Issue level archival in Jira Cloud: EAP signup

[#1]

Hi Jira community!

My name is Arjoon Som, and I work as a Product Manager in Jira Cloud. This post serves two functions. First and foremost, we want to let our customers know that we are actively working on implementing issue-level archival in Jira Cloud. Second, we would like to invite customers to participate in our Early Access Program (EAP) so that we can test the archive and unarchive functionality with a small group of customers.

What is the feature?

Atlassian is working on the ability to archive individual Jira Cloud issues. Right now in Jira Cloud, to hide/remove old issues from your instance, you must either archive the entire project or remove them using filters. Neither of these options is ideal. With Issue-level archival, will be able to archive issues in any active project without having to archive the project itself.

Work on the solution is progressing, and multiple teams are working together to get it to customers as soon as possible. This feature is already available in Data Center(DC). Adding this feature in Jira Cloud will:

(a) Make it possible for our DC customers to migrate their DC archived issues to the cloud as archived

(b) Reduce a key feature difference between DC and Cloud.

When will the EAP begin?

The EAP is scheduled to begin on March 27th, 2023. The EAP will last about six months. During this time, we intend to gradually roll out functionality to our EAP customers.

What phases are planned for the EAP and what/when will you deliver?

Our tentative phases are as follows:

Phase	What will this phase enable?	Expected Date
P1: Core APIs	Jira Admins can Archive & unarchive via APIs Jira Admins can download a file with a list of archived issues with details via API All users can access an archived issue via a direct url which will open up the Issue View. The issue will be flagged as archived. Jira Admins will be able to modify archived issues via Bulk Actions Project Configuration changes will pass down to both live and archived issues Archived issues will not show up in searches Configuration changes to the project will flow to archived issues as well. There will be no need to unarchive issues first	March 2023
P2: Frontend experiences	Archive & unarchive individual issues from Issue View Archive & unarchive multiple issues via GIN/NIN (Bulk Actions) Archived issues list view page Search archived issues on archived issues list view Archive issues via Jira Automation	July 2023 (tenative)

What will EAP customers need to test?

Once enabled in your preferred instance, we will ask EAP customers to:

• Test the key features for each phase delivered via EAP.

• Request user/admin feedback to better understand the functionality's usability.

• Make suggestions for improving the experience.

Customers who have been accepted for the EAP will receive additional information closer to the start date of the EAP.

 What will we be measuring?

• Functional completeness of the capabilities that we deliver

• Potential enhancements to front-end experiences such as usability/performance

Who is eligible to apply for the issue-level archive/unarchive EAP?

The eligibility criteria for the EAP are:

• The customer must have either a Premium or an Enterprise license for Jira Cloud

• The test instance on which the tests will be run must have real-world data and at least 5 million issues.

• In response to real-world scenarios, Jira admins must be willing to archive and unarchive issues in large volumes. For example, all closed JSW issues that haven't been edited in X years, all JSM issues in a project that haven't been edited in Y months, and so on.

• Run real-world scenarios of their choice to see if there is any impact on their test instances' functionality or performance.

How can I apply?

If you meet the above criteria and want to participate in the issue-level archive/unarchive EAP, please fill out this form. Every application will be considered. However, due to limited EAP slots, we are unable to include everyone. The deadline for applications is February 15th, 2023.

How will it be enabled on my tenant?

Once your application to the EAP is accepted, Atlassian Product and Engineering representatives will contact you to share additional information, add you to a private community group, answer any questions you may have, and set up timelines as well as a mechanism for sharing information and feedback.

Once the administrative and operational items are completed, Atlassian will enable the new functionality in the instance of your choice from our end and notify you when it is active in your instance.

How can customers raise bugs related to the issue-level archival EAP?

Customers selected for the EAP will contact the product and engineering teams directly via a private community group or via our help desk. These channels will be actively monitored by product and engineering teams.

What if something goes wrong, or the customer does not wish to take part in the EAP anymore?

Atlassian can turn off the issue-level archival functionality for customers on the instance. The customer can submit a request either via the private community group or the help desk. Atlassian's maximum response time to your request to turn off the experience will be 24 hours.

Have more questions?

Please leave a comment on this article and we will be happy to provide you with the answers you seek.

[Yatish Madhav]

Great to see this ... Applied! Thank you

[Jonathan Santos]

Thanks !!I'm looking forward to seeing this new functionality

[Alex Chi]

Wow! 

At least 5 million issues. 

[Nishanth K V]

Great to see this feature being implemented on cloud! Looking forward. 

[Steven Rhodes]

"The test instance on which the tests will be run must have real-world data and at least 5 million issues." - And how do I find the total amount of issues in my Jira Cloud instance?

I think in cloud there is no accurate way to get the total number of issues. I have added an Issue Statistics gadget to my dashboard with a filter of "All Issues" and configured by Project and to show resolved issues, and I think this is still probably not accurate because I have archived projects and possibly projects where the permission scheme does not allow access. Anyway, I will not be joining this EAP because the number we have is way less than 5 million.

[Esther Strom]

@Steven Rhodes you can get the total number of issues in your instance using this API call; just paste it into a browser URL bar.

https://<your_url>.atlassian.net/rest/api/2/search?jql=&fields=*none%22&maxResults=0 

[Steven Rhodes]

@Esther Strom Thanks for the link, and that does indeed give me the same number as when I use the gadgets on my dashboard for the Issue Statistics or Pie Chart. 

[Rahul Pandita]

Great feature for Issue archival process.

[Sam Prince]

We currently export completed epics to Excel, then delete the issues that didn't make it off the backlog. This archive tool sounds like it will be really useful. Sadly we're a few orders of magnitude off the 5m issues required for EAP though!

[Dave Mathijs]

Hi @Arjoon Som any update on this improvement? Is there still a possibility to join the EAP?

[Arbaaz Gowher]

Hello everyone,

I’m excited to announce that issue-level archival via APIs is now available. This feature will allow all Premium and Enterprise Jira Cloud customers to archive individual issues without having to archive the entire project. This is part of our ongoing effort to bring your favorite features from Data Center to Cloud. Learn more here!

Thanks,
Arbaaz Gowher
Product Manager, Jira Cloud

[Sergio Freire - Xblend]

Hi @Arbaaz Gowher , any plans to release issue-level archival as a UI feature? And, if I may ask, release this only on REST API?

thanks

[Allison Carlson]

@Arjoon Som - Now that the EAP is complete, are there plans to release this issue-level archive feature for Cloud?  If yes, what is the expected date for this release? 

thank you!

[Urmo]

Hi

Is there any update when this function is available for every Jira Cloud users?