186 lines
8.4 KiB
Markdown
186 lines
8.4 KiB
Markdown
---
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type: reference, howto
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stage: Plan
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group: Portfolio Management
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info: To determine the technical writer assigned to the Stage/Group associated with this page, see https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/engineering/ux/technical-writing/#designated-technical-writers
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---
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# Epics **(PREMIUM)**
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> - Introduced in [GitLab Ultimate](https://about.gitlab.com/pricing/) 10.2.
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> - Single-level Epics [were moved](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/37081) to [GitLab Premium](https://about.gitlab.com/pricing/) in 12.8.
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Epics let you manage your portfolio of projects more efficiently and with less
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effort by tracking groups of issues that share a theme, across projects and
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milestones.
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<!-- Possibly swap this file with one of a single epic -->
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## Use cases
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- Suppose your team is working on a large feature that involves multiple discussions throughout different issues created in distinct projects within a [Group](../index.md). With Epics, you can track all the related activities that together contribute to that single feature.
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- Track when the work for the group of issues is targeted to begin, and when it's targeted to end.
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- Discuss and collaborate on feature ideas and scope at a high level.
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## Manage epics
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To learn what you can do with an epic, see [Manage epics](manage_epics.md). Possible actions include:
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- [Create an epic](manage_epics.md#create-an-epic)
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- [Bulk-edit epics](../bulk_editing/index.md#bulk-edit-epics)
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- [Delete an epic](manage_epics.md#delete-an-epic)
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- [Close an epic](manage_epics.md#close-an-epic)
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- [Reopen a closed epic](manage_epics.md#reopen-a-closed-epic)
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- [Go to an epic from an issue](manage_epics.md#go-to-an-epic-from-an-issue)
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- [Search for an epic from epics list page](manage_epics.md#search-for-an-epic-from-epics-list-page)
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- [Make an epic confidential](manage_epics.md#make-an-epic-confidential)
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- [Manage issues assigned to an epic](manage_epics.md#manage-issues-assigned-to-an-epic)
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- [Manage multi-level child epics **(ULTIMATE)**](manage_epics.md#manage-multi-level-child-epics-ultimate)
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## Relationships between epics and issues
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The possible relationships between epics and issues are:
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- An epic is the parent of one or more issues.
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- An epic is the parent of one or more child epics. For details see [Multi-level child epics](#multi-level-child-epics-ultimate). **(ULTIMATE)**
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```mermaid
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graph TD
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Parent_epic --> Issue1
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Parent_epic --> Child_epic
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Child_epic --> Issue2
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```
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See [Manage issues assigned to an epic](manage_epics.md#manage-issues-assigned-to-an-epic) for steps
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to add an issue to an epic, reorder issues, move issues between epics, or promote an issue to an epic.
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## Issue health status in Epic tree **(ULTIMATE)**
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> [Introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/199184) in [GitLab Ultimate](https://about.gitlab.com/pricing/) 12.10.
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You can report on and quickly respond to the health of individual issues and epics by setting a
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red, amber, or green [health status on an issue](../../project/issues/index.md#health-status-ultimate),
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which will appear on your Epic tree.
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### Disable Issue health status in Epic tree
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This feature comes with a feature flag enabled by default. For steps to disable it, see
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[Disable issue health status](../../project/issues/index.md#disable-issue-health-status).
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## Multi-level child epics **(ULTIMATE)**
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> [Introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/8333) in GitLab Ultimate 11.7.
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Any epic that belongs to a group, or subgroup of the parent epic's group, is eligible to be added.
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New child epics appear at the top of the list of epics in the **Epics and Issues** tab.
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When you add an epic that's already linked to a parent epic, the link to its current parent is removed.
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An epic can have multiple child epics up to the maximum depth of five.
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See [Manage multi-level child epics](manage_epics.md#manage-multi-level-child-epics-ultimate) for
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steps to create, move, reorder, or delete child epics.
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## Start date and due date
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To set a **Start date** and **Due date** for an epic, select one of the following:
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- **Fixed**: Enter a fixed value.
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- **From milestones**: Inherit a dynamic value from the milestones currently assigned to the epic's issues.
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Note that GitLab 12.5 replaced this option with **Inherited**.
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- **Inherited**: Inherit a dynamic value from the epic's issues, child epics, and milestones ([Introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/7332) in GitLab 12.5 to replace **From milestones**).
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### From milestones
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> [Replaced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/7332) in GitLab 12.5 by **Inherited**.
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If you select **From milestones** for the start date, GitLab will automatically set the date to be earliest
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start date across all milestones that are currently assigned to the issues that are added to the epic.
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Similarly, if you select **From milestones** for the due date, GitLab will set it to be the latest due date across
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all milestones that are currently assigned to those issues.
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These are dynamic dates which are recalculated if any of the following occur:
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- Milestones are re-assigned to the issues.
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- Milestone dates change.
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- Issues are added or removed from the epic.
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### Inherited
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> [Introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/7332) in GitLab 12.5 to replace **From milestones**.
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If you select:
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- **Inherited** for the start date, GitLab will scan all child epics and issues assigned to the epic,
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and will set the start date to match the earliest found start date or milestone.
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- **Inherited** for the due date, GitLab will set the due date to match the latest due date or
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milestone found among its child epics and issues.
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These are dynamic dates and recalculated if any of the following occur:
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- A child epic's dates change.
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- Milestones are reassigned to an issue.
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- A milestone's dates change.
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- Issues are added to, or removed from, the epic.
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Because the epic's dates can inherit dates from its children, the start date and due date propagate from the bottom to the top.
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If the start date of a child epic on the lowest level changes, that becomes the earliest possible start date for its parent epic,
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then the parent epic's start date will reflect the change and this will propagate upwards to the top epic.
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## Roadmap in epics
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> [Introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/7327) in [GitLab Ultimate](https://about.gitlab.com/pricing/) 11.10.
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If your epic contains one or more [child epics](#multi-level-child-epics-ultimate) which
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have a [start or due date](#start-date-and-due-date), a
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[roadmap](../roadmap/index.md) view of the child epics is listed under the parent epic.
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## Permissions
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If you have access to view an epic and have access to view an issue already
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added to that epic, then you can view the issue in the epic issue list.
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If you have access to edit an epic and have access to edit an issue, then you
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can add the issue to or remove it from the epic.
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Note that for a given group, the visibility of all projects must be the same as
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the group, or less restrictive. That means if you have access to a group's epic,
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then you already have access to its projects' issues.
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You can also consult the [group permissions table](../../permissions.md#group-members-permissions).
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## Thread
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- Comments: collaborate on that epic by posting comments in its thread.
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These text fields also fully support
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[GitLab Flavored Markdown](../../markdown.md#gitlab-flavored-markdown-gfm).
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## Comment or start a thread
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Once you write your comment, you can either:
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- Click **Comment**, and your comment will be published.
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- Click **Start thread**, and you will start a thread within that epic's discussion.
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## Award emoji
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You can [award an emoji](../../award_emojis.md) to that epic or its comments.
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## Notifications
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You can [turn on notifications](../../profile/notifications.md) to be alerted about epic events.
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<!-- ## Troubleshooting
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Include any troubleshooting steps that you can foresee. If you know beforehand what issues
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one might have when setting this up, or when something is changed, or on upgrading, it's
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important to describe those, too. Think of things that may go wrong and include them here.
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This is important to minimize requests for support, and to avoid doc comments with
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questions that you know someone might ask.
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Each scenario can be a third-level heading, e.g. `### Getting error message X`.
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If you have none to add when creating a doc, leave this section in place
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but commented out to help encourage others to add to it in the future. -->
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