This page last changed on Feb 07, 2010 by alui.
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The Atlassian Connector for Visual Studio allows you to monitor, add and update JIRA issues from within Visual Studio.
Prerequisites
Please make sure that you have installed the Atlassian Connector for Visual Studio, as described in the Installation Guide, and defined at least one JIRA server, as described in the Configuration Guide.
Summary of What You Can Do
Below are the highlights of viewing and acting upon JIRA issues within Visual Studio. Follow the links to the relevant sections of the user guide.
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Accessing the JIRA Issues Window in Visual Studio
To open the connector's JIRA Issues window in Visual Studio, if it isn't already open:
- Open a solution in Visual Studio.
- Click 'Tools' and select 'Toggle Atlassian Tool Window'
- The connector window appears within Visual Studio. Here's an example, showing the dropdown menu that appears when you right-click an issue:
!_Flagship Image for Visual Studio JIRA^VSJIRAIssues-WithContextMenu.png|border=1,bordercolor=gray!
Using the JIRA Issues Tab
The JIRA issues tab shows a list of issues on the selected JIRA server(s). The issues are on the right, the servers and filters are on the left. You can add and remove JIRA servers, as described in the Configuration Guide.
To build the list of issues, you will use a filter. Currently-defined filters are shown on the left of the JIRA issues tab, under the relevant server name. Available filters are:
- Preset filters. Please note, all preset filters are server-wide by default. However, you can set a project context on any of the filters by right-clicking the filter and selecting "Set Project" from the popup menu.
- One or more custom filters that you have defined locally in the connector window.
- One or more filters defined on the JIRA server.
In the sections below, we tell you what you can do with the following parts of the JIRA issues tab:
- The toolbar to the left of the list of servers
- The toolbar above the list of servers
- The toolbar above the list of issues
- The popup context menu for each issue in the list
Using the Toolbar to the left of the list of Servers
The toolbar above the list of servers provides the following functionality:
Using the Toolbar above the Servers
The toolbar above the list of servers provides the following functionality:
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Retrieve information from all the configured JIRA servers and re-run the currently defined filters. |
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Add a new custom filter, defined locally in the connector, for retrieving issues from your JIRA server. See Adding a Custom Filter. You must select 'Custom Filters' in the server list to enable this button. |
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Remove a custom filter. You must select the desired custom filter in the server list to enable this button. |
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Edit a custom filter. You must select the desired custom filter in the server list to enable this button. |
Using the Toolbar above the Issues
The toolbar above the list of issues provides the following functionality:
'Find' dropdown |
The 'Find' dropdown text box gives you quick access to an issue. Just start entering part of the issue key or issue summary and the connector will display matching issues as you type. Note, this does not execute a new search on the JIRA server. Open the dropdown to select previously executed searches. |
'Group By' dropdown |
Divide the list of JIRA issues into groups. You can choose:
- None — Display a flat list of issues, using the sorting order of the filter (if specified).
- Project — Display the issues per project, as defined on the JIRA server.
- Type — Display the issues per issue type, as defined on the JIRA server. For example, this would group all feature requests under one heading, all bug reports under another heading, etc.
- Status — Display the issues per issue status, as defined on the JIRA server. For example, this would group all closed issues under one heading, all open issues under another heading, etc.
- Priority — Display the issues per priority. For example, this would group all blocker issues under one heading, all major issues under another heading, etc.
- Last Updated — Group the issues depending on the date of last modification. The connector groups the issues into logical time periods: today, yesterday, 2 days ago, last week, etc.
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Collapse sub-issues under their parents. This option is useful if you have defined sub-tasks in JIRA. Note, "orphaned" subtasks (i.e. subtasks whose parents do not match the filter) are displayed as top-level issues. |
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Open the selected issue in an Visual Studio window. See below. |
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Open the selected issue in your browser, using the JIRA user interface. |
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Open the selected issue in your browser, using the JIRA user interface. |
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Add an issue to the active JIRA server, i.e. the server for which you have currently selected a filter in the left-hand panel. |
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Open a search box in Visual Studio. If you enter a valid issue key, the issue will be displayed in a Visual Studio window. If you enter general text, a search will be executed on your JIRA server and the results displayed in your browser. |
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Refresh the contents of the currently-displayed issues list by re-running the selected filter. Note, only the first N issues matching the filters will be retrieved (where "N" is defined by the Issues Batch Setting in the JIRA options for your connector). The number of issues will be restricted to "N" issues on refresh, even if you previously clicked "Get More Issues...". |
Using the Context Menu for an Issue
You can perform the following functions for each issue in the list:
If your update does not appear in the issue preview, click the refresh icon .
- Double-click a line to open the selected issue in a Visual Studio window. See below.
- Right-click a line to show a popup context menu (pictured in the screenshot above) with actions that can be performed for the selected issue:
- Open in IDE — Open the selected issue in an Visual Studio window. See below.
- View in Browser — Open the selected issue in a new browser window, using the JIRA user interface.
- Edit in Browser — Open the selected issue for editing in a new browser window.
- Log Work — Record the time worked against the issue.
- Perform Issue Workflow Actions — Hover over this option to see a list of available actions relevant to the current state of the issue (e.g. 'Resolve Issue'). Click the menu option to perform the action. If the action needs more information, a dialogue box will open for you to enter the information required.
Viewing and Updating Issues
From the JIRA issues tab, described above, you can open a JIRA issue in a Visual Studio window. For example, you can do one of the following:
- Select the issue and then click the 'Open Issue' icon
, or
- Right-click the issue and then select 'Open in IDE' from the popup context menu, or
- Double-click the issue.
The issue will open in a Visual Studio window. The window will have multiple tabs, displaying information related to the issue.
Viewing Issue Details
Screenshot: JIRA issue window, showing the issue details

The toolbar provides the following functionality:
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Open the selected issue in your browser, using the JIRA user interface. |
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Refresh the issue. |
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Close the issue tab/window. |
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Opens a Visual Studio window to log work on the issue. |
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Click this dropdown to display the issue workflow actions available and select the desired workflow action. |
You can also edit many of the fields inline by clicking the edit icon next to the field.
Viewing and Adding Comments
Screenshot: JIRA issue window, showing the issue comments

To expand or collapse the comments, you can click the blue arrows in the comment pane or click the 'Expand All' and 'Collapse All' icons in the toolbar above the comment pane.
To add a new comment, click the 'Add Comment' icon .
Viewing, Downloading and Uploading Attachments
Attachments are shown in the 'Attachments' tab of the JIRA issue window.
- You can view the attachment by clicking it.
- You download the attachment by clicking it, then clicking the "Save As..." button.
- You can upload a new attachment by clicking the "Upload New..." button and selecting your file, or by dragging and dropping the file onto the attachments list.
Screenshot: JIRA issue window with two image attachments

Adding a Custom Filter
You can add a custom filter that is defined locally in the connector, for retrieving issues from your JIRA server via the toolbar above the server list. The 'Edit Custom Filter' window will display.

Fill out the fields as desired and click the 'OK' button to create your filter.
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