gitlab-org--gitlab-foss/doc/user/project/issues/crosslinking_issues.md

---
stage: Plan
group: Project Management
info: To determine the technical writer assigned to the Stage/Group associated with this page, see https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/engineering/ux/technical-writing/#assignments
---

# Crosslinking issues **(FREE)**

There are several ways to mention an issue or make [issues](index.md) appear in each other's
[Linked issues](related_issues.md) section.

For more information on GitLab Issues, read the [issues documentation](index.md).

## From commit messages

Every time you mention an issue in your commit message, you're creating
a relationship between the two stages of the development workflow: the
issue itself and the first commit related to that issue.

If the issue and the code you're committing are both in the same project,
add `#xxx` to the commit message, where `xxx` is the issue number.

```shell
git commit -m "this is my commit message. Ref #xxx"
```

If they are in different projects, but in the same group,
add `projectname#xxx` to the commit message.

```shell
git commit -m "this is my commit message. Ref projectname#xxx"
```

If they are not in the same group, you can add the full URL to the issue
(`https://gitlab.com/<username>/<projectname>/issues/<xxx>`).

```shell
git commit -m "this is my commit message. Related to https://gitlab.com/<username>/<projectname>/issues/<xxx>"
```

Of course, you can replace `gitlab.com` with the URL of your own GitLab instance.

Linking your first commit to your issue is relevant
for tracking your process with [GitLab Value Stream Analytics](https://about.gitlab.com/stages-devops-lifecycle/value-stream-analytics/).
It measures the time taken for planning the implementation of that issue,
which is the time between creating an issue and making the first commit.

## From linked issues

Mentioning linked issues in merge requests and other issues helps your team members and
collaborators know that there are opened issues regarding the same topic.

You do that as explained above, when [mentioning an issue from a commit message](#from-commit-messages).

When mentioning issue `#111` in issue `#222`, issue `#111` also displays a notification
in its tracker. That is, you only need to mention the relationship once for it to
display in both issues. The same is valid when mentioning issues in [merge requests](#from-merge-requests).

![issue mentioned in issue](img/mention_in_issue.png)

## From merge requests

Mentioning issues in merge request comments works exactly the same way as
they do for [linked issues](#from-linked-issues).

When you mention an issue in a merge request description, it
[links the issue and merge request together](#from-linked-issues). Additionally,
you can also [set an issue to close automatically](managing_issues.md#closing-issues-automatically)
as soon as the merge request is merged.

![issue mentioned in MR](img/mention_in_merge_request.png)