Hooq · Buyer guide
Questions to ask any
Jira to Jira sync app.
57 plain questions to put to the vendor of an app that syncs work items between Jira Cloud instances, in six groups. Under each question is the one-line answer for Hooq, with a link to the page that explains it.
Instance A to Instance B. Nothing in the middle. Hooq has no server of its own, so question 1 on the list has a short answer.
Connection and security
Where the data goes, how the two sides trust each other, and what each side may do to the other.
| Question to ask | What Hooq does |
|---|---|
| 1.Does your data pass through a server operated by the vendor? Where does it sit, and for how long? | No. Hooq has no server, database or storage of its own. The Hooq on one instance signs the message and sends it straight to the other Hooq’s address on Atlassian’s platform. What Hooq keeps is held in Forge hosted storage on each site. Architecture and data flow |
| 2.How is each message between the two sites authenticated, and what stops a captured message from being replayed? | Each message is signed (HMAC-SHA256) and carries a timestamp and a one-time number. The receiving site checks the signature, the timestamp and the number, and refuses old, repeated and unsigned messages with a reason code. Encryption |
| 3.How is the pairing secret created and exchanged, and can it be rotated? | Each site has its own RSA-2048 key pair. The shared secret is encrypted to the partner’s public key, and a new shared secret is created each time a connector is activated. Encryption |
| 4.How do two administrators pair two sites, and can they see what they are trusting before they activate? | They exchange small pairing files that an administrator can read, and use the Connectors page, where a connector is shown as Draft, Pending, Active or Failed. A file of the wrong kind or size is refused, and a connector can be reconnected or deleted. Connect two instances with pairing files |
| 5.Can the receiving site approve or decline a sync request before any data moves? | Yes. The other site sees an Incoming Hooq request and chooses Approve or Decline. Create a Hooq |
| 6.If one side were compromised, what could it change on the other side? | The receiving Hooq limits a paired site: it can touch the Hooq’s own project, it cannot rewrite the stored connection or adopt other project keys, and it can set statuses from a short allowed list. |
| 7.How do you keep two customers’ data apart inside the app’s runtime? | Each entry point of the app runs in its own tenant context, and the in-memory caches are kept apart per tenant. Forge also provisions storage per installation. |
| 8.Which actions can a non-administrator trigger through the app, and how is that enforced? | Managing Hooq is for Jira administrators, and a new action is administrator-level unless it is opened on purpose. The few actions open to users are on the work item panel. Issue panel |
| 9.Can a user make the app write to a work item they cannot edit? | No. Panel actions check the user’s own Jira permissions: Browse to read, Add Comments to comment, Create Attachments to attach, and Browse plus Edit to Resync. |
| 10.What personal data ends up in your application logs? | Hooq keeps account ids, display names, e-mail addresses, file names, field values and response bodies out of its log lines. Data logging and retention |
| 11.Where is the app’s own data stored, how long is it kept, and what happens on uninstall? | In Forge hosted storage and in Jira. The in-app error log keeps entries for 3 days and up to 400 per Hooq, and deleting a Hooq deletes its log and links. The Trust Center describes what happens to storage after uninstall. Data retention and deletion |
| 12.Can an action on the other site delete files on mine? | No. A file deleted on the other site is not applied as a delete on your site. |
Setup and control
How a sync is created, changed, stopped and handed over to support.
| Question to ask | What Hooq does |
|---|---|
| 13.Can the same app sync two projects on one site and two different sites? | Yes. A same-instance Hooq connects two projects on one site, and a cross-instance Hooq connects two sites. A cross-instance Hooq needs a connector; a same-instance Hooq does not. Overview |
| 14.Can an administrator prepare changes without affecting the running sync, and when do they take effect? | Yes. Each tab saves a draft, and a Hooq runs from its published configuration. Publish Draft makes the changes live; Discard Draft drops them. Publish and start |
| 15.Can the other site review a configuration change before it is applied? | Yes, when a Hooq runs in Review and Approve mode: the draft is sent to the partner site, which accepts or rejects it before it can be published. |
| 16.Can a configuration be exported and reused? | Yes. The Configuration menu exports a Hooq’s configuration as a JSON file and imports it into another Hooq. |
| 17.When I rename or delete a sync, what happens on the other site? | Both are sent to the partner site, which applies the new name or removes its side of the Hooq. |
| 18.What exactly happens while a sync is stopped, and which changes are caught up afterwards? | A stopped, paused or disabled Hooq does nothing and says so. Work items deleted in that time are told to the partner at the next Start; other changes are caught up with a Resync. What to expect |
| 19.Can existing work items be brought in, and does a long back-fill survive a timeout? | Yes. With Limit Work Items set to a JQL, Start queues an initial sync that runs in chunks and continues on its own. Work types |
| 20.Can work items already paired by another tool be adopted without re-copying them? | Yes. Migration links pairs that already exist: you choose the field that holds the partner’s key, and Hooq registers the pairs without sending the fields again. Migration |
| 21.Does the app show which Jira permissions it has and which are missing? | Yes. The Hooq tab lists the Jira permissions in groups with a tick for each one that is in place. The Hooq tab and the header |
| 22.Can I get a list of the pairs the app manages? | Yes. The header menu downloads the paired work items of a Hooq as a CSV file. The Hooq tab and the header |
| 23.What can an administrator hand to support without giving them access? | A support ZIP made with one click. It holds the sync record, the configuration, the logs, the project metadata and a timestamp. Troubleshooting |
Mapping and what syncs
What is matched, what is copied, and what happens when something has no match.
| Question to ask | What Hooq does |
|---|---|
| 24.Do your mappings survive a rename of a work type, a status or an option? | Yes. Mappings are stored by id, not by name, so a rename on either side does not break them. |
| 25.Can a sync be limited to some work items with JQL or a saved filter, per side? | Yes. Limit Work Items takes a JQL per project, or a saved Jira filter. Work types |
| 26.Can each field have its own direction? | Yes. Each mapped field goes both ways or one way, and the fields you map are the ones that move. Fields and values |
| 27.How are drop-down values matched when the two projects use different option names? | Value mapping pairs the options one by one and stores them by id. One value can map to several, and cascading selects are supported. Fields and values |
| 28.What happens to the rest of an edit when one value has no match on the other side? | The rest of the edit still arrives. A value with no destination option is left out with a warning, and a priority with no counterpart is left unchanged. |
| 29.Can the integration user end up as the assignee of a work item? | No. Hooq does not make itself the assignee. An assignee who would be the app, or who does not exist on the destination, is dropped. What to expect |
| 30.Can team assignments be mapped between the two sides? | Yes. The Teams tab maps a team on one side to a team on the other. A Team field must also be mapped on the Fields tab. Teams |
| 31.Do board and sprint events carry across, and does a work item join the matching sprint on the other side? | Board and sprint events (create, update, start, close, delete) are mirrored, and a work item in a mapped sprint is added to the matching sprint. Boards are mirrored, not cloned. Boards |
| 32.When a work item’s parent changes, does the copy’s parent follow? Can a text field drive the parent? | Yes to both. The Parent of the copy follows the copy of the new parent, and a text field can set the Parent. If the parent has no copy, the Parent of the copy is left unchanged. Set a Parent from a text field |
| 33.Can the copy reach a status that needs several transitions, and what happens on fast successive changes? | Yes. A status that needs several transitions is reached through a path of up to four steps. When statuses change quickly, the copy ends on the final status. Workflows |
| 34.What happens to the copy when the original is deleted or changes type? | The copy stays; Hooq does not delete it. The pair is locked on the panel with the reason, or the surviving work item can be moved to a status you choose. Issue panel |
| 35.How do agent-only comments of a service project behave, and does the copy say who wrote it? | Internal and public comments can be sent and received separately, and internal comments are off by default. A copied comment starts with a line that says who wrote it and where it came from. Comments |
| 36.What is the file size limit between two sites, is it stated in the product, and what happens to the rest of the work item? | About 3.5 MB per file between two sites, stated on the Attachments tab. A larger file is refused with an error in Troubleshooting and the rest of the work item still syncs. On one site Hooq sets no limit. Attachments |
| 37.Do images and files embedded in descriptions and comments appear in the copy where they were, or as links and placeholders? | They appear in the same place, in descriptions and comments, on one site and between two. A signed media reference lets the right file land in the right slot; a doubtful slot stays text rather than showing the wrong file. Attachments |
| 38.Can I search or automate on the partner key and partner status from a Jira field? | Yes. Optional correlation fields write the partner’s key and status into text fields, so JQL and automation can use them. Advanced |
| 39.Does each side see the other side’s status and people without opening it? | Yes. The panel shows the partner’s status, assignee and reporter. The assignee and reporter rows follow the Sync Assignee and Sync Reporter settings. Issue panel |
| 40.Can a team member push a comment or file to the other side without leaving the work item? | Yes. The panel has Comment and Attachment buttons, and the user’s own Jira permissions apply. Issue panel |
Reliability
Loops, duplicates, conflicts, bursts and timing.
| Question to ask | What Hooq does |
|---|---|
| 41.How do you stop a change from bouncing back and forth between the two sides? | In layers: the app’s own events are ignored, changes made by the app are recognised, status changes leave short-lived markers, and descriptions, comments and attachments are checked before they are written back. |
| 42.If the platform delivers a message twice, can the copy be created twice? | No. Each message has an id, and a record of processed messages stops a second delivery from creating a second copy. |
| 43.If someone edits the copy right after the original changed, whose text survives? | The person’s edit. An older queued change from the original does not replace it, and a Resync does not replace an edit made less than a minute earlier. What to expect |
| 44.Can two quick status changes leave the copy on the older status? | Hooq re-reads the work item before it moves the copy and skips a status that a newer one has replaced, so the copy ends on the final status. |
| 45.What happens to a change that arrives during a burst the platform throttles? | Hooq asks the platform to retry instead of dropping the change. In a test on a development site with 1,800 edits at 1.5 per second, no edit was lost; above that rate changes can arrive late. |
| 46.Can a failed item be retried from the admin page without re-sending everything? | The Troubleshooting tab lists each failure with its reason. Hooq retries some creates, comments and attachments by itself, and Resync sends one work item, or the work items of a JQL, again. Troubleshooting |
| 47.How long does a change take to arrive, measured how? | In tests on development and staging sites, on one site edits arrived in about 4 to 7 seconds and comments in 2 to 4 seconds. Between two sites edits took about 5 to 8 seconds, comments 5 to 7 and creates 13 to 18. These are test measurements, not a service guarantee. |
Visibility and roles
What people see in Jira, who is told about a failure, and who can do what.
| Question to ask | What Hooq does |
|---|---|
| 48.What does the work item itself show about its partner, and what happens to that panel when the partner is deleted or changes type? | The panel shows the partner link, the partner’s status, assignee and reporter, the Hooq status, when it last sent and received, and Resync, Comment and Attachment buttons. If the partner is deleted or changes type, the panel is locked and says why. Issue panel |
| 49.Does your app give a Jira dashboard gadget that lists or charts the paired work items with the status on both sides? | Yes. The Hooq Dashboard gadget lists the paired work items with their status on both sides, or counts them by status as a number or a pie chart. It shows its data to Jira administrators. |
| 50.Does the admin page show health numbers, and can they be reset after a clean-up? | Yes. Sync Health shows Issues synced, Errors, Last sync and Sync speed with a Healthy or Degraded label, and it can be reset. The Hooq tab and the header |
| 51.Who is told when a sync fails, and can that include a project role or an external address? | Two events, a complete failure and a single work item failure, notify the users, groups, project roles and e-mail addresses you choose for each project. Notifications |
| 52.If the other site rejects a change, do I see it on my side? | Yes. The receiving site sends a signed failure notice, and the failure appears in your Troubleshooting tab. Troubleshooting |
| 53.Can ordinary team members act on a pair without admin rights? | Yes. Users who can see a work item can use its panel for Resync, Comment and Attachment, within their own Jira permissions. Issue panel |
Assurance
How changes are proven, how problems are noticed, and where the documentation is.
| Question to ask | What Hooq does |
|---|---|
| 54.How is a change proven not to break what worked? | Each change adds or updates an automated check script (85 of them as of October 2026), and several have recorded mutation runs that prove the check fails when the code is wrong. |
| 55.Is each release run on a staging environment that behaves like production? | Releases are run on a staging environment before they go on, and a problem found there goes back to development before the release goes on. |
| 56.How quickly do you notice a new error pattern in production? | Production logs are scanned hourly, and a new error pattern becomes a tracked issue. |
| 57.Where is the documentation, and does it say what the product does not do? | In the help centre and the Trust Center, with a release-notes page for each release and a public status page. The “What to expect” page lists what syncs, what does not, and the limits. What to expect |
Go further
Want to raise a ticket? Click here (opens in a new tab)
Hooq
Ready to sync work items across Jira?
Get in touch and we'll set up a live demo of Hooq for your Jira sites.