Control status changes with transition rules
Restrict a status change to certain roles, forbid it, or require completed subtasks, filled-in fields or an accepted QA review.
- Plan
- Team and above
- Required permission
- Workflows › Manage transition rulesDefault: Product Owner, Scrum Master, plus the project owner and admins.
Without rules, everything is open
By default, any member who can edit a ticket can move it from any status to any other. Transition rules add safeguards. They are managed in Settings › Project, Workflow card.
Rule types
Add rule, then choose the item concerned (tickets, epics or Super Epics), the starting status (or "any status"), the target status, and the rule type:
| Type | Effect | Applies to |
|---|---|---|
| Restricted to certain roles | only the ticked roles can make the change | everyone except owner and admins |
| Permission required | a specific permission is needed | everyone except owner and admins |
| Forbid transition | nobody can make this change | everyone except owner and admins |
| Subtasks completed | all the ticket's subtasks must be ticked | everyone |
| Required fields | the chosen fields must be filled in | everyone |
| QA review accepted | the ticket's latest review must be accepted | everyone |
Rules about who moves the ticket never block the project owner or admins: this safeguard prevents a project from being locked. Rules about the ticket's state apply to everyone.
Several allowed roles: one single rule
Rules on the same transition add up: all of them must be met. To allow the Product Owner or the QA, create one rule and tick both roles; two separate rules would allow nobody. Manifst flags this kind of anomaly in the Workflow card.
Three ways to view the rules
- List: all rules, one per line.
- Matrix: each cell crosses a starting status and a target status, and shows whether the change is open, restricted, conditional or forbidden.
- Journey: the project's flow drawn out, with the transitions under a rule.
What the team sees
A refused change shows the reason: "This project forbids moving from… to…", "is reserved for…", "requires the… permission". See An action is refused.
Status changes coming from a connector (sync with Jira, Azure Boards or Linear, closing by a pull request) are not subject to the rules.
Plan
Creating and editing rules requires a plan that includes governance. On the free plan, existing rules remain visible and keep applying.