Project timeline limits in Jira
Unless otherwise noted, the project timeline view is the same for both company-managed and team-managed projects.
While the timeline view of your project is a useful tool for planning future work, there are limits on what it can show and requirements on how your project must be structured.
Only Parent and Standard work types show on your timeline
The timeline view in Jira Software only shows work items of the parent and standard types. Child work items without a parent won’t be shown on your timeline. The default parent work type is epic, and the default standard types are story and task. Learn more about work types in Jira.
Subtasks, which are below standard, and any custom hierarchy levels above parent created by Jira Software Premium users won’t show on your project timeline view. To view them on your timeline and to plan across multiple projects, you’ll need to use your plan which is included as part of Jira Software Premium and Enterprise subscriptions. Read about higher hierarchy levels in plans.
All work items need to come from one project
Commonly, teams running a company-managed project create boards with a custom JQL query to monitor work items from multiple projects. However, the timeline view in Jira only works with work items from the backlog associated with one project. If you’re using a custom JQL filter that draws in work items from multiple boards, adjust it to only include work items from one project. Learn how to adjust your JQL filter.
Cross-project planning is only possible in your plan, which is included with Jira Premium and Enterprise. Read how plans gives an overview of the work of multiple teams and projects.
An epic work type must exist and be included in your project via JQL
Jira Software comes with a default work item hierarchy structure which includes the work type epic. Your administrator can create a custom hierarchy level and name it whatever your organization calls tasks at that level.
However, if this epic-level task is hidden from the timeline’s work source, whether through accidentally deleting the work type or it’s filtered out through a JQL filter, you’ll see the same warning as above.
Your timeline cannot exceed 5,000 work items
Your project timeline can’t show more than 5,000 work items in total, and the number of parent work items is capped at 500. The timeline won’t load if your project exceeds these limits.
Modify your board JQL to reduce the number of work items that show on your timeline.
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