Release Planning
Report
Turn a Jira version into a release-ready plan, scope, team,
groomed stories, bugs, and schedule, so a release kickoff
doesn't start with "wait, what's actually in this one?"
What is a Release Planning Report?
A Release Planning Report summarizes everything going into a specific Jira release version before
development starts, the version overview, its description, the groomed stories ready for work, open
bugs, and a tentative schedule from development to release.
Release Planning Report is scoped to a single version, the unit a release manager actually ships
against. It answers the question a release kickoff meeting always starts with: what's in this release,
who's building it, and by when?
Who should receive it?
Anyone who needs to plan around, build, or sign off on what's shipping in this version.
Release managers
Use it as the single reference for scope and schedule going into a release.
Engineering leads and the delivery team
Confirm what's groomed and
ready before a sprint or release
starts.
QA and testing teams
Need the testing window and bug list to plan coverage in advance.
Product and leadership
Want to know what's shipping and when, without opening the backlog.
When should it be sent?
At release
kickoff
before development
starts, so the whole
team plans against the
same scope
After grooming
once stories are
estimated and ready,
to confirm what's
actually going into the
version
When the
schedule shifts
a new development or testing end date changes what everyone downstream is planning around
Before a go/ no-go call
to check readiness
against estimated
effort and known bugs
At sprint planning
for the release
so capacity conversations start from a shared, accurate scope
Essential sections, with examples
Five sections, moving from what's planned to when it ships.
Version Overview
Version name, start date, planned release date, the team assigned, and a count of available issues, the block that frames scale and ownership at a glance.
Example:
RP-26.6.24 · Start 2024/07/01 · Planned Release 2024/07/18 · Team: Saul Harber, Matt Cullerton, John Doe, Peter Copter, Akash Gomase · 4 Stories, 3 Bugs
Version Description
A plain-language statement of what this release is meant to deliver, so anyone outside engineering understands the "why," not just the ticket list.
Example:
"Deliver new features for the customer portal, including chatbot integration and a comprehensive analytics dashboard."
Groomed Stories
Stories that are estimated and ready for development, with assignee, priority, and estimated effort, sorted by priority.
Example:
BLB-7, Integration of user authentication for secure access to the analytics dashboard, Blocker, 3 weeks 4 days, Matt Cullerton
Bugs
Open bugs ready for development, with reporter, priority, and original estimate, so known issues are visible before the release starts, not discovered during it.
Example:
BLB-6, Chatbot responses are delayed intermittently impacting real-time interaction, reported by John Doe
Tentative Schedule
Development start and end dates, testing end date, and planned release date, laid out as one timeline instead of scattered across tickets.
Example:
Dev 2024/07/01 2024/07/11 · Testing ends 2024/07/17 · Release 2024/07/18
Common mistakes
Including ungroomed stories.
Mixing in work that isn't estimated yet makes the release scope look more settled than it is.
No estimated effort on bugs.
A bug list without effort estimates gives QA and engineering nothing to plan capacity against.
Skipping the version description.
A list of story keys means little without a sentence explaining what the release is actually for.
Schedule dates with no buffer logic.
Development, testing, and release dates that are just listed, with no sense of dependency between them, invite the schedule to slip quietly.
Leaving the team list out.
Without named owners, nobody knows who to ask when a story's status is unclear.
Publishing before grooming is done.
Sending the report too early means it's stale by the time development actually starts.
Example report
A real report, recreated here from live Jira data. Swap in a full screenshot once the final export is ready.
How to automate it with ARNR
Three steps replace the manual pull from the backlog that usually happens before every release kickoff.
Connect Jira
Link your Jira instance once. ARNR reads
versions, stories, bugs, and estimates directly.
Pick the version
Choose the release version and select this
template from the library.
Get your report
ARNR sorts groomed stories and bugs by priority, builds the schedule, and hands you a PDF or a live link to share.
Download the template
Coming soon. The downloadable version is on its way. Leave your email and we'll send it the day it's ready.
Related report templates
Sprint Report
Iteration summary
Weekly Status Report
Team update
Executive Report
Leadership
PMO Report
Governance