Sync GitHub Issues and Jira Tasks in One To-Do List (Exact Steps + Workflow Examples)

Foco Plus automatically pulls GitHub issues and Jira tasks into a single list, preserving their original context (labels, assignees, due dates) while letting you organize them by priority, date, or project. Each task appears with its project’s color, so you instantly know if it’s from the API repo or the frontend Jira board. The sync is two-way: mark a task as done in Foco, and it closes in GitHub/Jira (if enabled). No manual copying, no tab-switching.

Step-by-Step: Sync GitHub and Jira in Foco Plus

1. Connect GitHub and Jira (2-minute setup)

• Go to Settings > Connections in Foco and select GitHub. Authorize via OAuth (no API keys needed). Repeat for Jira.
• For each connection, choose a destination workspace: (a) Automatic (Foco’s AI assigns tasks to workspaces based on content, e.g., ‘backend’ for repo-api issues) or (b) Fixed (e.g., all Jira tasks go to a workspace named ‘Client X’).
• Enable ‘Complete also in origin’ to auto-close GitHub issues or Jira tasks when marked done in Foco. Example: Finish a bug fix in Foco, and the GitHub issue closes without leaving the app.

2. Organize imported tasks (3 ways)

• By project: Each GitHub repo or Jira project becomes a workspace in Foco, with a unique color. In Panorama Mode, tasks from all projects appear mixed but are color-coded (e.g., blue for ‘API’, green for ‘Frontend’).
• By priority: Use GitHub/Jira labels (e.g., ‘bug’, ‘enhancement’) or Foco’s priority fields (urgent, important, normal). Filter in List View to see only ‘urgent’ tasks across all projects.
• By date: Tasks with due dates auto-group into ‘Today’, ‘This Week’, or ‘Later’. Add a due date in Foco to a GitHub issue without affecting the original (e.g., set a ‘tomorrow’ deadline for a ‘low-priority’ issue).

3. Real workflow: From meeting to action

Scenario: A sprint planning meeting assigns you two GitHub issues (#45 in repo-api, #78 in repo-frontend) and one Jira task (PROJ-123). Here’s how Foco handles it:

• Record the meeting in Listen Mode. Foco transcribes the audio and saves it as a note attached to a new task: ‘Sprint 12 planning’. The transcription includes timestamps (e.g., ‘[00:12:45] Assigned #45, priority urgent’).
• During the meeting, use Burst Mode to dictate: ‘Issue #45 in repo-api, priority urgent, due tomorrow. Jira task PROJ-123, blocked by backend, label review.’ Foco creates both tasks, extracts the due date, priority, and labels, and attaches the audio note.
• In Panorama Mode, the three tasks appear with their project colors. Switch to Kanban View and drag them to the ‘Doing’ column. The GitHub issues retain their original labels (e.g., ‘bug’), and the Jira task shows its ‘blocked’ status.
• When you finish #45, mark it as done in Foco. With ‘Complete also in origin’ enabled, the GitHub issue auto-closes, and the team is notified in Slack (via GitHub’s native integration).

How to Prioritize Synced Tasks (With Examples)

Foco’s List View groups tasks by date, but you can filter by either the execution date (when you’ll work on it) or the due date (deadline). Example:

• A GitHub issue (#123) has a due date of Friday but requires 2 hours of work. Set the execution date to Wednesday at 10 AM with a 2-hour block. In Calendar View, it appears as a time slot, while the due date remains Friday.
• Use priority flags to override dates. A ‘urgent’ Jira task (PROJ-456) due next week appears in ‘Today’ if marked as urgent, even if its execution date is later.
• For blocked tasks, add a label like ‘blocked:backend’ and filter by it in List View to see all dependencies at once.

Cross-project labels (example)

Create labels in Foco to unify tasks across tools. Example labels and their use cases:

• ‘dependency:frontend’: Applied to a GitHub issue that requires frontend changes. Filter by this label to see all tasks needing frontend input, regardless of origin (GitHub/Jira).
• ‘blocked:QA’: Used for tasks waiting on QA. In Kanban View, these tasks stay in ‘Doing’ until the label is removed, even if their due date passes.