"Checklists" Custom Field setup instructions

Unlock the power of the Checklists field to automate workflows, integrate with REST API and third-party tools, and ensure seamless data migration across Jira platforms 🚀.

☝🏼NOTE: This page is primarily relevant for Smart Checklist add-on versions earlier than v.5.0.0.

For v.5.0.0 and above, Smart Checklist automatically sets up all custom fields during installation. However, you may still find useful information here about manual field configuration.

👤 JIRA PERMISSION REQUIRED: Make sure you have JIRA Administrators global permission to Configure Custom Fields.

Purpose 🎯

Used mostly for Automation purposes → Automation for Jira | Set Checklist on Issue Creation
Setting/Reading checklists via REST API requests and 3rd party tools → Jira REST API. Read/Write checklists
Importing/Exporting checklist data → Import/Export/Share
Required for Jira Server/Data Center to Jira Cloud migration (JCMA) → Migrate Checklists from Jira Server/ Data Center to Jira Cloud
Stores checklists data in RAW text format. Example:

# header
- todo
+ done
~ in progress
x skip

Setup Guide

Go to Issues → Custom Fields in your Jira Administration settings.
Click the Add custom field button.
Choose Text Field (multi-line) → click the Next button.

Set the name to "Checklists". Make sure there are no spaces and the name starts with the capital letter “C“ then click the Next button.

Choose one of the context options on the Configure Context screen:
a. Select Apply to Issues in selected projects if you only need the field to be available in specific projects.
b. Select Apply to all issues on your instance if you want to automate work with Checklists across all projects or need to access the field via the REST API.

On the next screen, you can select one or more screens, or none at all if you don't want the field content to be displayed → click Update at the very bottom of the screens list.

If the Checklists field is added to the issue screen, all Smart Checklist items will be displayed in raw text format. 👇🏼

Even if the Checklists field is not added to the screen, it still stores checklist data. You can leverage Jira Automation or interact with Smart Checklist via the REST API. For more information, see → Automations & Integrations