Elixion

Issues Overview

Understanding issues in Elixion - the core unit of work tracking

Issues Overview

Issues are the fundamental units of work in Elixion. They represent tasks, bugs, features, or any other work item that needs to be tracked and completed.

What is an Issue?

An issue in Elixion can represent:

  • A feature to be implemented
  • A bug to be fixed
  • A task to be completed
  • An epic grouping related work
  • Technical debt to address
  • A research spike to investigate

Issue Anatomy

Every issue has these core components:

Identifier

AUTH-123
[Key]-[Number]
  • Automatically generated
  • Unique within the project
  • Permanent and unchangeable

Core Fields

| Field | Description | Required | |-------|-------------|----------| | Title | Brief description | Yes | | Description | Detailed information | No | | Type | Epic, Story, Task, Bug, etc. | Yes | | Status | Current state | Yes | | Priority | Urgency level | No | | Assignee | Who's working on it | No |

Additional Fields

| Field | Description | |-------|-------------| | Reporter | Who created the issue | | Labels | Categorical tags | | Sprint | Sprint assignment | | Story Points | Effort estimate | | Due Date | Deadline | | Epic | Parent epic | | Components | Affected areas | | Attachments | Related files |

Issue Types

Elixion supports multiple issue types:

Epic

Large bodies of work that span multiple sprints.

Characteristics:

  • Contains child stories/tasks
  • Long-term tracking
  • Roadmap visibility
  • Progress rollup from children

Story

User-facing functionality from the user's perspective.

Format: "As a [user], I want [feature] so that [benefit]"

Characteristics:

  • Delivers user value
  • Estimable in story points
  • Completable in one sprint
  • Has acceptance criteria

Task

Technical or administrative work item.

Characteristics:

  • Specific, actionable work
  • May not deliver direct user value
  • Usually smaller than stories
  • Can be subtasks of stories

Bug

Defect or issue in existing functionality.

Characteristics:

  • Something isn't working correctly
  • Includes reproduction steps
  • Has severity level
  • References affected version

Tech Debt

Technical improvements and maintenance.

Characteristics:

  • Code quality improvements
  • Performance optimization
  • Refactoring work
  • Infrastructure updates

Spike

Research or investigation task.

Characteristics:

  • Time-boxed investigation
  • Produces findings, not code
  • Reduces uncertainty
  • Leads to future work items

Issue Statuses

Default status workflow:

Open → In Progress → In Review → Done
                         ↓
                      Blocked

Standard Statuses

| Status | Description | Category | |--------|-------------|----------| | Open | Not started | To Do | | In Progress | Being worked on | In Progress | | In Review | Awaiting review | In Progress | | Blocked | Cannot proceed | In Progress | | Done | Completed | Done | | Closed | Finalized | Done | | Won't Do | Abandoned | Done |

Status Transitions

Allowed transitions can be configured per project:

Open ────→ In Progress
              ↓
         In Review ←──→ Blocked
              ↓
            Done
              ↓
           Closed

Issue Priorities

| Priority | Use When | Response | |----------|----------|----------| | Critical | System down, data loss | Immediate | | High | Major feature broken | Same day | | Medium | Normal priority | Next sprint | | Low | Nice to have | When time permits |

Issue Views

List View

See issues in a sortable, filterable table.

Columns available:

  • Key, Title, Type, Status
  • Priority, Assignee
  • Story Points, Due Date
  • Created, Updated

Board View

Kanban-style visualization.

Features:

  • Drag and drop
  • Swimlanes
  • WIP limits
  • Quick filters

Detail View

Full issue page with all information.

Sections:

  • Header with key info
  • Description panel
  • Activity/Comments
  • Related issues
  • Attachments

Issue Relationships

Parent-Child

Epic
├── Story
│   ├── Task
│   └── Task
└── Story
    └── Task

Dependencies

| Relationship | Meaning | |--------------|---------| | Blocks | This must be done first | | Is blocked by | Waiting on another issue | | Relates to | Related but independent | | Duplicates | Same as another issue | | Clones | Copied from another issue |

Links

  • GitHub PRs and commits
  • External URLs
  • Documents
  • Other issues

Working with Issues

Creating Issues

Multiple ways to create:

  • + New Issue button
  • Keyboard shortcut (Ctrl/Cmd + I)
  • Quick add on board
  • From email
  • Via API

Finding Issues

  • Quick search (Ctrl/Cmd + K)
  • EQL advanced search
  • Filters on list view
  • Board views

Updating Issues

  • Edit individual fields inline
  • Bulk update multiple issues
  • Status transitions on board
  • API updates

Watching Issues

Subscribe to notifications:

  • Automatic: Reporter and Assignee
  • Manual: Click Watch button
  • Team: Watch by project/component

Best Practices

Writing Good Titles

Good:

  • "Add password reset functionality"
  • "Fix login timeout error on mobile"
  • "Update user profile API response format"

Avoid:

  • "Bug"
  • "Fix it"
  • "John's task"

Descriptions

Include:

  • Context - Why is this needed?
  • Details - What specifically?
  • Acceptance Criteria - How to verify?

For bugs, add:

  • Steps to reproduce
  • Expected behavior
  • Actual behavior
  • Screenshots/logs

Estimation

  • Use relative sizing (story points)
  • Estimate as a team
  • Break down large items
  • Include testing time

Next: Creating Issues - Step-by-step guide to creating issues