Documentation

Last updated 02/11/2026. Checkwright adds checklists to Jira Cloud work items, with templates, a workflow validator, JQL search, board-card progress and a dashboard gadget. Everything stays inside your Jira site.

1. Install

Checkwright is coming soon to the Atlassian Marketplace. These steps apply once it is listed.
  1. A Jira administrator opens Apps → Explore more apps in Jira Cloud.
  2. Search for Checkwright and choose Get it now (or start the free trial).
  3. Review and accept the permissions. Checkwright reads and updates work items for the person using it, adds its own fields and validator to Jira, and keeps templates in Atlassian-hosted app storage.
  4. When the install finishes, Checkwright is available in every project. Sites with up to 10 users are free.

2. Find the Checklists panel

  1. Open any work item.
  2. Under the summary, select the Checklists button (the checklist icon next to the other add buttons; in some layouts it sits under Apps).
  3. The Checklists panel opens on the work item. Once a work item has a checklist, the panel shows every time the work item is opened.
  4. The panel refreshes on its own when someone else changes a checklist, so you always see the latest state.

3. Add checklists and items

  1. In the panel, choose Add a checklist (or + Checklist when one already exists).
  2. Pick Blank checklist or one of your templates.
  3. Select + Add item and type. Press Enter to save it and start the next item.
  4. To add many items at once, paste a list of lines into an item, or open the checklist's ⋯ menu and choose Add items from text…. Lines starting with # become section headings, indented lines become sub-items, - [x] marks an item done and (mandatory) at the end flags it as mandatory.
  5. Use the checklist's ⋯ menu to rename, reorder, hide completed items, number the list or delete the checklist.
  6. Use an item's More actions menu to add a note, turn it into a section heading or convert it into a subtask.

Item text supports light formatting: **bold**, *italic*, `code`, links and work item keys, which become links. Underscores and square brackets are left exactly as typed.

4. Keyboard shortcuts

KeysWhat happens
Enter (while typing)Saves the item and adds the next one below it
Tab / Shift+Tab (while typing)Nests the item one level deeper, or moves it back out (two levels of sub-items)
EscStops editing (an empty item is removed)
Alt+↑ / Alt+↓Moves the focused item up or down, with its sub-items
SpaceTicks or unticks the focused item
Enter or F2 (item focused)Edits the item's text
Paste a listEach line becomes its own item

Items can also be dragged into a new position with the handle on the left.

5. Statuses and status sets

  1. Every checklist uses a status set. The default is Standard: To do, In progress, Done and Skipped.
  2. Two more sets come built in: QA (pass / fail) with Not run, Pass, Fail and N/A, and Simple with Not done and Done (shown as a plain checkbox).
  3. To change an item's status, select its status and pick a new one. Done and Skipped (or Pass and N/A) count as finished for progress.
  4. A Jira admin can create custom status sets on the Checkwright page under Apps, and choose a default status set for each project. Each status counts as open, in progress, done or skipped.

6. Mandatory items

  1. Select the Mandatory marker on an item (or end a pasted line with (mandatory)).
  2. Mandatory items still open are highlighted in the checklist header.
  3. Pair them with the workflow validator's mandatory mode so a work item cannot move on until they are done.

7. Assignees and due dates

  1. Open an item's assignee picker and choose a person. They get a Jira notification. You are never notified about your own changes.
  2. Set a Due date on the item. Dates show as DD/MM/YYYY and change colour when an item is due soon, due today or overdue.
  3. Each person can see all their open items in the My checklist items gadget, and anyone can search for them with checklistAssignee and checklistDue.
  4. When an item is ticked, Checkwright records who did it and when. Select Activity in the panel to see recent changes with real names.

8. Templates and auto-apply

  1. Open Apps → Checkwright in Jira. Jira admins, and anyone in a template manager group an admin names, can manage templates.
  2. Create a template: give it a name, add items, headings, sub-items and mandatory flags, and choose its status set.
  3. Anyone can now add it to a work item from Add a checklist in the panel.
  4. To apply it automatically, turn on auto-apply and set the rules: projects, work item types and labels. Leave a rule empty to match everything. When a matching work item is created, the checklist is added for you. Only Jira admins can turn on auto-apply or change its rules.
  5. Export templates as a file to copy them to another site, and import them there.

9. Bulk apply

  1. On Apps → Checkwright, open bulk apply.
  2. Pick a template and enter a JQL query, for example project = OPS AND statusCategory != Done.
  3. Check the preview count, then run it. Progress is shown as work items are updated.
  4. Work items that already have that template, or already hold 20 checklists, are skipped. Only work items you can edit are changed.

10. Workflow validator

  1. As a Jira admin (or a team-managed project admin), go to Project settings → Workflows and edit the workflow.
  2. Select the transition you want to guard, for example In Review → Done.
  3. Open Validators (in the newer workflow editor, Rules → Add rule) and add Checklist complete.
  4. Choose when the transition is allowed:
    • All: every checklist item is done or skipped.
    • Mandatory: every mandatory item is done or skipped.
    • At least N: at least the number of items you enter are done or skipped.
  5. Optionally tick Block work items that have no checklist at all (require checklist). Without it, work items with no checklist pass.
  6. Save and publish the workflow. When someone tries the transition too early, Jira shows how many items are left.

11. Search with JQL

Type these field names in Jira search (Filters → Advanced search) exactly as shown. They update whenever a checklist changes.

FieldMeaningExample
checklistProgressPercentage of items done or skipped, 0 to 100checklistProgress < 100
checklistDoneNumber of items donechecklistDone >= 5
checklistOpenNumber of items not yet done or skippedchecklistOpen > 0
checklistTotalNumber of items across all checklistschecklistTotal = 0
checklistMandatoryOpenNumber of mandatory items still openchecklistMandatoryOpen > 0
checklistComplete"true" (all done), "false" (items open) or "empty" (no items)checklistComplete = "false"
checklistAssigneeAnyone assigned a checklist itemchecklistAssignee = currentUser()
checklistDueEarliest due date on the work item's itemschecklistDue <= now()

Combine them with any other JQL, for example project = OPS AND checklistMandatoryOpen > 0 ORDER BY checklistDue ASC.

12. Progress on board cards

  1. Open your board and go to Board settings → Card layout (on team-managed boards, ⋯ → Configure board → Card layout where available).
  2. Add the Checklist progress field.
  3. Cards now show progress such as 3/5 · 60%. The field also appears in work item history and can be used in filters and Jira Automation.
  4. If the field is not listed, ask a Jira admin to check it is available in the project's field configuration.

13. Dashboard gadget

  1. Open a Jira dashboard and choose Edit → Add gadget.
  2. Search for My checklist items and add it.
  3. The gadget lists the open checklist items assigned to whoever is viewing, across work items, overdue and soonest due first.

14. Export

  1. Open a checklist's ⋯ menu.
  2. Choose Copy as Markdown to paste it into a page or chat, or Export CSV for a spreadsheet.
  3. With several checklists on a work item, Export all (CSV) exports them together, including status, assignee, due date and who completed each item.

15. Lock when done

  1. A Jira admin opens Apps → Checkwright and turns on Lock when done for a project.
  2. Once a work item in that project reaches a Done status, its checklists become read-only, so the record of what was done stays as it was.
  3. Move the work item out of Done to edit its checklists again.

16. Limits

17. Messages