Move from Jira to devBoard

By Darko Bačić, founder of App Tube · 9 October 2026 · Facts checked 9 October 2026

When you finish, your open Jira work sits on a devBoard board. It keeps its epics, and the current sprint becomes a release. It takes about 45 minutes for one small space. devBoard has no Jira importer, so this is a move by hand. Your AI assistant does most of the typing.

Jira now calls a project a space, and an issue a work item.

Before you start

Move only open work. Done work, old sprints, comments and history stay in Jira, where you can still read them.

Save a copy first, with whatever export your Jira site offers. Ask your Jira admin if you cannot find it.

You also need:

• The role of admin or owner in devBoard. Members cannot make projects, columns, tags or releases.
• An AI assistant connected over MCP, for step 7. MCP is the open standard that lets an AI assistant use other tools.

Still deciding? Read devBoard vs Jira, or the list of Jira alternatives.

What maps to what

Both tools have epics, tasks and subtasks. An epic is a big piece of work split into smaller tasks. A subtask is a step inside a task. A release is a version you ship, with the tasks that go out in it. Small teams use releases in place of sprints.

Steps

1. List the open work

Open the space's backlog in Jira. Copy the open work items into a plain text note, grouped under their epic. Put each subtask on the line under its parent, indented. Put a star next to the ones in the current sprint. You now have one short list per space.

2. Make the project

In devBoard, open Projects and press New project. Type a Project name and a Key of two to six letters. Pick a new key, not the Jira one, so old branch names do not point at the wrong task. Press Create project. The board opens with To do, In progress and Done.

3. Match the columns to your statuses

On the board, click Board columns in the header. Press Add column, type a Column name and pick its Group. Press Add column to save it. The board now has one column for each status you use, up to 20.

4. Add the tags

Open the project and choose Tags. Press New tag, type a Tag name and press Create tag. Make one tag (label) for each component and label you still use. The tags now show when you edit a task.

5. Make the epics

Open Epics and press New epic. Type the epic's name and press Create. Make one for each epic with open work. Each one shows as a card that says "No tasks yet".

6. Make a release for the current sprint

Open Releases and press New release. Type a Release name, like Sprint 12, and pick the sprint's last day as the Target date. Press Create release. The release shows in the list, marked Next up.

7. Let your assistant create the tasks

Paste one epic's list into your assistant. For example: "Create these ten tasks under the epic Checkout, assign me, due next week. Add the starred ones to release Sprint 12. Make each indented line a subtask." The assistant answers with a key for each new task, like WEB-1. This turns an afternoon of typing into a few minutes.

Not connected yet? Connect devBoard to Claude Code first. With Atlassian's MCP server connected too, on Jira's paid plans, the assistant can read the work items straight from Jira.

8. Move the work that was already started

Ask: "Move WEB-3 and WEB-5 to In progress." Or drag the cards on the board. They now sit where they sat in Jira.

Check that it works

Put the two boards side by side. Each column should hold the same number of open cards. Open Epics, and each epic shows how many of its tasks are done. On Releases, the count for Sprint 12 covers the work the app has loaded.

Then tell everyone that new work goes into devBoard from today.

What you leave behind

None of these move.

• Comments and history. Copy a comment into the description if it still matters.
• Attachments. Download the ones you need and drop them on the card, up to 10 MB each.
• Your old keys. Old links still open Jira.
• Logged work and time reports.
• Automations, reports and dashboards.
• Closed sprints and levels above epic.

More setup help is in the guides.

If it does not work