Skip to main content

Release Planning

Who uses Release Planning: Release managers define releases and coordinate delivery across multiple projects. Program managers align releases with strategic initiatives and value streams. Product owners assign features and stories to releases. Administrators configure value streams and manage release planning settings.

Permission requirement: Viewing release planning requires read access to the projects and releases. Creating and managing value streams and releases typically requires admin or program manager permissions. Check with your administrator for specific role requirements.

Release Planning helps teams plan, manage, and track releases across multiple projects. The centralized view enables release managers, program managers, and administrators to define releases, assign work items, and monitor progress.

Release Field Integration​

Associate stories, defects, and portfolio items with releases in multiple ways:

  • Release Planning Board: Add work items directly within the release planning interface
  • Asset Details Pages: Use the Release field in story, defect, and portfolio item details to select releases
  • Inline Editing: Update release associations directly in grid views
  • Filter by Release: Filter portfolio items by release from the portfolio item list page
  • My Recent Changes: Track release field modifications in your activity feed

The Release field displays releases in "Value Stream Name - Release Name" format. For portfolio items, the Release field appears after the Owners field in the Asset Details page.

Access Release Planning​

  1. Log in to Agility and click the hamburger menu > Release Planning.

The Release Planning page displays value streams. If no value streams are configured, a splash page prompts you to create a new value stream.

Value Streams​

A value stream is a logical grouping of work that reflects how value flows through an organization. It connects strategy to execution by linking initiatives, releases, and work items that contribute to a common business objective.

Value streams help teams visualize and manage work items (features, stories, defects) that collectively deliver value to customers in a specific business area or product line.

Purpose​

Value streams act as the top-level container for release planning and help teams:

  • Organize related releases under a single business goal
  • Align multiple teams working on the same strategic initiative
  • Visualize the flow of work from planning to delivery
  • Track progress across releases within a common context

Example​

A company with two major product lines (Mobile Applications and Web Platform) can manage each as a separate value stream. Within each value stream, multiple releases (Q1 Release, Q2 Release) are created, and teams assign features or stories to these releases.

Create a Value Stream​

  1. Log in to Agility and click the hamburger menu > Release Planning.
  2. On the Create Value Stream page, click Add Value Stream.
  3. Enter a Name for the value stream.
  4. Click Save.

The value stream appears in the Release Planning list.

note

A value stream must exist before you can plan releases.

Show Closed Items​

The Show closed items toggle allows you to view closed work items (Epics, Stories, and Defects) within the Release Planning Board. This feature helps you maintain a complete historical view of all planned items for each release, including those completed in past sprints.

How to View Closed Work Items​

  1. Navigate to the Release Planning Board.
  2. Locate the Show closed items toggle in the upper-right corner of the board.
  3. Click the toggle to enable it.

Result: Closed work items appear in their respective release columns with a "Closed" status indicator. Closed items from both portfolio items (Epics) and backlog items (Stories and Defects) are now visible.

note

Closed work items are displayed for viewing only. You cannot move or drag-and-drop closed items between releases.

Benefits of Closed Item Visibility​

Benefits​

  • Complete release history: See all planned items for each release, including completed work from past sprints
  • Scope alignment: Verify that all planned work items were completed as intended for each release
  • Planning reference: Use historical data to inform future release planning decisions

Backlog​

The Backlog section lists all unassigned work items (stories and defects) that are not yet part of any release. You can browse, filter, or search for specific items using the Backlog Search feature.

Troubleshooting​

Why can't I create a value stream?

Creating value streams requires administrator or program manager permissions. Contact your system administrator to verify your role and permissions. Value streams are required before you can create releases.

Why don't I see any releases in my value stream?

Value streams can exist without releases. If you don't see releases, you may need to create them first using the Add Release button. Verify you have appropriate permissions to create releases within the value stream.

Why can't I see closed work items even with the toggle enabled?

The Show closed items toggle displays closed work items only within the Release Planning Board for items assigned to releases. Items must first be assigned to a release and then closed for them to appear when the toggle is enabled.

Why don't I see the Release field when creating work items?

The Release field appears only when Release Planning is enabled in your instance. Contact your administrator to enable Release Planning. Once enabled, the Release field will display in asset details pages and the Release Planning Board.