Q7 of 14 · JIRA
How do you link issues in JIRA, and what link types does QA use most?
JIRAJuniorjiralinkingissue-relationshipstraceability
Short answer
Short answer: JIRA's Link feature connects related issues with typed relationships. QA most commonly uses 'is caused by' / 'found in', 'duplicates', 'blocks / is blocked by', and 'relates to'.
Detail
How to link: From the issue view → Link button → choose link type → search for the target issue by key or summary.
Common link types and QA use cases:
| Link Type | QA Use Case |
|---|---|
| Duplicates / is duplicated by | New bug is the same as an existing one — close the new one and link to the canonical issue |
| Blocks / is blocked by | This bug must be fixed before Story Y can be tested; or Story A is blocked waiting on API Story B |
| Relates to | General relationship — bug relates to a story in a different epic |
| Found in (Xray-specific or custom) | Bug was discovered while testing Story X |
| Caused by | Root cause traceability — Bug B was introduced by the change in Story A |
| Subtask of | Standard parent-child for sub-tasks |
Why linking matters:
- Release impact — a "blocks" chain shows what can't ship if a bug isn't fixed.
- Duplicate control — prevents multiple developers working on the same bug independently.
- Traceability — linking bugs back to the story that introduced them builds a regression-risk map.
- Dependency management — "blocked by" relationships surface in sprint planning.
Practical tip: When closing a duplicate, always add a comment explaining why it's a duplicate and reference the canonical bug ID. Don't just silently close it — engineers looking for the original will search and find the duplicate first.
// WHAT INTERVIEWERS LOOK FOR
At least four link types with concrete QA use cases. The release-impact and traceability motivations for linking.