Jira includes default workflows that work well for many projects, but sometimes your process includes stages that do not fit those defaults. Creating a custom workflow gives you control over the statuses available to your work items and the transitions that determine how work moves from one status to another.

If you use a Kanban board, those statuses can be mapped to columns so you can see the progress of your work visually. However, a custom workflow is not limited to Kanban boards – the same underlying workflow controls work item statuses throughout your Jira space.

In this tutorial, I’ll show you how to create a custom workflow for a Company-managed Jira project, add statuses and transitions, and connect the finished workflow to a space and its work item types. I’ll use a job search workflow and Kanban board as the example, but the same process can be adapted for content production, client work, business operations, software development, approval processes, and many other types of work.

What You’ll Learn

In this tutorial, you’ll learn how to:

Understand the difference between a workflow, status, transition, and Kanban column
Create a new custom Jira workflow
Add custom statuses
Assign each status to the appropriate status category
Connect statuses using transitions
Review the workflow in diagram and text views
Save and publish the workflow
Add the workflow to a Company-managed space
Assign the workflow to specific work item types

Common Uses

Custom workflows can be useful for:

Job application tracking
Content creation and publishing
Marketing campaign management
Customer onboarding
Client project management
Product development
Approval and review processes
Support or service request tracking
Recruiting and hiring processes
Any workflow that requires stages beyond Jira’s defaults

Requirements / Compatibility

A Jira Cloud account
A Company-managed Jira space
Permission to create and manage workflows
Permission to update the settings for the space where the workflow will be used
A planned list of statuses and transitions

This tutorial uses Jira Cloud and the current Company-managed project interface. Team-managed spaces use a simpler workflow configuration process, so the screens and steps will be different.

A custom workflow is not required for every Jira project. If Jira’s existing workflow already supports your process, editing or mapping the existing statuses may be simpler than creating a new workflow from scratch.

Understanding How Jira Works

A Jira workflow defines the path a work item can follow from the beginning of a process to the end. It controls the statuses available to that work item and the transitions that allow it to move between those statuses.

A Kanban board is different. It provides a visual view of your work by displaying work items in columns. Each column is mapped to one or more statuses from the underlying workflow.

Think of the relationship like this:

			
Workflow
Defines the statuses and allowed transitions
                ↓
Statuses
Describe where each work item currently stands
                ↓
Kanban Board
Displays those statuses as visual columns

		

For example, a workflow might include these statuses:

Interested → Preparing → Applied → Interviewing → Waiting → Follow Up → Closed

A Kanban board can then display each status as a column, allowing job opportunities to move across the board as their status changes.

However, changing a column name does not necessarily change the workflow status mapped to that column. A column labeled Interviewing, for example, could still be mapped to a default Jira status such as Done behind the scenes. That can lead to unexpected behavior because Jira continues to use the underlying status and its status category even though the board looks correct visually.

Creating a custom workflow allows you to define the actual statuses Jira should use rather than only changing how they appear on a board.

Status Categories

Every workflow status is assigned to one of Jira’s three broader status categories:

To Do: Work that has not yet started.
In Progress: Work that is active or still requires action.
Done: Work that is complete or no longer requires action.

These categories help Jira understand the general state of the work even when you create more specific status names.

For my job search workflow:

Interested belongs to the To Do category.
Preparing, Applied, Interviewing, Waiting, and Follow Up belong to In Progress.
Closed belongs to Done.

Transitions

Transitions are the paths that connect statuses. They determine which movements are allowed within the workflow.

For example:

			
Interested
    ↓ Start to prepare
Preparing
    ↓ Submit application
Applied

		

Without a transition, a work item may have a status available in the workflow but no way to move into or out of it.

When a Custom Workflow Is Useful

You may benefit from creating a custom workflow when:

Jira’s default statuses do not describe your process.
Your work needs to move through specific stages.
You want your Kanban columns to reflect meaningful underlying statuses.
You need more control over which status changes are allowed.
Different work item types need different workflows.

A custom workflow is not necessary for every project. If the existing workflow already supports your process, editing its statuses or correcting how statuses are mapped to board columns may be simpler than creating a new workflow from scratch.

Step-by-Step Instructions

Note: Your options and screens may vary depending on the choices made throughout this process, so your experience may look slightly different from what I’ve documented here, but the general process will be the same.

Once you’ve created a Jira account and created a space, log in to the site.

Step 1: Navigate to the workflows page

Click on the settings icon on the top right of the page
Click on Work items
If the left-side sidebar is not visible, hover over or click on the sidebar icon on the top left of the page
Click on Workflows

Step 2: Create a new workflow

Click on add workflow then click on create new
A modal will pop up prompting you to provide a name and description for your workflow
Click Create

I named mine Job Search Workflow and pasted the stages of my workflow with their definitions as the description.

Step 3: Design the workflow

Workflows can be designed in diagram or text mode. I opted to work in text mode for the initial design steps.

Step 4: Add workflow statuses

To add a new status to your workflow:

Click on add status
Enter the status name in the search for a status box (e.g., interested, preparing, applied)
If the status name does not yet exist, you will now have the option to create it
Next, select the status category:
- To Do (Gray): Work items that are planned but have not yet been started.
- In Progress (Blue): Tasks actively being worked on, including intermediate steps.
- Done (Green): Completed tasks or items that no longer require further action.
Click add
Repeat to add the rest of the workflow statuses

Note: After adding a status, you will likely see a warning message that the workflow status needs a transition. I waited until all of my statuses had been added and then I added the transitions. I’ve included a table of all of my statuses and transitions toward the end of the next section below for reference.

Step 5: Connect the workflow statuses

Next you’ll need to create transitions between your statuses so they have a logical flow. This can be done from the diagram view or the text view. I found the diagram view to be easier since it was simple drag and drop to connect statuses.

This table lists the steps create transitions between your statuses for both diagram view and text view:

Diagram View	Text View
* Click on a connector at the end of one status and drag it to the next status * Add a transition name (e.g., add a new job) * Click create * Repeat to add transitions for the rest of the statuses	* Click on a status to view its settings * Click on the + next to incoming * Select a from status (e.g., open –> interested) * Add a transition name (e.g., add a new job) * Click create * Repeat to add transitions for the rest of the statuses

If you’re recreating my job search workflow, here’s how I set mine up:

Status Name	Status Category	Incoming Transition	Transition Name	Outgoing Transition
Open		n/a	Add a new job	Interested
Interested	To do	Open	Start to prepare	Preparing
Preparing	In Progress	Interested	Prepare to apply	Applied
Applied	In Progress	Preparing	Prepare to interview	Interviewing
Interviewing	In Progress	Applied	Wait for response	Waiting
Waiting	In Progress	Interviewing	Prepare to follow up	Follow Up
Follow Up	In Progress	Waiting	Prepare to close	Closed
Closed	Done	Follow Up	n/a	n/a

Step 6: Update your workflow

Once you’ve set up your workflow:

Click on update workflow to update your workflow
or click on the dropdown arrow on the update workflow button and save it as a new workflow
Click close to exit the workflow editor

Note: It may take some time for the workflow to appear on the workflows page.

Step 7: Your workflow is now set up

After completing these steps, your custom workflow is now complete. It will appear on the workflows page in the inactive workflows section.

Navigate: Settings > Work items > Workflows > Inactive workflows

Step 8: Add the workflow to a space

To add the new workflow to a space:

Navigate to space settings:
- Click on the settings icon
- Click on spaces
- This should bring you to manage spaces, but if not, access manage spaces from the left sidebar
From manage spaces:
- Locate the space on the list of spaces
- Click on the 3 dots in the Space URL column
- Click on space settings
- This will open the space settings details page
Navigate to space settings > workflows:
- Expand the left navigation sidebar and click on workflows
- Click on add workflow
- Click on add existing
- Click on the workflow you’d like to add
- Click next
- Assign issue types to the selected workflow (bug, epic, story, sub-task, task, or all)
- Click finish

Additional Tips

Helpful Tip

Plan your workflow on paper before creating it in Jira. Changing a workflow later is certainly possible, but it’s much easier when you’ve already decided on your statuses and transitions.

Common Mistake

Many new Jira users customize the Kanban board by simply renaming the statuses without realizing the board displays statuses from the underlying workflow.

If your statuses don’t behave as expected – or extra statuses appear when creating Stories – you may need to update the workflow rather than only changing the board columns.

In this example below, the status names were changed so my Kanban board appeared to follow the flow I intended, but changing the names of the workflow steps did not change the original function and position in the workflow. If I were to create a story with my workflow set up this way, I would not see my renamed options, like “interested” I’d see the original name “backlog”, which would be a confusing experience.

Version Differences

This tutorial uses Jira Cloud with a Company-managed project.

Team-managed spaces use a simplified workflow model and won’t follow these same steps.

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How to Create a Custom Workflow in Jira (Company-Managed Projects)