What is a sprint retrospective?

A sprint retrospective is a recurring meeting where a team reviews how the last sprint went and decides what to change in the next one. It is the ceremony that makes an agile process improve over time, rather than simply repeat. Scrum places it at the end of every sprint, after the sprint review.

Can you run retrospectives inside Jira?

Yes. Agile Toolbox for Jira adds retrospective boards to Jira Cloud. Each Jira board keeps its own retrospectives, the team adds cards, reacts and votes in real time, and any card can be turned into a Jira issue directly from the board — so action items land in the backlog instead of being lost in a document.

Is Agile Toolbox free?

Agile Toolbox is free forever for teams of up to 10 users. Larger teams are billed through the Atlassian Marketplace, which handles all licensing and payment.

Does it work for remote and hybrid teams?

Yes. Cards, votes, reactions and edits appear for everyone the moment they are made. The board stays open between meetings, so people in different time zones can add cards when they are online and the team votes together when it meets.

What happens to the action items?

Any card on the board can be converted into a Jira issue without leaving the retrospective, with the summary and description prefilled and a link back to the board. Mark one column as the action column and the board creates an issue for every card in it, one after another.

How does voting work?

Each participant gets a vote budget you set per board, for example three votes. The board shows how many votes each person has left. You can allow several votes on one card or one vote per card, and you can restrict voting to a phase the facilitator opens with "Start voting". Emoji reactions are separate and never count as votes.

Can the retrospective be anonymous?

Yes. An anonymous board hides who wrote each card, who voted and who reacted; only the counts are shown. Once a board is saved as anonymous it cannot be switched back, so nobody can be identified after the fact.

Can we look back at previous retrospectives?

Yes. Finished retrospectives are archived per board and open read-only with their cards, votes, reactions and linked issues, so the team can review what it committed to last time before deciding what to change next.

Which retrospective formats are supported?

Nine column templates cover the common formats — Went well, Start Stop Continue, 4L, Sail trip, Mad Sad Glad, Thumbs, What went…, Starfish and KALM — and you can define custom columns for any other format your team prefers.

Agile Toolbox for Jira

Retrospectives for Jira

Agile Toolbox adds retrospective boards directly to Jira Cloud. Every board keeps its own retro history. The team adds cards, reacts, votes within a budget and groups duplicates in real time — and turns any card into a Jira issue on the spot, so the actions land in the backlog instead of a document nobody reopens.

A retrospective board inside Jira with three columns, emoji reactions and votes on the cards, a vote budget, a timer, and a Create issues button on the action column — A live retrospective board; every card in the action column becomes a Jira issue without leaving the page.

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How a retrospective works

1Create the retrospective for your Jira board, from one of nine column templates or your own columns, and set the vote budget.
2The team adds cards, hidden until you reveal them. Everything appears live, so nobody waits their turn.
3Reveal the cards, group duplicates by dropping one onto another, and react with emoji while you read.
4Open voting. Everyone spends their votes, and the board shows who still has some left.
5Discuss the top-voted items, then create a Jira issue for every card in the action column and archive the board for next time.

Retrospective settings: anonymous mode, votes per participant, multiple votes per card, voting phase, emoji reactions, a template picker and three columns with one marked as the action column

Prepare the board before the meeting

Start from one of nine column templates, or define your own columns
Give everyone a vote budget, and decide whether several votes can land on one card
Open voting only when the facilitator says so, or leave it open all the time
Make the board anonymous, switch emoji reactions on or off, and mark one column as the action column

A live retrospective board with three columns, hidden cards, emoji reactions, a vote budget of 0 of 3 votes left, a timer and a Create issues button on the action column

Run the retro with the whole team at once

Cards appear for everyone the moment they are added
Keep cards hidden while people write, then reveal them together
Vote within the budget; the board shows "2 of 3 votes left" so nobody has to count
React with emoji to say "exactly this" or "not sure" without spending a vote
Run each phase against a timer with presets from one minute up

A group card titled Main group message holding two cards, with its own vote count, a 2 cards badge and reactions on each member card

Group duplicates without losing anything

Drop a card onto another to group them; both cards stay intact
The group gets its own title, votes and reactions
Fold a group to keep the column short, or collapse them all at once
Drag a group as a single block, or drag a card back out

The Jira Create Task dialog opened from a retrospective card, prefilled with the card text as summary and a description naming the retrospective and column, with a link back to the board

Turn actions into backlog items

Create a Jira issue from any card; the summary and description are prefilled and link back to the board
Mark a column as the action column and create issues for every card in it in one pass
Link an existing issue to a card, or several, and open them from the board

The Retrospectives list in Jira with search, a Newest first sort, and rows showing owner, creation date, linked issues, template and Active status

Keep the history per board

Search and sort every retrospective the board has run
See the template, the owner, the linked Jira issues and the status at a glance
Archive finished retros so past actions stay reviewable, read-only

Retrospective formats

Pick a template when you create the retrospective, then add, rename or reorder columns as you like. One column can be marked as the action column.

Format	When to use it
Went well / To improve / Action items	The default. Fast, and works for almost any team.
Start, Stop, Continue	When the team needs to decide on concrete behaviour changes.
Mad, Sad, Glad	When morale matters more than process this sprint.
4L — Liked, Learned, Lacked, Longed for	Good after a big release or a difficult project.
Sail trip	Wind, anchors, rocks and the island: a visual metaphor for what pushes the team and what holds it back.
Starfish	Keep, more of, less of, start, stop. Finer-grained than Start, Stop, Continue.
KALM	Keep, Add, Less, More. A quick format for a team that already knows its habits.
Thumbs	Thumbs up, thumbs down. The lightest format there is.
What went…	What went well and what went wrong, nothing else.
Custom columns	Anything else. Add, rename and reorder your own columns.

Frequently asked questions

What is a sprint retrospective?: A sprint retrospective is a recurring meeting where a team reviews how the last sprint went and decides what to change in the next one. It is the ceremony that makes an agile process improve over time, rather than simply repeat. Scrum places it at the end of every sprint, after the sprint review.
Can you run retrospectives inside Jira?: Yes. Agile Toolbox for Jira adds retrospective boards to Jira Cloud. Each Jira board keeps its own retrospectives, the team adds cards, reacts and votes in real time, and any card can be turned into a Jira issue directly from the board — so action items land in the backlog instead of being lost in a document.
Is Agile Toolbox free?: Agile Toolbox is free forever for teams of up to 10 users. Larger teams are billed through the Atlassian Marketplace, which handles all licensing and payment.
Does it work for remote and hybrid teams?: Yes. Cards, votes, reactions and edits appear for everyone the moment they are made. The board stays open between meetings, so people in different time zones can add cards when they are online and the team votes together when it meets.
What happens to the action items?: Any card on the board can be converted into a Jira issue without leaving the retrospective, with the summary and description prefilled and a link back to the board. Mark one column as the action column and the board creates an issue for every card in it, one after another.
How does voting work?: Each participant gets a vote budget you set per board, for example three votes. The board shows how many votes each person has left. You can allow several votes on one card or one vote per card, and you can restrict voting to a phase the facilitator opens with "Start voting". Emoji reactions are separate and never count as votes.
Can the retrospective be anonymous?: Yes. An anonymous board hides who wrote each card, who voted and who reacted; only the counts are shown. Once a board is saved as anonymous it cannot be switched back, so nobody can be identified after the fact.
Can we look back at previous retrospectives?: Yes. Finished retrospectives are archived per board and open read-only with their cards, votes, reactions and linked issues, so the team can review what it committed to last time before deciding what to change next.
Which retrospective formats are supported?: Nine column templates cover the common formats — Went well, Start Stop Continue, 4L, Sail trip, Mad Sad Glad, Thumbs, What went…, Starfish and KALM — and you can define custom columns for any other format your team prefers.

Retrospective guides

How to Run Retrospectives Inside Jira: Complete Guide (2026)
Run agile retrospective meetings directly in Jira with native retro boards. Guide covers templates, facilitation tips, and action item tracking for Scrum teams.
How to Facilitate Remote Retrospectives in Jira: A Step-by-Step Guide
Learn how to run effective remote retrospectives directly in Jira. A step-by-step guide using Agile Toolbox to boost engagement and execution.
Mastering Retrospectives: Turning Reflection into Action
Transform your team's retrospectives from routine meetings into powerful catalysts for continuous improvement and team growth.

All retrospective guides →

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Retrospectives, inside Jira

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