What are "Components" in Jira?

Managing software projects can be daunting, but the right tools can immensely simplify the process. Jira, in particular, has stood out as a valuable solution for managing even the most overwhelming projects in super smart ways. One of its key features, components, provides a neat solution to structure Jira projects and efficiently manage project workstreams. 

In this article, we’ve covered the nitty gritty of Jira components. It also covers practical explanations and workflows for using components in Jira. Let's dive in!

In a broader sense, Components in Jira are functional groups within a project to organize work by specific features, modules, or responsibilities. They help in tracking which areas of a project are affected by particular issues and can be useful for filtering and reporting.

Example:

For a mobile app project, you might define components such as:

• User Authentication
• Payment Gateway
• Push Notifications

If there's a bug with users unable to log in, you would assign the issue to the User Authentication component. This helps the team responsible for that component easily identify and prioritize issues related to their area.

NOTE: The components feature is only available in company-managed Jira projects.

How to Create a Component in Jira

To create a component, click the “Components…” option in the left sidebar of your Kanban project. This takes you to the components page. There, you’ll find a “Create component” button in the middle of the page. On clicking it, enter the following information about the component and then save it:

• Name: Name of the component. It’s a required field.
• Description: Text describing the component.
• Component lead: Specific user to oversee the progress and completion of issues assigned to the component.
• Default assignee: Default assignee to handle the issues that come under the component. 

NOTE: If an issue belongs to more than one component, the default assignee for the first component will be prioritized and used for the issue.

Also Read: Automating Jira: How to Create Smart Workflows for Teams

When you open a Jira issue that includes components and labels, they may appear similar in the issue details panel, but they function very differently within a project.

Components vs. Labels

Components are set by project admins to create subdivisions within a project, like workflows or departments. They help organize tasks, making filtering and querying easier. For example, components like "Database" or "UI/UX Design" represent specific areas and are used consistently across the project.

In Jira, Labels are simple tags that can be added to issues to categorize or group them based on keywords. They are flexible and can be used to mark issues with specific themes, topics, or characteristics, making it easier to search, filter, and organize work. If you're working on a project with multiple features, you could label certain issues with tags like "urgent," "bugfix," or "v2.0" to quickly find and group similar items.

While both components and labels help categorize issues, components are structured and predefined for project organization, while labels are free-form and user-driven for flexible tagging.

Also Read: What Do “Capabilities” Exactly Mean in Jira?

Now that we’ve covered the basics of components in Jira, let’s cover the steps to working with them.

Step 1: How to Create Components

You can create components specific to projects. Also, you should have project admin or system admin permissions to create components. 

NOTE: As of now, you can create components only for the Kanban project types. In earlier versions of Jira, components were also supported with Scrum boards. However, that’s not the case anymore.

To create a component:

1. Open a Jira Kanban project and click “Components…” from the left sidebar

2. Hit the “Create component” blue button from the center of the screen. (NOTE: If there is a Create Compass component in the middle instead, click “Compass components” in the top right and disable “Switch to Jira components” marked in green. This enables “Jira components” and you’ll get the “Create component” on the screen)

3. Add values for Name, Description, Component lead, and Default assignee. 

4. Hit “Save”.

Alternatively, you can create components directly by opening the issue. Here’s how:

1. Open an issue in the project. In the issue details panel, go to the “More fields” section.
2. Click on the “Components” search box and hit the “+ Create new component” option. It takes you to the Components page in Project Settings.

3. Click the “Create component” blue button from the top right. 
4. Add details for it and hit “Save”.

Step 2: How to Configure Components in Jira

Once you have created a component, you can edit it using the following steps:

1. Click on “Components…” from the left sidebar.

2. Find the component you want to edit, click on  “More actions (•••)”  next to it, and select “Edit”.

3. Change any necessary details such as name, description, lead, or default assignee.

4. Click on the “Save”  button to apply your changes.

You can also delete components if they are no longer needed by selecting the Delete option under “More actions”.

Step 3: How to Create a Task and Add Components

Let’s create a new task and then add it to a component. Here you go.

1. Hit the “Create” button from the top navigation bar. In the issue panel, select the Project and Issue type. Fill in the Summary (These are required fields).
2. Go to the “Components” dropdown and add one or more components for it.
3. Hit “Create”

Step 4: How to Add Tasks to Components

Adding components for an existing task is pretty straightforward.

1. Open an issue. Go to the “Components” section in the “More fields” section.
2. Add the required components from the “Components” dropdown. It’s done.

To check the issues listed for a component, 

1. Navigate to the components page by hitting “Components…”
2. Search for a component you want issues for. Under the “Issues” column, click the issues for it. You’ll get a list of issues added for the component.