Issue Panel Guide

This guide helps issue users work with Checklists on YouTrack issues.

Open the Issue Panel

Checklists appears above the issue activity stream when the app is available for the project and access is active.

If the panel says that access is required, ask a YouTrack administrator to review the Checklists administration page.

Checklist Basics

From the issue panel, users who can update the issue can:

• add one or more checklists,
• rename checklists,
• reorder checklists,
• switch between list and tab display modes,
• add checklist items,
• add section headers,
• edit item and section text inline,
• add descriptions,
• mark items required or optional,
• check or uncheck items,
• select item statuses when statuses are enabled,
• assign checklist items to YouTrack users,
• set due dates,
• reorder rows,
• clear or delete checklist content.

Read-only issue users can still view checklists and history, but cannot change checklist content.

Display Modes

Checklists supports two issue display modes:

• List mode: Shows all checklists stacked in one panel. Use this when issues commonly have several short checklists.
• Tabs mode: Shows one selected checklist at a time. Use this when issues have larger checklists and users need a more focused view.

YouTrack remembers your selected display mode.

Items and Sections

Use checklist items for work that can be completed. Use section headers to group related items.

Items can include:

• item text,
• description,
• required flag,
• checkbox state,
• status,
• assignee,
• due date.

Sections can include:

• title,
• description.

Completed items are visually muted so open work is easier to scan.

Required Items

Required items are the checklist rows that matter for readiness and guarded state transitions.

Use required items for work that must be complete before an issue can move forward, such as:

• acceptance criteria checked,
• reproduction steps documented,
• QA notes attached,
• release notes prepared,
• customer impact confirmed.

Optional items still appear in progress, but they do not block guarded workflow transitions.

Statuses and Checkboxes

When statuses are enabled, each item can have a status such as To do, In progress, Done, or Skipped.

Statuses and checkboxes stay synchronized:

• choosing a complete status checks the item,
• choosing an open status unchecks the item,
• checking an item selects a complete status,
• unchecking an item selects an open status.

If statuses are disabled globally, the issue panel hides status controls and users work with checkboxes only.

If an item references a status that no longer exists, the panel marks it as unavailable and lets the user choose a current status.

Assignees and Due Dates

Use assignees and due dates for lightweight checklist ownership.

• Assignee identifies the person responsible for the checklist item.
• Due date shows a target date for the item.
• Due dates are shown as overdue only while the item is still open.

Assignees and due dates stay on the issue. They are not copied into templates.

Apply a Template

Use Apply template to add checklist content from a built-in, global, or project template.

1. Click Apply template.
2. Search or browse available templates.
3. Review the template preview.
4. Apply the selected template.

Applying a template copies its checklist content into the issue. The copied checklist is independent from the original template.

You can apply the same template more than once when the issue needs another copy of the same process.

Save Checklist Content as a Template

Users with the required access can save checklist content as a template from the issue panel.

Depending on their access, a user may save:

• the whole issue panel as a project template,
• one checklist as a project template,
• a global template when they are a global administrator.

Saved templates preserve structure, item text, descriptions, and required flags. They do not preserve completion state, assignees, due dates, or issue history.

Progress

Each checklist shows progress for completed items. The panel can also show aggregate progress across all checklists when the issue has checklist items.

Required item progress is used by guarded state rules. If a transition is blocked, complete the open required items and retry the transition.

History

When checklist history is enabled globally, the issue panel includes a history view.

History entries show:

• action description,
• author display name,
• timestamp,
• relevant item or template names when available.

History is meant for checklist visibility and lightweight audit context.

Troubleshooting

I cannot edit checklists

• Confirm that the app has active access.
• Confirm that Checklists is enabled for the project.
• Confirm that you can update the issue.
• Refresh the issue page.

I cannot find a template

• Confirm that the template is built-in, global, or scoped to the current project.
• Ask an administrator whether the built-in template was disabled.
• Ask a project administrator whether the project template exists in this project.

A required item blocks transition

• Open the checklist panel.
• Find required items that are still open.
• Complete or skip them using a complete status.
• Retry the transition.

A due date looks overdue after completion

Overdue styling applies only to open items. If an item still looks overdue, check whether its checkbox/status actually marks it complete.

---

Next step: Review Project Settings if templates or guarded states need to change.