, particularly when the story should be created automatically every week or month.

For the template-selection experience you described, a Marketplace app would provide a closer fit. I’m from the team behind Easy Issue Templates for Jira, which allows you to:

• Create multiple reusable templates, such as “Weekly Report” and “Monthly Report”
• Make templates available only within selected projects
• Select a template when creating a new story
• Pre-fill the summary, description, Acceptance Criteria, Definition of Done, story points and other Jira fields
• Include and recreate related tasks or sub-tasks
• Add variables for values that change each time the template is used

The templates are stored separately from regular Jira work items, so you would no longer need the “CLONE THIS” stories sitting in the backlog.

For enterprise environments, the Cloud app is also Runs on Atlassian and Cloud Fortified, with SOC 2 coverage and participation in Atlassian’s Marketplace Bug Bounty program.

For genuinely scheduled work, you can also connect a template with Jira Automation so that the complete story is created automatically each week or month.

Feel free to reach out if you have any questions.

Best,

Paul

[Pawel Pawlowski]

Kathryn, one thing worth separating out before you pick a tool, because you described two different problems and only one of them needs a dropdown.

The weekly and monthly reports are recurring on a schedule, so nobody has to select anything. A scheduled Automation rule with a Create Issue action can produce that story on Monday morning with the Acceptance Criteria and Definition of Done already in the description and the assignee filled in. Story points go in too, though you set them through the custom field picker under Additional fields rather than as a named field on the action. You build it once per report and the CLONE THIS stories leave your backlog entirely. Subtasks are the awkward part: you add them as further Create Issue actions in the same rule with the parent set to the issue the rule just created. That works, but it gets verbose once there are more than a few.

The picker only matters for your ad-hoc templates. Alexandre's point about Forms is the right native place to start there. The one thing to check is the subtask layer, since a form fills in the issue it is attached to rather than creating children under it, so you may still need a rule or an app for the tasks that sit under each story.

Full disclosure: I am the founder of SuperTemplates.ai, so I have a commercial interest here. Two things it does not do, so you can rule it out quickly: it does not add a picker to Jira's create screen, and it works one project at a time, so if a cross-team dropdown at creation is the requirement then some of the apps above are a closer match than mine.

Where it fits is the fixing-up part rather than the picking part. You pick a template or paste rough notes in its own workspace, and it builds the story with its subtasks underneath in one pass, descriptions presets already carrying your Acceptance Criteria and Definition of Done, with variables filling in the pieces that differ per task, so there is no clone-then-edit round afterwards and no CSV. It all lands in an editable grid you approve before anything is created in Jira, and it runs inside Atlassian's cloud on Forge, so the text you paste in does not leave Atlassian.

https://marketplace.atlassian.com/apps/3018516132/supertemplates-ai-for-jira

[Monika Ambrozowicz_Seibert_]

Hi @Kathryn Lee you've already got quite a lot of useful recommendations, but I'd like to add one more so that you have more options to compare :) 

Templating.app does exactly what you described. It lets you define multiple work item templates: one for 'Weekly Report Story', one for 'Monthly Report Story', etc., each with pre-set values for the description (including your 'As a… I need… so that…' format), acceptance criteria, Definition of Done, story points, and even subtasks for the tasks your team runs every sprint. When a team member creates a new story, they get a dropdown to pick which template to apply, and the fields populate automatically.

Since you have multiple scrum teams with team-specific templates, you can scope templates so each team only sees their own, reducing noise and keeping things tidy. It works with both team-managed and company-managed projects.

Another thing work noting: Templating.app is an all-in-one solution for Jira templates. With one app, you get templates for work items (integrated with Jira automations, e.g. to create work items from templates triggered by automations), descriptions, subtasks, boards, and spaces. 

If you have any questions, I'd be happy to help, I am affiliated with the team that built the app. 

[Olga Cheban _TitanApps_]

Hi @Kathryn Lee !

Yes, this is possible, and there's a way to do it without boilerplate stories cluttering your backlog. Native Jira doesn't have a story template dropdown built into the Create form, and it doesn't allow you to create templates for stories and work items in general. However, this can be done with the help of a dedicated template app from the Atlassian Marketplace.

One option you can try is our solution Smart Templates for Jira. It's built for exactly this use case. It allows you to save any Jira work item (or a set of work items) as a reusable template. Then, you can generate this work item(s) by pushing just one button or even automatically on a schedule, if you have a fixed cadence (such as with your monthly reports).

Here's what this looks like. Your team can pick the template they need from the list and also preview the structure of the template - in this example, it's a task with a set of subtasks using variables:

Smart Templates allow you to:

• Pre-fill any field you need - Summary, Description, Story Points, Assignees, and other supported fields can be saved with default values. 
• Include child work items. A template can hold a full hierarchy, so recurring child tasks come along automatically. This works even with custom work item types and custom hierarchies of any complexity.
• Add checklists to your templates - for example, the Definition of Done checklist or Acceptance Criteria, which you can add with the help of Smart Checklist.
• Use variables for the parts that change - features, report periods, project titles etc. can be left as a variable to fill in at work item creation. Smart Templates will automatically apply the provided value everywhere across your template where that variable was used.
• Generate work items with a built-in Scheduler. You can set it to fire weekly, monthly, or on a specific day of the month, and your work items will be generated automatically. You can  also add dynamic deadlines that will be calculated automatically.
• Share templates as Global or scope them to a specific project - depending on which teams need to have access to them.

I hope this helps! Let me know if you have any questions

[Olha Yevdokymova_SaaSJet]

Hi @Kathryn Lee 

Jira does not currently provide a native dropdown of reusable Story templates that can prefill several fields differently for each recurring process. Native Jira forms can create work items from submissions, but they work more like structured intake forms than selectable issue templates.

A practical alternative is to use Smart Forms for Jira, developed by my team, and create one form for each repeating story type, for example:

• Weekly report

• Monthly report

• Sprint review preparation

• Release readiness check

For each form, you can configure Create new work item and select the relevant space and Story work type. Form responses and predefined values can then populate Jira fields such as Summary, Description, Acceptance Criteria, Definition of Done, Story Points, Labels, or other compatible custom fields. Smart Forms supports creating Jira work items directly from submissions and mapping form elements to Jira fields.

A setup could look like this:

1. Create a “Weekly report” Smart Form.

2. Add editable fields for details that change each week.

3. Use default or hidden fields for information that should always be included, such as:

   • Standard Acceptance Criteria

   • Definition of Done

   • Default Story Points

   • A label such as weekly-report

4. Map those elements to the corresponding Jira fields under Create new work item.

5. Repeat this for each template.

6. Add each form URL as a shortcut in the space sidebar.

The team would then select the appropriate shortcut:

Create weekly report
Create monthly report
Create sprint review story

They complete only the variable information, submit the form, and a new Story is created with the standard content already populated. This removes the “CLONE THIS” stories from the backlog while still giving each team a clear list of reusable templates.

For repeating child tasks, you could also use a hidden label or template identifier in the form and have Jira Automation create the required subtasks after the Story is created.

Auto-attaching forms is another option when the Story should be created first and the form is used as a checklist or Definition of Done afterward. For your use case, however, separate form links that create the Story would probably provide the closest experience to selecting an issue template.

[Alexandre Pezzini]

Yes, this is absolutely possible in Jira Software Cloud using the native Forms feature. While forms were previously exclusive to Jira Service Management, they have now been rolled out to all Jira Software projects.

Using the "Forms" Tab as a Template Library

The Forms tab in your Jira Software project navigation is the perfect tool for this. It allows you to create structured entry points for new work items without needing "boiler plate" issues sitting in your backlog.

Benefit: When a team member uses the link, they see a clean form with all the defaults ready to go. Once they hit submit, the story is created directly in the backlog, and you no longer need those "CLONE THIS" issues taking up space.

Other Native Options

• Automation Flows: For truly "repeating" issues (like a report that happens every Friday), you can use Automation (Project Settings > Automation) to create the issue automatically on a schedule.

• Marketplace Apps: For even more advanced needs (like templating an entire hierarchy of an Epic with 10 Stories), apps like Issue Templates for Jira are available.

Public Feature Requests

If you'd like to see a more integrated "Template" dropdown directly inside the global "Create" button, you can vote for and watch these active suggestions on our public tracker:

• https://jira.atlassian.com/browse/JRACLOUD-7731: Request for native Issue Templates to handle recurring tasks.

• https://jira.atlassian.com/browse/JRACLOUD-63186: Suggestion to allow users to define "Template" issues for quick creation.

Verified Documentation:

• How to create, edit, save, and delete forms | Jira Cloud | Atlassian Support

• A new way to manage intake in Jira

I hope this helps your teams stay organized and keeps your backlog clean!