Features can be closed out / accepted without all the associated stories being in an accepted state.

[Derwin Roland]

Is this by design?  I understand Features can have different acceptance criteria but should features be allowed to move to accepted if all the stories are not accepted?

[Rich Sparks · Accepted solution]

Yes, Features can be Accepted even if all the stories are not accepted, and this is by design.

It may be the case that the Product Manager (or Chief Product Owner or whomever is responsible for the Feature) decides that it is good enough even though all the stories are not completed. The Product Manager may decide some of the stories aren't needed, in which case they should be cancelled or deleted and removed from any team's backlog. 

If the Product Manager accepts a Feature without all the stories being accepted, this will show up on the program board with a red flag in the upper left to indicate "Accepted with Planning Issues".

[Derwin Roland]

Thank you Rich!

[Tom O'Connor]

@Jack Hunter [HeroCoders] Jira Align doesn't enforce child accepted status requirement for accepting a Feature.  We often recommend handling this through your Definition of Done requirements for getting a Feature to DONE and Accepted.  Although most Product Managers would validate and require all stories are accepted, sometimes there are cases where the Feature delivered enough of the right value to Accept the Feature without getting all of the stories to done.  The question is what do we do with the remaining stories?  They could remain on the backlog, get associated to another feature or closed out as not valuable anymore. 

Your question could be submitted as an enhancement request that a rule could be added to JA for all child acceptance before you are able to accept the parent.    https://internal.agilecraft.com/ideaZone/ideas

[Tom O'Connor]

What @Rich Sparks said too!

[Jack Hunter [HeroCoders]]

Hi @Derwin Roland,

What do you mean by "associated stories"? Do you mean subtasks or issues linked to another issue? Or maybe Epic and all its stories? 

Cheers,
Jack

[Derwin Roland]

The stories that make up the feature and that must be completed to make the Feature complete.