Frequently asked questions

Short answers to the questions people ask most, each with a link to the manual page that has the detail.

Getting started

What is TreeCraft?

TreeCraft: Issue Hierarchies is an app for Jira Cloud. It arranges Jira work items from any project into trees that you save, share and keep up to date with rules. See the manual overview.

Where do I find TreeCraft after it is installed?

Under Apps in Jira's top navigation. The app also adds a Hierarchies tab to each project, an In hierarchies panel to each work item, Open as a hierarchy on boards and three dashboard gadgets. See Where to find the app.

How do I make my first hierarchy?

Select Make my first hierarchy for me on the welcome page. Or select New and pick a starting point: Empty, Personal backlog, Release backlog, From a board or By levels. See Creating your first hierarchy.

Can I look around without touching my own work items?

Yes. See an example, on the welcome page, opens a read-only hierarchy of made-up work items. Nothing is read from Jira and nothing can be changed. See See an example.

Building hierarchies

What is the difference between adding work items by hand and using a rule?

Work items you add by hand stay where you put them. A rule is a row that fills part of the tree from Jira data, such as a JQL query or the children of each work item, and keeps it up to date as work items change. One hierarchy can use both. See Building a hierarchy and Rules.

Can one hierarchy hold work items from several projects?

Yes. A rule can pull work items from any project into one tree. Each person still sees only the work items Jira lets them see. See Rule types.

If I remove a row, is the work item deleted?

No. Removing a row takes the work item out of the hierarchy and leaves it in Jira unchanged. Deleting a work item from a hierarchy is off unless someone with Control turns it on. See Rows and items and Danger zone.

If I move a row, does anything change in Jira?

Not for a row you placed by hand: only the hierarchy changes. A row that a rule placed comes from Jira data, so moving it changes that data for you, such as the work item's rank, parent or link. The app checks the move first and refuses one it can't carry out cleanly. See Moving rows that rules placed.

Columns and formulas

How do I add up story points for each epic?

Select + Column and pick Σ Story Points. A row's total is its own value plus the values of the rows below it. See Totals.

How do I show how much of an epic is done?

Add a Progress column. It shows the share of the work below a row that is done, as a bar and a percentage. You can count by status, by time or by story points. See Progress.

Can I write my own formulas?

Yes. A formula column works out a value for each row from its fields and from the rows around it, with conditions, dates and working days. On sites with Rovo, Ask Rovo helps you write or fix one. See Formulas.

Timeline and workload

Does TreeCraft have a timeline, a critical path and baselines?

Yes. The Timeline switch shows a hierarchy's work items as bars on a calendar beside the grid, with dependencies as arrows. When you drag a bar, the dates change in Jira, and you can undo it. You can also show the critical path and compare the plan with a saved baseline. See Timeline and Scheduling.

Can I plan people's hours?

Yes. You set each person's weekly hours, time off and holidays once. The workload then sets each person's planned work against the time they have. People with Edit access see the hours. See Teams and workload.

Permissions and who sees what

Can people see work items they shouldn't?

No. TreeCraft uses Jira's permissions, and you choose who can see or change each hierarchy. A work item you can't browse in Jira is left out of your view. See Jira's permissions always apply.

Who can change a hierarchy?

It depends on the access level: No access, View, Edit, Automate or Control. A new hierarchy starts private, with only its owner and Jira admins able to open it, until someone with Control adds access rules. See Access levels.

Who decides who can use the app at all?

A Jira admin. In the app's settings, App access sets who can use the app, who can create hierarchies and which projects show the app. See App access.

Data, privacy and security

Does any of our data leave Atlassian?

No. TreeCraft runs on Atlassian's platform and stores its data there, in your Jira site's data residency location. There is no Plugincraft server in the middle. Data leaves Atlassian only when you choose: a client you connect to the REST API or MCP tools receives the answers it asks for, and an admin can send us a support bundle. See the Trust center and Subprocessors.

Does Plugincraft see our work items?

The app sends no data to Plugincraft. We see the app's logs, which hold ids, counts, statuses and error codes only, and a support bundle if an admin chooses to send one. See the Trust center.

What happens to our data if we uninstall?

The app keeps no copy outside your installation. When an admin uninstalls it, Atlassian keeps its stored data for 30 days and then permanently deletes it. A request made to Atlassian within 21 days of the uninstall can relink a reinstall to the old data. See How data is deleted.

Does TreeCraft use AI on our data?

Only through its Rovo agent, which runs on Atlassian's platform. The app calls no AI service outside Atlassian, the agent acts with the permissions of the person who asks, and nothing it proposes is applied until that person agrees. See Rovo and the AI Usage Policy.

Is Plugincraft SOC 2 or ISO 27001 certified?

TreeCraft is hosted on Atlassian Forge, a platform that is SOC 2 attested and ISO/IEC 27001 certified. It keeps all its data inside Forge, so its hosting, storage, encryption and infrastructure controls are Atlassian's. Those certifications are Atlassian's for the platform and cover only part of what SOC 2 and ISO 27001 ask for. Plugincraft itself has no certification of its own. See the Trust center.

Can I take my data out?

Yes. Export offers Excel (.xlsx), CSV and JSON, and you can print. Developers can read and change hierarchies with the REST API. See Export and print and the REST API.

Limits and performance

How big can a hierarchy be?

A hierarchy holds up to 20,000 work items and runs up to 30 rules. Jira admins set the other limits, such as the rows in one hierarchy, in the app's settings. See Limits.

Why does a hierarchy look out of date?

Open Panels, choose Rules and select Refresh results. A work item that just changed in Jira moves to its new place shortly after. See Rule results look old.

Why does a notice say a limit was reached?

The hierarchy has reached a limit, such as its rows or the 20,000 work items it can hold. The app keeps what it built so far. Narrow the rule, or ask a Jira admin to raise the rule limits. See A notice says a limit was reached.

Pricing and licensing

How is TreeCraft billed?

TreeCraft is coming soon on the Atlassian Marketplace. It will be sold as a subscription there: Atlassian will handle the billing, and the price and billing cycle will be the ones shown on the Marketplace listing. See the terms of service.

Can we try it first?

Yes, once it's on the Marketplace. You'll be able to try the app free of charge for the trial period Atlassian offers. See the terms of service.

What happens if our subscription or trial ends?

The app becomes read-only. People can still open and read hierarchies, but the app refuses any change. Changes work again as soon as a subscription is active. See the terms of service.

Moving from another app

Can we switch from another hierarchy app?

Yes. Import a spreadsheet export of your tree, then rebuild its rules and formulas in TreeCraft. On sites with Rovo, Build with Rovo can propose the rules from the old app's rules, pasted as text. See Switching to TreeCraft.

Do the old app's columns and formulas come over?

The rows come over, in their order and levels. The other app's column values are not imported, because TreeCraft works out its own. You rebuild formulas, for example with Ask Rovo. See What moves and what you rebuild.

Can we run both apps side by side?

Yes. The two keep their own hierarchies, and TreeCraft doesn't read or change the other app's data. Work items are the same in both. See Run both apps side by side.

Getting help

Where do I get help?

Use Plugincraft Support, our help center, and sign in with your Atlassian account. If you can't sign in, write to info@plugincraft.ca. Support runs Monday to Friday, 9:00 to 17:00 Eastern Time, except Québec statutory holidays, in English and French. See Support and service levels.

What should I send with a problem report?

A short description of what happened and when. Ask a Jira admin to download a support bundle from the app's settings and attach it. See Still stuck.

How do I report a security problem?

Write to info@plugincraft.ca, in English or French. See the Vulnerability Disclosure Policy.

Questions about the app? Ask us in Plugincraft Support, our help center, or write to info@plugincraft.ca.