Dependency strings on the program board for custom links, how can I make them visible

Question

We added a couple of custom link types to our jira instance, such as 'blocks Release' and 'is blocking Release', alongside the standard defaults, 'blocks' and 'is blocked by'. This was meant to give the team more clarity. However, the new custom link types are not carrying the dependency strings to the program board like the default link types do. What needs to be done to make these fields visible for dependency discussions?

Joshua Brock _ Seibert Group_ GmbH · Answer

Greetings @melissa_barton and welcome!

Yes, the behavior you're seeing is expected: the Program Board in Advanced Roadmaps / Plans only draws dependency strings for the link types it has been told to treat as dependencies. Your defaults ("blocks" / "is blocked by") are recognized out of the box, but your new "blocks Release" / "is blocking Release" types aren't picked up until you add them to the plan's dependency configuration.

Go to your plan's settings, find the dependencies / issue link type configuration, and make sure your custom link types are included there (and not sitting in the excluded link types list), then refresh the plan. The board only renders the link types it's explicitly told to care about.

Just an FYI and worth knowing as you scale this: the native program board's dependency view is fairly limited in how it surfaces and lets you work through dependencies during planning, especially across multiple teams in the same room.

If dependency management across teams in a Planning Interval is becoming a real part of how you work, I will just offer that that's where our app Agile Hive fits. If your team is heading toward Scaled Agile, it's built specifically for SAFe inside Jira:

* A native PI / program board where cross-team dependencies are visualized and resolved live during planning.
* Built-in dependency management plus ROAM risk tracking as part of the planning workflow.
* Full Portfolio → Solution → ART → Team hierarchy, with per-team and ART-level views drawn from the same underlying Jira data.
* Everything stays inside Jira — no separate system of record and no sync to maintain.
* Configuration-based setup, so teams are typically running their first PI in weeks.

You can read more at https://www.agile-hive.com, and there's a free trial on the Atlassian Marketplace if you'd like to try it against your program board setup.

In full disclosure, I work at Seibert Group, the team behind Agile Hive.

Hope this helps, and again, welcome!

Joshua
Content Writer & US Representative
Agile Hive and Aura Apps (products of Seibert Group GmbH)

VENKATESWARLU KURUVA · Answer

Hi @melissa_barton ,
Go to Plan Settings → Excluded issue link types → remove your custom links from the exclusion list → refresh the plan. That's it. The board only shows link types it's told to care about.

If you're still having any issues, please get in touch with us.

Best Regards,
Venkateswarlu Kuruva
Atlassian Community Contributor