Subtasks

Subtasks

Create and manage subtasks for breaking down work into smaller pieces.

Prerequisites

• Authenticated profile (atlcli auth login)
• Jira permission: Create Issues, Edit Issues

Overview

Subtasks are child issues that belong to a parent issue. They’re useful for:

• Breaking down stories into implementation tasks
• Tracking individual work items within a larger feature
• Parallel work assignment on a single issue

List Subtasks

View subtasks of a parent issue:

atlcli jira subtask list PROJ-123

Output (pretty JSON, with or without --json):

{
  "schemaVersion": "1",
  "parent": {
    "key": "PROJ-123",
    "summary": "Implement user authentication"
  },
  "subtasks": [
    { "key": "PROJ-124", "summary": "Implement API endpoint", "status": "In Progress", "type": "Sub-task" },
    { "key": "PROJ-125", "summary": "Write unit tests", "status": "To Do", "type": "Sub-task" }
  ],
  "total": 2
}

The parent key works positionally or with --parent.

Create Subtask

Create a new subtask under a parent issue:

atlcli jira subtask create PROJ-123 --summary "Implement API endpoint"

Options:

Flag	Description
--summary	Subtask summary (required)
--description	Description (markdown); --description-file <path|-> reads it from a file or stdin
--assignee	Assignee (see Users)
--priority	Priority name (e.g., High, Medium, Low)

Prints {schemaVersion, created: {id, key, parent, summary}}. To add labels, run issue update --key <new key> --add-labels … afterwards.

Examples

# Create with full details
atlcli jira subtask create PROJ-123 \
  --summary "Write unit tests" \
  --description "Cover all edge cases for the new API" \
  --assignee alice@company.com \
  --priority High

# Create multiple subtasks
for task in "Design API" "Implement backend" "Write tests" "Update docs"; do
  atlcli jira subtask create PROJ-123 --summary "$task"
done

Subtask Types

atlcli uses the first subtask issue type of the parent’s project. Projects name it differently, for example:

• Sub-task
• Subtask
• Technical Sub-task
• Sub-bug

The CLI handles this automatically - just use subtask create and it will find the right type.

View Subtask Details

View a subtask with its parent information:

atlcli jira issue get --key PROJ-124

Output includes the parent issue reference.

Use Cases

Sprint Planning Breakdown

# Break down a story into tasks
STORY="PROJ-100"

atlcli jira subtask create $STORY --summary "Database schema design" --assignee alice@company.com
atlcli jira subtask create $STORY --summary "API implementation" --assignee bob@company.com
atlcli jira subtask create $STORY --summary "Frontend integration" --assignee carol@company.com
atlcli jira subtask create $STORY --summary "End-to-end tests" --assignee alice@company.com

Track Subtask Progress

# Get completion percentage
TOTAL=$(atlcli jira subtask list PROJ-123 --json | jq '.total')
DONE=$(atlcli jira subtask list PROJ-123 --json | jq '[.subtasks[] | select(.status == "Done")] | length')
echo "Progress: $DONE / $TOTAL subtasks done"

Bulk Transition Subtasks

# Mark all subtasks as done when parent is resolved
atlcli jira subtask list PROJ-123 --json | \
  jq -r '.subtasks[] | select(.status != "Done") | .key' | \
  xargs -I {} atlcli jira issue transition --key {} --to Done

Create Subtasks from Template

# Standard subtasks for a bug fix
BUG="PROJ-500"
SUBTASKS=("Reproduce issue" "Root cause analysis" "Implement fix" "Write regression test" "Code review")

for task in "${SUBTASKS[@]}"; do
  atlcli jira subtask create $BUG --summary "$task"
done

Related Topics

• Issues - Parent issue operations
• Projects - Subtask issue types per project
• Boards & Sprints - Sprint planning with subtasks