Impact to linking issues when application link exists between two Jira Cloud instances

Trudy P Claspill

I know that Application Links can be used to link Jira Cloud instances.

When such links exists and a user tries to add an Issue Link to a Jira issue, another field is displayed where the user has to select the Jira instance where the want to search for the issue to which they want to create the link.

I have two questions:

1. If the user has Product Access to a linked Jira instance but does not have permission to browse any of the projects, how does that impact the functionality? Do they still get the option to select that other instance, and then any issue key they try to enter is simply not found?
2. If the user doesn't have Product Access to the linked Jira instance, do they still get the field where they would specify an instance? Or do they not get that input field at all? If they get the field, what shows up as selectable in that field?

I know I can set up some instances to test this out, but I thought I would ask to see if anybody already knows how this works.

Eric Sibomana

Hello Trudy,

Thank you for your question regarding the impact of application links between Jira Cloud instances on the issue linking functionality. Here are the answers to your inquiries:

1. If a user has product access to a linked Jira instance but doesn't have permission to browse projects:
   • The user will still see the option to select this linked instance when creating an issue link.
   • However, when they attempt to search for or enter an issue key, no results will be found, as they don't have the necessary permissions to view issues from that instance.
2. If the user doesn't have product access to the linked Jira instance:
   • The user will not see the instance selection field when creating an issue link.
   • The issue-linking process will proceed as if no application link existed, limiting the user to linking issues within their instance.

It's important to note that application links between Jira Cloud instances do not modify existing permissions. They simply facilitate issue linking between instances for users with appropriate access. For effective permission management in this context, I recommend:

• Regularly reviewing user permissions on both instances.
• Using project roles for more granular access control.
• Training users on the implications of cross-instance issue linking.

Please don't hesitate to reach out if you need further clarification or assistance in setting up these application links.

Best regards,
Eric