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Ensemble: Component Hierarchy for Jira

Nest Jira components into a tree, see your backlog by component, and drag work where it belongs.

Jira components are a flat list. Ensemble arranges a project's native components into a tree, shows the board's sprints and backlog next to that tree, and lets you assign, rank and move work by dragging. The components stay ordinary Jira components, so boards, filters, automation and other apps keep working; Ensemble only records which component sits under which.

Getting started

  1. Open a company-managed Jira Software project and select the Ensemble tab in the project navigation, or choose Ensemble from the more-actions menu on the backlog.
  2. The left panel lists the project's components. Drag one onto another to nest it; drop it on the bar at the bottom to move it back to the top level.
  3. Pick a board at the top if the project has more than one. Scrum boards show the active sprint, future sprints and the backlog; Kanban boards show work grouped by status.
  4. Click a component to see only the work under it, including its children. All work and No component are always available.

Working with the backlog

Drag a work item onto a component in the tree to add that component. Drag it onto No component to clear its components. Drag it above another item in the same section to rank it there, or onto another sprint or the backlog to move it. Tick several items to assign a component, clear components or move them all at once. + Create on a section creates a new work item in that sprint or backlog with the selected component already set. Show done adds work completed in the last 14 days.

Kanban boards group work by status and follow the board's own workflow, so ranking and moving between columns is done on the board itself; assigning components by drag works the same way.

Saved views

Save view stores the selected component, section filter and search text under a name. Views are personal to you and to the project.

JQL: whole subtrees

Ensemble adds a JQL function. component in componentTree("Platform") matches every component under Platform, at any depth, so boards, filters, dashboards and automation rules can follow the hierarchy. The function takes a component name; if the name is not part of any tree it behaves like component = "Platform".

Administrator settings

Site administrators choose which fields appear on each card (type, priority, assignee, status, components, parent) and the accent color used for buttons and highlights.

Requirements and limits

Ensemble works with company-managed projects, which have native components; team-managed projects are not supported. Nesting, assigning and moving work require the Jira permissions you already hold for those actions: Ensemble acts as you, so Jira decides what you can change. A section shows at most 2,000 items; narrow the board filter for more.

Permissions and data

Ensemble reads and writes Jira work items, sprints and board ranking only when you ask it to, and always as you. It stores the component hierarchy for each project (which component sits under which, with the component names for the JQL function), your saved views, and site settings chosen by an administrator, in Atlassian Forge hosted storage. The app declares zero external network egress; no data leaves Atlassian's infrastructure.

Support

Questions or problems: support@helzbrand.com