Featured image illustrating a step-by-step guide on syncing Jira to Trello through Unito, depicted by the connected logos through circles and dotted lines.
How to Quickly Sync Jira Issues to Trello Cards With 2-Way Updates
Featured image illustrating a step-by-step guide on syncing Jira to Trello through Unito, depicted by the connected logos through circles and dotted lines.

How to Quickly Sync Jira Issues to Trello Cards With 2-Way Updates

Published in Software Development on , last updated .

If you’re planning to sync Jira issues with Trello cards in an automated 2-way integration, you’ve come to the right place. Many software development teams rely on Jira for its flexibility, time-keeping capability, live performance data updates and the transparency it provides to users.

Trello, meanwhile, is a more versatile project management tool for a wider range of departments. Trello cards are intentionally ambiguous so they can be used to represent tasks, contacts, events, deals, opportunities, leads, forms, and so much more. Unito can sync all of these work items between your tools.

In this Trello Jira Integration Article

This Unito integration for Jira and Trello has two goals:

  • Automatically create new Jira issues based on specific Trello cards and/or vice versa.
  • Keep our cards and issues in a two-way, real-time sync that updates as teams work on tickets and tasks. This ensures everyone has oversight on the latest development work in real-time without needing to switch between Trello and Jira. 

Two ways to sync Trello cards with Jira issues

Directly from your Trello board

If you plan on doing most of your work from Trello, then the Board Sync Power-Up is your best choice. It’s ideal if you prefer creating Unito flows (integrations) directly from Trello board without switching to another interface.

Unito’s standalone sync platform

If you prefer greater flexibility and options for customization when building flows, or if you plan on connecting a variety of other tools, you may prefer Unito’s standalone sync platform.

Whichever option you choose will allow you to access the same Unito dashboard to build flows. You’ll also need to configure your Jira account for Unito access to continue (steps described below).

Setup in Jira

Configure Jira for Unito access

If you’re connecting Jira to Unito via OAuth2, then simply follow the on-screen instructions when adding your account for the first time:

Unito OAuth screen for connecting Jira with 3 options: OAuth 2, an API token or OAuth 1.0

Here’s a separate guide on how to connect a local Jira Server on-premise to Unito. You can also connect your server via ngrok.

Here’s how to configure Jira if you aren’t using OAuth2 (click to expand)
Jira profile page to change email contact visibility
Changing your Jira contact email visibility enables Unito to discover your account and sync Jira issues to Trello.

Step 1. Connect your Trello board and Jira project to Unito

  • Navigate to the Unito App or continue from the embedded version of your choice and select +Create Flow.
  • Select Start Here to connect Trello and Jira.
  • Then +Choose account to specify the Jira project and Trello board you plan on syncing.
  • Click Confirm.
Connecting Trello and Jira to Unito to sync issues and tasks

Step 2. Choose a flow direction for creating new cards or issues

Your Unito flow lets you automatically create new Trello cards or Jira issues based on your manual activity.

So in this step, you’re choosing a source and destination for automated card and/or issue creation:

Choosing a flow direction in Unito between Trello and Jira
This is an example of a one-way flow from Trello to Jira. New Trello cards will create Jira issues but not vice versa. We’ll decide which Trello cards should turn into Jira issues in the next step.

Click Confirm when you’ve chosen a flow direction. 

Step 3. Filter out unrelated data from syncing by setting rules

Now we can set up rules to determine which trigger events will create new Trello cards or Jira issues.

The default setting will automatically create new work items in your destination tool whenever work items are created manually in the source tool.

Select Add a new rule to establish your rules for each directional flow.

In this example, Jira issues will sync to Trello if the issue type is any of: Change, Data, or Defect and the label is not Disconnected_from_Trello, which this user added to stop the item from syncing with Unito.

You can apply custom labels to your issues or cards to be even more precise about what kind of data is shared.

Here’s a more advanced set of rules to demonstrate some of Unito’s in-depth customizability:

example of rules set in Unito for an integration between Trello and Jira specifying which labels for Trello cards will create new Jira tasks automatically

In the above example, the user has told Unito to create new Jira issues as tasks based on open (unarchived) Trello cards created after January 1, 2023 in any of the lists mentioned above except for the “discussed/paused,” “New tasks and issues,” “v1,” or “Do not send to Jira” lists.

Those Jira tasks will then be kept in sync with their matching Trello cards based on the field mappings chosen in the next step.

Find out more about setting rules.

This is where you can tell Unito which fields in Trello should sync with similar fields in Jira.

When you first open this screen, you’ll be presented with two options. If you select Auto-map, Unito will pre-populate a list of suggested field mappings which you can then adjust. If you know exactly how you want your fields mapped, Start from scratch.

Learn more about field mappings between Trello and Jira.

Unito's auto mapping table for fields

Click + Add mapping to add additional fields to be synced. To do so, click Select a field for each tool, and find the appropriate field to map.

After you’ve chosen a field in one tool, Unito will suggest compatible matches in the second tool when you click on the other drop-down menu.

A set of field mappings between Trello and Jira in Unito's flow builder
fields with a blue question mark indicate custom fields, and the gear icon indicates fields that can be further customized.

Here’s an example of how statuses can be linked together in Unito.

Linking Jira issue status to Trello lists with Unito's field mappings

Note: If you don’t configure your fields as pictured, then your flow will refer to your default rules when syncing.

And here’s another example of a completed set of field mappings:

Find out more about setting field mappings.

Step 5. Launch your Jira Trello integration

And that’s it! You’ve just synced Trello and Jira in a 2-way integration. Congratulations!

A Trello card synced to a Jira issue with Unito highlighting several synced fields including title, description, due date, and comments.
A Trello card synced to a Jira issue with Unito highlighting several synced fields including title, description, due date, and comments.



If you’ve followed the steps above, your flow will now: 

  • Create an issue in Jira when a new card is added in Trello and assigned a specific label.
  • Create a card in Trello when a new issue is created in Jira that meets certain criteria related to your Trello labels. 
  • Allow your teams to collaborate between Trello and Jira without having to switch tools, manually copy-paste project details, or request information from the other team about shared work.

If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to reach out and let us know.

Ready for a more advanced Trello Jira workflow?

Here’s a framework you can use to a build a more advanced workflow between Trello and Jira. A workflow is what we call an integration with multiple Unito flows that all work in tandem. Check it out below:

Frequently Asked Questions about Unito’s Jira Trello Integration

Can Unito integrate Jira with Trello?

Yes! Unito can integrate Jira with Trello through our standalone sync platform, or embedded in Trello with our Board Sync Power-Up or our Jira app on the Atlassian marketplace.

How do I sync boards in Trello?

Here’s our guide to sync Trello cards between boards with Unito. Simply connect your boards to Unito, choose a flow direction, set rules, field mappings and launch!

How do I create a Jira ticket from Trello?

You can create Jira incident tickets, known as Jira issues, based on Trello cards by connecting one of your Jira projects and Trello boards to Unito and setting up flow with a one-way flow direction from Trello to Jira. The Jira integration guide above goes into more detail.

How do I power-up Jira in Trello?

Unito’s Board Sync Power-Up enables integrating Jira and Trello with Unito to link Jira issues to your project workflow. Unito supports Jira cloud, Jira Data Center, and Jira Service Management as well as many other incident and project management tools. Simply add the Power Up to your Trello board and create a flow by following the guide above to sync corresponding Trello cards.

How do I import data from Trello to Jira?

You can integrate Trello for importing card data into Jira or another preferred project management software is as easy as connecting your Trello account and Jira project to Unito. The easiest method for getting Trello to Jira is by setting your Unito flow direction to a one way synchronization from Trello to Jira. Then, whenever you create new Trello cards, Unito will create tickets in Jira automatically.

What can Trello sync with?

Unito can sync Jira, Trello, Asana, Wrike, Google Sheets, Airtable, Salesforce, GitHub, GitLab, Azure DevOps, Notion, ClickUp, Google Calendar, Microsoft Excel, Outlook, and many others. Here’s a full list of Unito’s integrations for project management tools.

What’s next after you sync Trello and Jira with Unito?