In project management, an epic is a significant body of work that can be split into smaller, manageable segments of work called user stories.
Epics and user stories in ClickUp
In ClickUp, epics and user stories are represented by tasks. You can relate user stories to their epics and vice versa using Relationships.
Create an epic
Open the List you want your epic to live in and create a task. For better organization, apply a custom task type called Epic to your task.
Use Chat for general team communications, but keep conversations specifically about epics within the epic task.
Use AI Custom Fields
Create AI Custom Fields for your epics. We recommend the following fields:
| AI Custom Field | Description |
| Summary | Summarize the epic. |
| Progress Updates | Receive updates on the progress of the epic. |
| Action Items | Identify work that needs to be done for the epic. |
| T-Shirt Size | Identify how much effort the epic is. |
| Categorize | Let ClickUp AI categorize your epics, or create your own custom prompt to do so. |
Create user stories
Create one task for each user story and link its epic using Relationships. For better organization, apply a custom task type called User Story to your task.
Use the Sprint Points ClickApp to size your user stories.
Add epics and user stories to multiple Lists
Use the Tasks in Multiple Lists ClickApp to add epics or user stories to more than one List in your Workspace, like a roadmap or a planned Sprint.
An admin or owner needs to enable this ClickApp.
Real-world example: software development
Our engineers and product managers at ClickUp plan epics in ClickUp to prioritize work, improve visibility, and collaborate.
Teams are organized into squads, each having a dedicated Folder. Each squad Folder contains Lists for backlog items, bugs, and Sprints. Relevant Docs are stored next to Lists in the Sidebar.
Epics and user stories exist in the squad's feature Lists, product roadmap Lists, and Sprint Lists thanks to the flexibility of Tasks in Multiple Lists.
Import from Jira
Want to move your epics and user stories from Jira to ClickUp? Import from Jira or use one of our Jira integrations to improve your productivity:
- Jira Connected Search integration: If you need real-time visibility to search for and preview Jira projects, boards, dashboards, and issues in ClickUp.
- Jira Sync integration: Sync all project and issue updates between ClickUp and Jira, so you don't have to leave ClickUp to see and manage your work.