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Binwell documentation (knowledge base source)

Getting started

  1. Install Binwell. Protection starts right away for every project (Jira settings > Apps > Binwell > Settings to limit it to some projects).
  2. On the Protection tab, click Copy existing work items. Until a work item has been copied (at install it hasn't), Binwell can only keep a short record of it if it is deleted. The copy runs in the background; you can leave the page.
  3. From now on, every change to a protected work item refreshes its copy. When someone deletes it, it lands in that project's Recycle bin (project sidebar).

What a restore brings back

Comes back: summary, description, environment, priority, labels, components and versions that still exist, due date, estimates, assignee and reporter (if still active), custom fields (including an open sprint), the security level (if the project still has it), the parent, the status (through one transition from the starting status), comments in order with each original author and date written at the top (and their group or role restriction), work logs on their original dates, links to work items that still exist (and to others restored in the same go), watchers.

What changes: Jira gives the restored work item a new key and a new created date and makes the restoring person its creator and (without the Modify reporter permission) its reporter. Comments and work logs are posted by Binwell, with the original author noted. The history starts again from the restore.

What doesn't come back: attachment files (Jira deletes them with the work item; Binwell lists their names in the restore note), votes, the change history, closed sprints, users who are no longer active, components or versions that were removed, and any field Jira refuses. The restore preview lists all of these per work item before you click, and the restore note on the new work item lists them again.

Find a restored work item by its old key: restoredFrom = "SUP-41" in Jira search.

Restoring many at once

Select several work items and click Restore N. Binwell restores parents before their sub-tasks, puts each sub-task under its restored parent, and rebuilds links between restored work items once (in the right direction). Keep the dialog open until it says Done; comments and work logs follow in the background over the next minute or two.

Who can open a bin

  • Jira admins: every project, plus Jira settings > Apps > Binwell.
  • Project admins: their project's bin (switch in Settings).
  • Restorer group (optional): members can open and restore in projects they can browse.
  • Work items that had a security level, and "Summary only" items (whose level Binwell never saw), are shown to Jira admins and project admins only.
  • Restoring also needs Jira's Create work items permission in the target project.

"Summary only" items

Jira's delete event carries only the key, summary, work type, status, people and dates. If a work item is deleted before Binwell has copied it, that is all Binwell can keep. Run Copy existing work items after installing to avoid this.

If a delete event never reaches Binwell (rare platform hiccups), the daily check finds the missing work item and moves its copy to the bin after it has been missing for about a day; the deleter then shows as unknown.

Retention, storage and removing copies

Deleted work items stay in the bin for 90 days by default (7 to 3,650, Settings). Copies live in Forge SQL, which Atlassian caps at 1 GB per site; the Protection tab shows how much is used. Copies are compressed; a work item with more than 1,000 comments or work logs, or a very large copy, is shortened oldest first and the copy says so. Jira admins and project admins can remove any item from the bin for good.

Settings

  • Protect: every project, or a list of project keys. Narrowing the list removes the live copies of work items in the other projects (items already in the bin stay).
  • Mentions: by default an @mention in a restored comment becomes plain "@Name" text so nobody is notified again. Switch to "keep" to keep real mentions.
  • Work logs and watchers can be left out of restores.

Activity log and CSV

The Activity tab lists every deletion Binwell saw, every restore (and anything that failed in it), removals and settings changes. CSV on the bin gives the list for a spreadsheet.

Data and privacy

Binwell runs entirely on Atlassian Forge ("Runs on Atlassian"). Copies, settings and the activity log are stored in Forge storage on your site. Nothing is sent to Great Work or anyone else. See the privacy policy for details.