Linking rules

Link value stream tools to one another.

Link rules define how integrated tools relate to one another. When tools are linked, objects that appear in a value stream provide information and links to the associated tools. You might link an issue tracking system, for instance, to a source control tool.

To define a link rule, specify a field in the linked-from tool that you want to associate with a field in the linked-to tool, and a regular expression that defines the matching pattern.

The following example illustrates how to link a Git integration with a Pivotal integration:

• The "fromIntegrationName": "my-github" property identifies the Git integration defined in the value stream.
• The "fromField": "pr.name" property links the Git pull request name to the linked-to tool.
• The "toIntegrationName": "my-pivotal" property identifies the Pivotal integration defined in the value stream.
• The "toField": "issue.id" property links the Pivotal issue ID to the linked-from tool.
  Note: The default format of the Jira id is Board-Number. For example, if the Jira issue.id is JIR-1 and it was linking to a PR via the aforementioned issue by pr.name, the PR name must include the text JIR-1.
• The "pattern": "[[A-Z]+-[0-9]+}" property defines the regular expression that determines if potential links match.
  Note: The pattern property uses regex to extract the desired string from a field. PR names often include a description of the PR along with the id of the corresponding Jira issue. When this occurs, it is necessary to specify what value from the fromField should be used for linking. If the value extracted from the fromField is not an exact match with the toField, the integrations will not be linked.

      "linkRules": [
        {
          "toIntegrationName": "my-pivotal",
          "toField": "issue.id",
          "pattern": "[[A-Z]+-[0-9]+]",
          "fromIntegrationName": "my-github",
          "fromField": "pr.name",
        },
       ]

When links are established, you can access information about the linked tools from the affected dots in the value stream. In general, you can define linking rules for any integrated tools, and define multiple linking rules in a single value stream.