User Guide

Who should read the User Walkthrough?

If you’re brand-new to Out-of-Office Assistant and want a quick, step-by-step approach to get your first rules up and running—start with the User Walkthrough. It shows you a typical scenario of setting up an absence, reassigning issues, and getting familiar with the basic UI.

Who should read the User Guide?

If you already know the basics or want more in-depth information on each feature, this User Guide is your reference. Here, you’ll find detailed how-to articles, advanced use cases (like JQL-based automation), and integration guides.

The tables below classify every article in the user guide in 5 sections for easier navigation:

Section 1: Setting Up and Managing Rules
Adding and Modifying Rules	Learn how to create new rules (start/end dates, covers) or edit existing ones.
The List of Out-of-Office Rules	Understand how to view, sort, and manage all your personal rules in one place.
Out-of-Office Templates	Create reusable rule templates and link them to sources like Outlook or Tempo.
JQL-Based Rules	Create rules that only apply to issues matching certain JQL queries.
Assigning Open Issues to Coverers or Adding Them as Watchers	Bulk actions to handle existing issues when you go out of office.
Add Out-of-Office Tags to Mentions	Configure mention tags to show when someone is out of office (with custom icons, timing, etc.).

Section 2: Viewing Absences
Assigning from the Issue Context	Use the right-hand issue panel to see who’s out of office, coverers, and reassign quickly.
The Out-of-Office User View	Filter and see all users’ statuses across projects (especially useful for bigger teams).

Section 3: Service Management & Approvals
Displaying Agent Availability in the JSM Portal	Show out-of-office status to your customers in the service desk.
Delegating Approvals with Approver Coverers in Jira Service Management	Assign an alternative approver automatically when the original approver is absent.
Sending Out-of-Office Messages to Service Desk Customers	Automatically notify customers if their agent or approver is away.

Section 4: JQLs, Advanced Searching & Reporting
JQL-Based Rules	Create rules that only apply to issues matching certain JQL queries.
Using JQL to Find Issues Depending on the Out-of-Office Status of Assignees	Filter for tasks currently assigned to absent users.
Using JQL to Report on Issues Reassigned by Out-of-Office	Track historical reassignments performed by the app.
Configuring Jira Boards to Show Who Is Out of Office	Make it easy to see OOO statuses on your Scrum or Kanban boards.

Section 5: Interacting with automation for Jira
Skip Absent Group Members in a Round Robin Automation	Prevent Jira automations from assigning issues to users who are away.
Out-of-Office Comments When a Customer Answers to an Absent JSM Agent	Show how agent unavailability is communicated when a customer updates a ticket.
Send an Out-of-Office Message When the Reporter Is Away	Notify your team if the customer or reporter is out of office, so you can plan follow-ups.

Section 6: Integrations
Integration with the Outlook Calendar	Integrate your Out of Office status from Outlook Auto Replies
Integration with Tempo	Sync plans for PTO in Tempo Timesheets and Capacity Planner
Integration with Slack	Sync Slack status or create Jira absence rules directly from Slack.
Adjusting Source Priorities	Resolve conflicts if multiple integrations (Slack, Outlook, Tempo) try to create overlapping rules.
Integration with Google Calendar	Sync Out of Office events in Google Calendar via Zapier
Integration with Zapier	Automate out-of-office activation with Google Calendar and other Zapier-supported apps.
The Out-of-Office Assistant REST API	Build your own custom integrations or automations using tokens and REST endpoints.

Section 6: Settings & Miscellaneous
Time Zone Selection	Align user availability with specific time zones for accurate start/end times.
Approver Change Not Working? (Permission Scheme Issue)	Troubleshoot common permission pitfalls when delegating approvals fails.