Installation & Setup

Install the app from Atlassian Marketplace and complete the initial configuration

Prerequisites

An Atlassian Cloud Jira instance (Jira Software or Jira Work Management)
Jira Admin or Site Admin permissions to install apps
At least one Jira project where release tickets will be managed

Installing the App

Find the app on Atlassian Marketplace

Go to Jira Settings > Apps > Find new apps and search for "Release Governance for Jira", or visit the Atlassian Marketplace directly.

Click Install

Click the Install button and select your Jira site. The app will be installed automatically.

Grant permissions

The app will request the following permissions. Review and accept them:

Permission	Why it's needed
`read:jira-work`	Read Jira issues, projects, statuses, and fields
`write:jira-work`	Create and update release tickets, add comments, transition statuses
`read:jira-user`	Read user identity, search users, check permissions
`manage:jira-configuration`	Create project roles, workflow statuses, and manage schemes
`manage:jira-project`	Create projects and map workflows (auto-setup mode only)
`storage:app`	Store app settings, audit log, freeze windows, and templates
`view:team:teams`	Fetch team names for team dropdowns

Data security All data is stored within Atlassian's cloud infrastructure via Forge Storage. No data leaves your Jira instance. No external servers are involved.

Accessing the App

After installation, the app appears in two places:

Global Page — Find "Release Management Control for Jira" in your Jira apps menu. This is the main interface with the sidebar navigation.
Issue Panel — On any RMC-managed Jira ticket, an issue panel shows governance data (approval status, team, environment, etc.).

First-Time Setup

When you first open the app as an admin, you'll land on the Settings page. The most important first step is Jira Configuration — this sets up the project where release tickets will be created.

You have two options:

Option 1: Auto-Setup (Recommended for new users)

The app creates everything for you: a dedicated Jira project, work types (e.g., Release Request, Emergency Release), workflow statuses, and a restricted permission scheme that prevents manual edits to release tickets.

Choose a Project Name (e.g., "Release Management")
Choose a Project Key (e.g., "RMC")
Define your Work Types (e.g., Release Request, Minor Release, Emergency Release)
Click New Setup and the app does the rest

Option 2: Existing Project

If you already have a Jira project for releases, you can integrate the app with it. Select the project and work type, and the app will read the existing workflow statuses.

Tip Auto-setup creates a hardened permission scheme that prevents users from manually editing release tickets in Jira. This ensures all changes go through the app's governance workflow. The app creates and transitions tickets as itself using app-level credentials.

What Happens During Setup

The auto-setup process performs these steps (you'll see a progress overlay):

Checks if the project exists, creates it if not (company-managed)
Creates or verifies the work types (issue types)
Provisions release workflow statuses in Jira (12 default states)
Creates Jira workflows for each work type
Maps workflows to work types in the project scheme
Adds work types to the project's issue type scheme
Creates and assigns a restricted permission scheme
Saves configuration

After Installation

Once the Jira project is configured, proceed to:

Configure the Approval Chain — Set up approval levels and role mappings
Create Release Templates — Define what fields appear on the release form
Set Up Freeze Windows — Block releases during specific periods
Configure Access Control — Delegate admin access and restrict dashboard