How can I integrate Out of Office Assistant for Jira with my Google Calendar or my Outlook calendar?

There is a native integration with Outlook Automatic Replies. End users can connect to their outlook calendar, and sync their out of office periods into Jira.

We're working on a similar integration with Google Calendar (est. Q2 2025).

Further reading:

Can I use Google Calendar or Outlook events to automatically trigger Out of Office rules in Jira?

Yes. It's possible to trigger as many rules as desired, even simultaneously. Simply connect the corresponding templates to the source calendar.

For example, it's possible to define that issues in project A should be reassigned to a coverer, while issues in filter B should have the approver swapped.

Further reading:

What happens to Out of Office Assistant rules when a Google Calendar event is canceled?

The native integrations do not sync events in Google Calendar and Outlook, but rather automatic replies (Outlook) and vacation responders (Gmail). However, the Zapier integration can be leveraged to sync events.

Existing Out of Office rules can be set up to deactivate automatically when corresponding Google Calendar events are canceled.

Further reading: Integrating with Google Calendar

What happens to Out of Office Assistant rules when an Outlook event is canceled?

The native integrations do not sync events in Google Calendar and Outlook, but rather automatic replies (Outlook) and vacation responders (Gmail). However, the Zapier integration can be leveraged to sync events.

Additionally, Outlook does not support reacting to event modifications or cancellations on Zapier. Therefore, rules generated from Outlook must be manually edited or disabled.

Further reading: Integrating with Outlook Calendar

How do I begin syncing Google Calendar or Outlook with the Out of Office Assistant for Jira?

Start by accessing the Out of Office Assistant App. Then, navigate to the "Integrations" tab and connect to your external calendar.

Further reading: Integrating with Outlook Calendar

Can the Out of Office app sync with other personal calendars outside of Google Calendar and Outlook, such as Apple Calendar?

Out of Office rules can be downloaded as an .ics file and opened in personal calendars supporting that format. 

Can I exclude certain Google Calendar events from triggering Out of Office statuses?

When using the Zapier integration to sync specific events, the Event Type field in the Out of Office action can be used to exclude certain events. This allows defining which events will trigger new absences, excluding other events.

Further reading: Integration with Zapier

What's the process to manually correct Out of Office statuses if the app synchronizes incorrectly?

The app should not sync incorrectly. However, it can take time to reflect the current values of Automatic Replies and Vacations Responders. To make sure the sync is up to date, simply click the button to refresh external rules.

Is it possible to synchronize multiple Google Calendars or Outlook calendars with one Jira user account?

Yes, multiple calendars can be synchronized into a single Jira account, althought it's only possible to connect a single Outlook account and a single Gmail account at any given time.

Does the app offer bidirectional synchronization between Jira and Google Calendar?

Currently, Out of Office Assistant for Jira only provides the ability to sync out of office periods from Outlook and Google Calendar into Jira, but not vice versa.

Feature request: please contact the support team.

Does Calendar Synchronization work in real-time, or is there a delay in updating Out of Office statuses?

The Out of Office scheduler will update external rules every 15 minutes, but can also be run manually at any time.

Is the process of configuring Calendar Synchronization different for users without admin privileges?

No. Currently, the integration with Outlook only supports connections per user. Admins can't decide to connect the entire instance to their Entra ID directory or their roaster of Outlook 365 users.

How do I revoke Calendar Synchronization if no longer needed?

To stop calendar synchronization, simply click on the disconnect button, next to the corresponding integration.

Can the Out of Office app accommodate for non-standard work weeks reflected in Google Calendar?

To support non-standard work weeks, repeated rules with weekly frequency are being developed.

Feature request: For interest in this feature, please raise a ticket with the support team.

Can team-wide Google Calendars be linked to group Out of Office statuses in JIRA?

Currently, Out of Office Assistant doesn't support statuses for teams, groups, or entire projects.

Feature request: For more feature requests, please contact the support team.

How are overlapping calendar events from different calendars managed when synchronizing?

We use priorities that can be adjusted by each user to determine which rules should be active and applied to which issues.

Further reading: Adjusting source priorities

Can Out of Office statuses be automatically cleared upon returning, according to the calendar end time?

Yes, Out of Office statuses are cleared after the event end date unless defined as open-ended. For open-ended rules, manual deactivation is required.

How are partial-day events from Google Calendar interpreted by the Out of Office Assistant?

Currently, any partial-day events from Google Calendar are treated as a whole day absence in Jira. Time-based rules are part of the roadmap for 2025.

Feature request: For interest in this feature, please raise a ticket with the support team.

Is there a limit to the number of absences that can be synchronized?

Since our approach is to sync Automatic Replies and Vacation Responders because that's where users already define their OoO periods, it's only possible to sync one absence at a time with Outlook and Google Calendar.