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Using Issue Types

Set and change issue types to organize work within your team's hierarchy.

This article is for team members who want to assign issue types to their work. Use this guide when you're creating an issue and need to assign it a type (Initiative, Project, Epic, Task, etc.), changing an existing issue's type, or organizing your work within the hierarchy.

Understanding your organization's hierarchy

Your organization's admins have configured a five-level hierarchy that categorizes all work.

  • Level 1 (Initiative/Objective) — big picture goals spanning quarters or years

  • Level 2 (Project) — major efforts taking several months

  • Level 3 (Epic) — feature themes spanning weeks to months

  • Level 4 (Bug/Task/Enhancement/Story) — day-to-day work completed in days to weeks

  • Level 5 (Sub-task) — granular tasks measured in hours to days

All work in Zenhub starts as an issue — the type you assign determines which hierarchy level that issue represents. Creating an Epic means creating an issue and setting its type to Epic.

NOTE: Issue type names may differ in your organization if admins customized the default terminology. Check your organization's configuration if the types you see don't match these examples.

Setting and changing issue types

Set an issue's type during creation or change it anytime afterward using the same process.

  1. Open the issue (or during creation, look at the right sidebar)

  2. Click the Issue type dropdown in the right sidebar

  3. Select the desired type from the list organized by hierarchy level

  4. The change saves automatically

To remove an issue type, click the dropdown and deselect the currently selected type. Only one type can be selected at a time.

TIP: The hierarchy system is flexible — promote or demote issues between levels as your understanding of the work evolves. Just change the issue type to reflect the actual scope.

Where issue types appear

Different hierarchy levels appear in different Zenhub views by default, keeping strategic planning separate from daily execution.

Issue type level

Default views

Purpose

Levels 1, 2, 3

Goals & Planning Panel, Timeline

Strategic planning and roadmap visualization

Levels 4, 5

Work Tracker, Reports

Daily execution and sprint work

Use the Issue Type filter on your Work Tracker to display Level 1/2/3 issue types when you need to see how strategic work breaks down into execution tasks.

Automatic behaviors

Smart parent suggestions
When setting a parent for an issue, Zenhub automatically suggests issues from the appropriate hierarchy level. You can override these suggestions by searching for issues at any level.

Automated sub-issue type assignment
When creating sub-issues under a parent, Zenhub automatically assigns the default issue type for the next level down. Creating a sub-issue under an Epic (Level 3) automatically assigns it the default Level 4 type (typically Task).

Common workflows

Creating any issue using the green Create button

  1. Click the green + Create button

  2. Select GitHub Issue or Zenhub Issue

  3. Set the issue type dropdown to your desired level

  4. The issue appears in the appropriate default view based on type

Creating strategic work (Initiatives, Projects, Epics) in Goals & Planning Panel

  1. Open the Goals & Planning Panel

  2. Click the blue + icon

  3. Click the GitHub issue icon to switch to Zenhub Issue if desired

  4. Select the issue type from the list

Breaking down strategic work into tasks

  1. Open a strategic issue (Epic, Project, or Initiative)

  2. Create sub-issues using the + Add Issue button

  3. Zenhub automatically assigns the appropriate type for the next level down

  4. Sub-issues appear on Work Tracker while the parent remains in Goals & Planning Panel

Reclassifying work as scope changes

  1. Open the issue that needs reclassification

  2. Change its issue type to reflect the new scope

  3. The issue automatically moves to the appropriate default view

  4. Parent-child relationships remain intact

Troubleshooting

Types not appearing in dropdown
Ensure your organization's admins have configured issue types. See Establishing Issue Types for setup guidance, or contact your Zenhub organization admin.

Can't change issue type
Verify you have write permissions for the repository. Read-only access prevents modifications.

Issue disappeared after changing type
The issue moved to a different default view. Strategic types (Levels 1–3) appear in the Goals & Planning Panel; execution types (Levels 4–5) appear on the Work Tracker. Use filters or switch views to locate the issue.

FAQ

Q: How do issue types differ from labels?
A: Issue types define hierarchical work structure and parent-child relationships. Labels provide flexible categorization across any dimension like priority, component, or status. Use issue types for structural organization and labels for cross-cutting concerns.

Q: Can I have multiple issue types on one issue?
A: No. Each issue can only have one issue type assigned at a time. This ensures clear hierarchy and prevents confusion about which level the issue represents.

Q: What happens when I change an issue's type?
A: The issue automatically moves to the default view for that type level. Parent-child relationships and other metadata remain unchanged.

Q: Do I need special permissions to change issue types?
A: You need write permissions for the repository containing the issue.

Q: How do I create an Epic or Project?
A: Create a new issue and assign it the Epic or Project issue type. You can set the issue type during creation or change it afterward using the issue type dropdown.

Q: How do I create a custom issue type like "Feature" or "Technical Debt"?
A: Custom types must be configured by your organization admin. See Establishing Issue Types for admin configuration guidance.

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