Getting started

Blockline works on install. There is nothing to set up: it reads the issue links your teams already create, with the built-in Blocks link type, due dates and epics as deliverables. A Jira admin can change any of that later in Settings.

On an issue

Open any issue and choose Blockline from View app actions, the hexagon under the issue’s title. The panel shows:

• the issue’s own level and the one-line reason for it, such as “Blocked by PAYC-3 via STOR-4, 13 Nov (due date), 6 days after this epic”;
• Waiting on: every issue it waits on, including what its stories and subtasks wait on outside it, each with the child it comes through (“via STOR-4”), its status, date, level and reason;
• Holding up: every issue that waits on this one.

Show dependency map draws the chain upstream of the issue.

In a space

Open Blockline in the space’s sidebar. The risk board lists every open deliverable in the space, worst first: the work, its space, owner, date with its source, level, the top reason, open blockers and cross-team blockers. Filter by space, risk, owner and type, choose an order under Sort by, and press Map on any row for its dependency map.

The Team matrix tab, beside the board, counts the open dependencies between spaces. Each cell is how many times the row’s space waits on the column’s space, with the worst level among them. Pick a cell to list those dependencies. Both tabs come from the same build, so switching between them is instant.

Across spaces

Open Apps › Blockline. Choose the scope:

• Spaces: one or more spaces;
• Saved filter: any filter you can open;
• JQL: any query, such as labels = q4 AND statusCategory != Done.

Press Show risk. Save as my default keeps the scope for the next time you open the page; a Jira admin can also set a default scope for everyone who has not saved one.

Blockers outside the scope are still read, one link out, so a cross-team blocker is never invisible.

The dependency map

The map draws one epic’s chain from left to right: the issues it waits on upstream on the left, the epic on the right. Solid lines mean “waits on”, dashed lines “part of”. Every node shows its key, summary, date and level, and the path that ends latest is highlighted. Click a node, or Tab to it and press Enter, to open the issue.

Freshness

Every view says how old it is (“Updated 3 min ago”) and has a Refresh button. Results are kept for up to 10 minutes per person and view; Refresh rebuilds at once.