How to add checkboxes in the issue description in Jira?

[Andres Felipe Ramirez Espinal]

Hi,

I'm trying to add checkboxes in the issue description in Jira using Markdown or any other supported format. My goal is to include options like these:

• Option 1
• Option 2

I tried using Markdown syntax, but it doesn't seem to work in Jira. I also experimented with tables in Markdown and Unicode characters (☐ and ☑), but I would like to know if there is a native way to do this in Jira.

Has anyone found a solution or knows if Jira supports this kind of checkboxes in issue descriptions?

Thanks in advance!


-----
Example

I need it to look like this
Imagen 1

using Markdown, I need a checkbox
Imagen 2

[Darryl Lee · Accepted solution]

HI @Andres Felipe Ramirez Espinal - so, I've got good news, and bad news...

Atlassian recently introduced a new feature called Action Items, and you create them by typing [] directly into Description or any Rich Text Fields.

https://community.atlassian.com/t5/Jira-articles/Introducing-Action-items-in-Jira/ba-p/2876018

Now the bad news:

Atlassian doesn't support Action Items in Automation.

Ugh, I know right? Following that link above, @Martin Böhme tried a few variants of Markup, and as you've found, Atlassian didn't see fit to support this.

If you scroll down a bit, you'll see that @Sunny Ape and I figured out that you can add Action Items using the REST API, which... ugh.

We've certainly made the PM @Ahmud Auleear aware of this oversight, but his only response was this:

Can Action Items be used via Automation?

The ability to use Action Items via Automation is an interesting concept. I’ll review this request with the Automation teams to explore the possibilities.

[Andres Felipe Ramirez Espinal]

Good morning @Darryl Lee , greetings from Colombia

Thank you very much for the detailed response! I really appreciate the explanation and insights into action items in Jira. It's good to know that checkboxes work manually, although they are not yet supported by Automation. Hopefully Atlassian considers adding this functionality in the future. Thanks again for your help!

[Stefan Salzl]

Woooow….thx @Darryl Lee  for that information.

I wasn‘t aware of this. Another day I learn something new in the community. awesome 😍😍

[Jan-Willem Aikens]

Well... This IS an oversight. Is there a feature request for this? I will vote :)

[Stefan Salzl]

Hi @Andres Felipe Ramirez Espinal - welcome to the community

I dunno of any possibility to do this. tbh from my loint of view it‘s also not supposed to do so.

Why not using native checkbox fields?

Best
Stefan

[Andres Felipe Ramirez Espinal]

Hi Stefan, thank you for the welcome and your response! I was looking for a way to include checkboxes directly in the description field for better visualization, but I understand that it's not the intended use. Using native checkbox fields is definitely a good alternative. Appreciate your input!