358 lines
16 KiB
Markdown
358 lines
16 KiB
Markdown
---
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stage: Plan
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group: Project 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/#assignments
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---
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# Managing issues
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[GitLab Issues](index.md) are the fundamental medium for collaborating on ideas and
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planning work in GitLab.
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Key actions for issues include:
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- [Creating issues](#create-a-new-issue)
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- [Moving issues](#moving-issues)
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- [Closing issues](#closing-issues)
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- [Deleting issues](#deleting-issues)
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- [Promoting issues](#promote-an-issue-to-an-epic) **(PREMIUM)**
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## Create a new issue
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When you create a new issue, you are prompted to fill in the [data and fields of the issue](issue_data_and_actions.md),
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as illustrated below. If you know the values you want to assign to an issue, you can use the
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[Quick actions](../quick_actions.md) feature to input values.
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While creating an issue, you can associate it to an existing epic from current group by
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selecting it using **Epic** dropdown.
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### Accessing the New Issue form
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There are many ways to get to the New Issue form from a project's page:
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- Navigate to your **Project's Dashboard** > **Issues** > **New Issue**:
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![New issue from the issue list view](img/new_issue_from_tracker_list.png)
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- From an **open issue** in your project, click the vertical ellipsis (**{ellipsis_v}**) button
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to open a dropdown menu, and then click **New Issue** to create a new issue in the same project:
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![New issue from an open issue](img/new_issue_from_open_issue_v13_6.png)
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- From your **Project's Dashboard**, click the plus sign (**+**) to open a dropdown
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menu with a few options. Select **New Issue** to create an issue in that project:
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![New issue from a project's dashboard](img/new_issue_from_projects_dashboard.png)
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- From an **Issue Board**, create a new issue by clicking on the plus sign (**+**) at the top of a list.
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It opens a new issue for that project, pre-labeled with its respective list.
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![From the issue board](img/new_issue_from_issue_board.png)
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### Elements of the New Issue form
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> Ability to add the new issue to an epic [was introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/13847) in [GitLab Premium](https://about.gitlab.com/pricing/) 13.1.
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![New issue from the issues list](img/new_issue_v13_1.png)
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When you're creating a new issue, these are the fields you can fill in:
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- Title
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- Description
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- Checkbox to make the issue confidential
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- Assignee
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- Weight
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- Epic **(PREMIUM)**
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- Due date
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- Milestone
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- Labels
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### New issue from the group-level Issue Tracker
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Go to the Group dashboard and click **Issues** in the sidebar to visit the Issue Tracker
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for all projects in your Group. Select the project you'd like to add an issue for
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using the dropdown button at the top-right of the page.
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![Select project to create issue](img/select_project_from_group_level_issue_tracker.png)
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The project you selected most recently becomes the default for your next visit.
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This should save you a lot of time and clicks, if you mostly create issues for the same project.
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![Create issue from group-level issue tracker](img/create_issue_from_group_level_issue_tracker.png)
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### New issue via Service Desk
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Enable [Service Desk](../service_desk.md) for your project and offer email support.
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By doing so, when your customer sends a new email, a new issue can be created in
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the appropriate project and followed up from there.
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### New issue via email
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A link to **Email a new issue to this project** is displayed at the bottom of a project's
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**Issues List** page. The link is shown only if your GitLab instance has [incoming email](../../../administration/incoming_email.md)
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configured and there is at least one issue in the issue list.
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![Bottom of a project issues page](img/new_issue_from_email.png)
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When you click this link, an email address is generated and displayed, which should be used
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by **you only**, to create issues in this project. You can save this address as a
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contact in your email client for quick access.
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WARNING:
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This is a private email address, generated just for you. **Keep it to yourself**,
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as anyone who knows it can create issues or merge requests as if they
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were you. If the address is compromised, or you want to regenerate it,
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click **Email a new issue to this project**, followed by **reset it**.
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Sending an email to this address creates a new issue associated with your account for
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this project, where:
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- The email subject becomes the issue title.
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- The email body becomes the issue description.
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- [Markdown](../../markdown.md) and [quick actions](../quick_actions.md) are supported.
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NOTE:
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In GitLab 11.7, we updated the format of the generated email address. However the
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older format is still supported, allowing existing aliases or contacts to continue working.
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### New issue via URL with prefilled fields
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To link directly to the new issue page with prefilled fields, use query
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string parameters in a URL. You can embed a URL in an external
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HTML page, or create issues with certain
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fields prefilled.
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The title, description, description template, and confidential fields can be prefilled
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using this method. You cannot pre-fill both the description and description template
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fields in the same URL because a description template also populates the description
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field.
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| Field | URL Parameter Name | Notes |
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|----------------------|-----------------------|-------------------------------------------------------|
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| title | `issue[title]` | |
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| description | `issue[description]` | |
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| description template | `issuable_template` | |
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| issue type | `issue[issue_type]` | Either `incident` or `issue` |
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| confidential | `issue[confidential]` | Parameter value must be `true` to set to confidential |
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Follow these examples to form your new issue URL with prefilled fields.
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- For a new issue in the GitLab Community Edition project with a pre-filled title
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and a pre-filled description, the URL would be `https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-foss/-/issues/new?issue[title]=Validate%20new%20concept&issue[description]=Research%20idea`
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- For a new issue in the GitLab Community Edition project with a pre-filled title
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and a pre-filled description template, the URL would be `https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-foss/-/issues/new?issue[title]=Validate%20new%20concept&issuable_template=Research%20proposal`
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- For a new issue in the GitLab Community Edition project with a pre-filled title,
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a pre-filled description, and the confidential flag set, the URL would be `https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-foss/-/issues/new?issue[title]=Validate%20new%20concept&issue[description]=Research%20idea&issue[confidential]=true`
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## Moving issues
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Moving an issue copies it to the target project, and closes it in the originating project.
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The original issue is not deleted. A system note, which indicates
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where it came from and went to, is added to both issues.
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The "Move issue" button is at the bottom of the right-sidebar when viewing the issue.
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![move issue - button](img/sidebar_move_issue.png)
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### Moving issues in bulk **(FREE SELF)**
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If you have advanced technical skills you can also bulk move all the issues from
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one project to another in the rails console. The below script moves all issues
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that are not in status **closed** from one project to another.
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To access rails console run `sudo gitlab-rails console` on the GitLab server and run the below
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script. Please be sure to change `project`, `admin_user`, and `target_project` to your values.
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We do also recommend [creating a backup](../../../raketasks/backup_restore.md#back-up-gitlab) before
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attempting any changes in the console.
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```ruby
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project = Project.find_by_full_path('full path of the project where issues are moved from')
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issues = project.issues
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admin_user = User.find_by_username('username of admin user') # make sure user has permissions to move the issues
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target_project = Project.find_by_full_path('full path of target project where issues moved to')
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issues.each do |issue|
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if issue.state != "closed" && issue.moved_to.nil?
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Issues::MoveService.new(project, admin_user).execute(issue, target_project)
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else
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puts "issue with id: #{issue.id} and title: #{issue.title} was not moved"
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end
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end; nil
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```
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## Closing issues
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When you decide that an issue is resolved, or no longer needed, you can close the issue
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using the close button:
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![close issue - button](img/button_close_issue_v13_6.png)
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You can also close an issue from the [Issue Boards](../issue_board.md) by dragging an issue card
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from its list and dropping it into the **Closed** list.
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![close issue from the Issue Board](img/close_issue_from_board.gif)
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### Closing issues automatically
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When a commit or merge request resolves issues, the issues
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can be closed automatically when the commit reaches the project's default branch.
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If a commit message or merge request description contains text matching a [defined pattern](#default-closing-pattern),
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all issues referenced in the matched text are closed. This happens when the commit
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is pushed to a project's [**default** branch](../repository/branches/default.md),
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or when a commit or merge request is merged into it.
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For example, if `Closes #4, #6, Related to #5` is included in a Merge Request
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description, issues `#4` and `#6` are closed automatically when the MR is merged, but not `#5`.
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Using `Related to` flags `#5` as a [related issue](related_issues.md),
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but is not closed automatically.
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![merge request closing issue when merged](img/merge_request_closes_issue.png)
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If the issue is in a different repository than the MR, add the full URL for the issue(s):
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```markdown
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Closes #4, #6, and https://gitlab.com/<username>/<projectname>/issues/<xxx>
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```
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For performance reasons, automatic issue closing is disabled for the very first
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push from an existing repository.
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#### Default closing pattern
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When not specified, this default issue closing pattern is used:
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```shell
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\b((?:[Cc]los(?:e[sd]?|ing)|\b[Ff]ix(?:e[sd]|ing)?|\b[Rr]esolv(?:e[sd]?|ing)|\b[Ii]mplement(?:s|ed|ing)?)(:?) +(?:(?:issues? +)?%{issue_ref}(?:(?: *,? +and +| *,? *)?)|([A-Z][A-Z0-9_]+-\d+))+)
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```
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This translates to the following keywords:
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- Close, Closes, Closed, Closing, close, closes, closed, closing
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- Fix, Fixes, Fixed, Fixing, fix, fixes, fixed, fixing
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- Resolve, Resolves, Resolved, Resolving, resolve, resolves, resolved, resolving
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- Implement, Implements, Implemented, Implementing, implement, implements, implemented, implementing
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Note that `%{issue_ref}` is a complex regular expression defined inside the GitLab
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source code that can match references to:
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- A local issue (`#123`).
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- A cross-project issue (`group/project#123`).
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- A link to an issue (`https://gitlab.example.com/group/project/issues/123`).
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For example the following commit message:
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```plaintext
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Awesome commit message
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Fix #20, Fixes #21 and Closes group/otherproject#22.
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This commit is also related to #17 and fixes #18, #19
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and https://gitlab.example.com/group/otherproject/issues/23.
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```
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closes `#18`, `#19`, `#20`, and `#21` in the project this commit is pushed to,
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as well as `#22` and `#23` in `group/otherproject`. `#17` is not closed as it does
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not match the pattern. It works with multi-line commit messages as well as one-liners
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when used from the command line with `git commit -m`.
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#### Disabling automatic issue closing
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> [Introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/19754) in GitLab 12.7.
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The automatic issue closing feature can be disabled on a per-project basis
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in the [project's repository settings](../settings/index.md). Referenced
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issues are still displayed, but are not closed automatically.
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![disable issue auto close - settings](img/disable_issue_auto_close.png)
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This only applies to issues affected by new merge requests or commits. Already
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closed issues remain as-is. Disabling automatic issue closing only affects merge
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requests *in* the project and does not prevent other projects from closing it
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via cross-project issues.
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#### Customizing the issue closing pattern **(FREE SELF)**
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In order to change the default issue closing pattern, GitLab administrators must edit the
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[`gitlab.rb` or `gitlab.yml` file](../../../administration/issue_closing_pattern.md)
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of your installation.
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## Deleting issues
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> [Introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-foss/-/merge_requests/2982) in GitLab 8.6.
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Users with [project owner permission](../../permissions.md) can delete an issue by
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editing it and clicking on the delete button.
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![delete issue - button](img/delete_issue.png)
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## Promote an issue to an epic **(PREMIUM)**
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> - [Introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/3777) in GitLab Ultimate 11.6.
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> - Moved to GitLab Premium in 12.8.
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> - Promoting issues to epics via the UI [introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/233974) in GitLab Premium 13.6.
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You can promote an issue to an epic in the immediate parent group.
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To promote an issue to an epic:
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1. In an issue, select the vertical ellipsis (**{ellipsis_v}**) button.
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1. Select **Promote to epic**.
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Alternatively, you can use the `/promote` [quick action](../quick_actions.md#issues-merge-requests-and-epics).
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Read more about promoting an issue to an epic on the [Manage epics page](../../group/epics/manage_epics.md#promote-an-issue-to-an-epic).
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## Add an issue to an iteration **(PREMIUM)**
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> - [Introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/216158) in GitLab 13.2.
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> - Moved to GitLab Premium in 13.9.
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To add an issue to an [iteration](../../group/iterations/index.md):
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1. In an issue sidebar, click **Edit** next to **Iteration**. A dropdown appears.
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1. Click an iteration you'd like to associate this issue with.
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You can also use the `/iteration`
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[quick action](../quick_actions.md#issues-merge-requests-and-epics)
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in a comment or description field.
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## Real-time sidebar **(FREE SELF)**
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> [Introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/17589) in GitLab 13.3.
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Assignees in the sidebar are updated in real time. This feature is **disabled by default**.
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To enable it, you need to enable [ActionCable in-app mode](https://docs.gitlab.com/omnibus/settings/actioncable.html).
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## Similar issues
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> [Introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-foss/-/merge_requests/22866) in GitLab 11.6.
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To prevent duplication of issues for the same topic, GitLab searches for similar issues
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when new issues are being created.
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As you type in the title field of the **New Issue** page, GitLab searches titles and descriptions
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across all issues to in the current project. Only issues you have access to are returned.
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Up to five similar issues, sorted by most recently updated, are displayed below the title box.
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[GraphQL](../../../api/graphql/index.md) must be enabled to use this feature.
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![Similar issues](img/similar_issues.png)
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## Health status **(ULTIMATE)**
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> - [Introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/36427) in GitLab Ultimate 12.10.
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> - Health status of closed issues [can't be edited](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/220867) in GitLab Ultimate 13.4 and later.
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> - Issue health status visible in issue lists [introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/merge_requests/45141) in GitLab Ultimate 13.6.
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> - [Feature flag removed](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/213567) in GitLab 13.7.
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To help you track issue statuses, you can assign a status to each issue.
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This marks issues as progressing as planned or needs attention to keep on schedule:
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- On track (green)
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- Needs attention (amber)
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- At risk (red)
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After an issue is closed, its health status can't be edited and the **Edit** button becomes disabled
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until the issue is reopened.
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You can then see issue statuses in the issues list and the
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[epic tree](../../group/epics/index.md#issue-health-status-in-epic-tree).
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