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RaleyApps do not build a parallel system inside your site. They build on the same primitives your Jira admins already manage: work items, projects, request types, custom fields, and the query languages JQL and AQL. Know these 5 building blocks and every other page in these docs reads faster. This is background reading, not a Jira admin course. Each section links to Atlassianā€™s own documentation, which is the source of truth for how Jira itself behaves.

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Work items, which you may know as issues

A work item is the unit of tracked work in Jira: a task, a bug, a request, a reservation. Atlassian has renamed issues to work items across its cloud products, and older screens, APIs, and JQL keep the word issue for backward compatibility. Both terms mean the same object, and you will meet both in the wild. RaleyApps live on work items: they create them, react to their events, and add information to their screens.

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Projects, which JSM now calls spaces

Work items live in projects, and a project carries the configuration that shapes everything inside it: work types, workflows, fields, and permissions. Jira Service Managementā€™s newer screens call a service project a space. Same container, newer name.

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Request types, the front door of JSM

In Jira Service Management, customers rarely touch work items directly. They pick a request type in the portal, such as New employee onboarding, and fill in its form. Each request type is connected to a work type, so a customer-friendly request becomes a normal work item your agents can process. Request types decide what the customer sees; work types decide how the team works.

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Custom fields, where your process lives

Jiraā€™s standard fields cover the basics. Custom fields capture what your process needs beyond that, such as a cost center or a delivery date. Apps read and write custom fields through the same field system you see, which is why app data can show up in your boards, reports, and filters.

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JQL and AQL, the query languages

JQL (Jira Query Language) is Jiraā€™s structured search. It builds queries that find work items within and across projects, and it powers the filters behind boards, dashboards, and automations. AQL (Assets Query Language) is the same idea for Assets, Jira Service Managementā€™s inventory of objects such as laptops, rooms, and licenses. If your site manages inventory in Assets, AQL is how you query it. Assets availability depends on your JSM plan; Atlassianā€™s page above is the current record.

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Where each Raley app meets these primitives

For what each app does in full, and which one fits your problem, see Choosing an app.

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What this page does not answer

  • How to configure request types, fields, or queries in Jira itself: Atlassianā€™s documentation, linked in each section above, owns that.
  • How the apps run on Atlassianā€™s platforms: see How RaleyApps run on Atlassian.
  • How to get started with a specific app: start at Get started with RaleyApps.
Questions a page cannot answer belong with a person: reach us through Support.
Last updated: August 19, 2026