Jira SAFe (Scaled Agile Framework) Skill

Implements SAFe methodology for Epic, Feature, Story, and Task management in Jira Cloud.

When to Use

• Creating Epics with business outcomes and acceptance criteria
• Writing user stories in SAFe format ("As a... I want... So that...")
• Breaking down Features into Stories with acceptance criteria
• Creating Subtasks under Stories
• Linking work items in proper hierarchy (Epic → Feature → Story → Subtask)

CRITICAL: Next-Gen vs Classic Projects

SCRUM project is Next-Gen (Team-managed). Key differences:

Always detect project type first:

const projectInfo = await fetch(`${JIRA_URL}/rest/api/3/project/${PROJECT_KEY}`, { headers });
const project = await projectInfo.json();
const isNextGen = project.style === 'next-gen' || project.simplified === true;

SAFe Hierarchy in Jira

Portfolio Level:
└── Epic (Strategic Initiative)
    └── Feature (Benefit Hypothesis)
        └── Story (User Value)
            └── Subtask (Technical Work)

SAFe Templates

Epic Template (Next-Gen)

// NOTE: Next-Gen projects do NOT use customfield_10011 (Epic Name)
const epic = {
  fields: {
    project: { key: 'PROJECT_KEY' },
    issuetype: { name: 'Epic' },
    summary: '[Epic ID]: [Epic Name] - [Business Outcome]',
    description: {
      type: 'doc',
      version: 1,
      content: [
        {
          type: 'heading',
          attrs: { level: 2 },
          content: [{ type: 'text', text: 'Business Outcome' }]
        },
        {
          type: 'paragraph',
          content: [{ type: 'text', text: 'Describe the measurable business value...' }]
        },
        {
          type: 'heading',
          attrs: { level: 2 },
          content: [{ type: 'text', text: 'Success Metrics' }]
        },
        {
          type: 'bulletList',
          content: [
            {
              type: 'listItem',
              content: [{ type: 'paragraph', content: [{ type: 'text', text: 'Metric 1: [measurable target]' }] }]
            }
          ]
        },
        {
          type: 'heading',
          attrs: { level: 2 },
          content: [{ type: 'text', text: 'Scope' }]
        },
        {
          type: 'paragraph',
          content: [{ type: 'text', text: 'What is in scope and out of scope...' }]
        }
      ]
    },
    labels: ['epic-label']  // Use labels instead of Epic Name for categorization
  }
};

Story Template (SAFe Format, Next-Gen)

// NOTE: Next-Gen uses 'parent' field, NOT customfield_10014
const story = {
  fields: {
    project: { key: 'PROJECT_KEY' },
    issuetype: { name: 'Story' },
    summary: '[US-ID]: As a [persona], I want [goal], so that [benefit]',
    description: {
      type: 'doc',
      version: 1,
      content: [
        {
          type: 'heading',
          attrs: { level: 2 },
          content: [{ type: 'text', text: 'User Story' }]
        },
        {
          type: 'paragraph',
          content: [
            { type: 'text', text: 'As a ', marks: [{ type: 'strong' }] },
            { type: 'text', text: '[persona]' },
            { type: 'text', text: ', I want ', marks: [{ type: 'strong' }] },
            { type: 'text', text: '[goal]' },
            { type: 'text', text: ', so that ', marks: [{ type: 'strong' }] },
            { type: 'text', text: '[benefit]' }
          ]
        },
        {
          type: 'heading',
          attrs: { level: 2 },
          content: [{ type: 'text', text: 'Acceptance Criteria' }]
        },
        {
          type: 'heading',
          attrs: { level: 3 },
          content: [{ type: 'text', text: 'Scenario 1: [Name]' }]
        },
        {
          type: 'bulletList',
          content: [
            {
              type: 'listItem',
              content: [{ type: 'paragraph', content: [{ type: 'text', text: 'GIVEN [precondition]', marks: [{ type: 'strong' }] }] }]
            },
            {
              type: 'listItem',
              content: [{ type: 'paragraph', content: [{ type: 'text', text: 'WHEN [action]', marks: [{ type: 'strong' }] }] }]
            },
            {
              type: 'listItem',
              content: [{ type: 'paragraph', content: [{ type: 'text', text: 'THEN [expected result]', marks: [{ type: 'strong' }] }] }]
            }
          ]
        },
        {
          type: 'heading',
          attrs: { level: 2 },
          content: [{ type: 'text', text: 'Definition of Done' }]
        },
        {
          type: 'bulletList',
          content: [
            {
              type: 'listItem',
              content: [{ type: 'paragraph', content: [{ type: 'text', text: '[ ] Code reviewed and approved' }] }]
            },
            {
              type: 'listItem',
              content: [{ type: 'paragraph', content: [{ type: 'text', text: '[ ] Unit tests written and passing' }] }]
            },
            {
              type: 'listItem',
              content: [{ type: 'paragraph', content: [{ type: 'text', text: '[ ] Integration tests passing' }] }]
            },
            {
              type: 'listItem',
              content: [{ type: 'paragraph', content: [{ type: 'text', text: '[ ] Documentation updated' }] }]
            }
          ]
        }
      ]
    },
    // Next-Gen: Link to parent Epic using 'parent' field
    parent: { key: 'EPIC_KEY' },
    labels: ['category-label', 'epic-id']
  }
};

Subtask Template (Next-Gen)

// NOTE: Next-Gen uses 'Subtask' (no hyphen), NOT 'Sub-task'
const subtask = {
  fields: {
    project: { key: 'PROJECT_KEY' },
    issuetype: { name: 'Subtask' },  // Next-Gen: 'Subtask', Classic: 'Sub-task'
    summary: '[Technical task description]',
    // Parent Story (required for subtasks)
    parent: { key: 'STORY_KEY' }
    // Note: Description is optional for subtasks
  }
};

API Implementation (Next-Gen Projects)

Create Epic with Stories (Next-Gen)

async function createEpicWithStories(epicFields, storyDefinitions) {
  const headers = {
    'Authorization': `Basic ${Buffer.from(`${EMAIL}:${TOKEN}`).toString('base64')}`,
    'Content-Type': 'application/json',
    'Accept': 'application/json'
  };

  // 1. Create Epic
  const epicResponse = await fetch(`${JIRA_URL}/rest/api/3/issue`, {
    method: 'POST',
    headers,
    body: JSON.stringify({ fields: epicFields })
  });

  if (!epicResponse.ok) {
    const error = await epicResponse.text();
    throw new Error(`Epic creation failed: ${error}`);
  }

  const createdEpic = await epicResponse.json();
  console.log(`Created Epic: ${createdEpic.key}`);

  // 2. Create Stories linked to Epic using 'parent' field (Next-Gen)
  const createdStories = [];
  for (const storyDef of storyDefinitions) {
    const storyFields = {
      ...storyDef,
      parent: { key: createdEpic.key }  // Next-Gen: use 'parent', NOT customfield_10014
    };

    const storyResponse = await fetch(`${JIRA_URL}/rest/api/3/issue`, {
      method: 'POST',
      headers,
      body: JSON.stringify({ fields: storyFields })
    });

    if (!storyResponse.ok) {
      const error = await storyResponse.text();
      console.error(`Story creation failed: ${error}`);
      continue;
    }

    const createdStory = await storyResponse.json();
    createdStories.push(createdStory);
    console.log(`  Crea