Jama Connect Interchange for Excel Functions Quick Start Guide

Published Date: June 18, 2026
Audience: Everyone
Products and Versions Covered:

Jama Connect Interchange™
- JCI Module: Excel Functions

Summary

Integrating Jama Connect Interchange with an Excel spreadsheet enables complex calculations, relationship analysis, field inheritence, and many other possible use cases.

This article explains how to configure an integration between Jama Connect and an Excel spreadsheet using Jama Connect Interchange (JCI) and related best practices. This article doesn't explain how to configure the Excel spreadsheet itself.

Resolution

Definitions

Application - The system that holds the work items or artifacts to be integrated (e.g. Jama Connect).
Items - The work item (e.g. user stories, requirements, etc.).
Connector - JCI construct used to connect JCI to an application.
Integration - JCI construct that integrates Jama Connect Interchange to an Excel spreadsheet.
Field Inheritance - Transferring field values from fields in a related item to the source item.
Field Mapping Group - Fields of the source Jama item mapped to cells in the Excel spreadsheet.
Associated Field Mapping Group - Fields from an item type that is related to the source Jama Item

System Block Diagram

Since the Excel spreadsheet is an attachment to a Jama item, only one connect needs to be configured to connect to the Jama Connect instance. The integration maps fields from items in Jama Connect to cells or columns in the Excel spreadsheet.

Connecting Jama Connect and JCI

Create a dedicated user account with a named creator license in Jama Connect for JCI to use. Make sure to add JCI to a user group with access to all projects in Jama Connect or all the projects that the JCI will need to be able to edit.

This ensures that the audit trail clearly identifies that JCI made the edits. The named license will prevent JCI from being locked out from making changes to Jama Connect.

The Excel Spreadsheet

Prepare your spreadsheet by doing the following:

Simplify your formulas by breaking them up across multiple cells to make troubleshooting easier.
Plug in fake data to validate formulas.
When pushing and pulling from single select or multi-select picklist fields, exactly match the display names in the picklist. Multiple picklist values will be comma separated.
Avoid macros because they can present security risks.
It's best practice to create a legend for your Excel worksheet(s) that includes an explaination of the formula, identifies that Jama source item being integrated, and color codes the inputs and outputs. This will help make mapping fields and maintenance in the future far easier. Below is an example of a legend.

Attach your Excel spreadsheet as an attachment to an item in Jama Connect. Containers like components or sets are typlical item types to attach the spreadsheet to. If you are concerned with unauthorized edits to your spreadsheet, you can limit who can edit the container item using Jama Connect's project permissions system.

JCI Connector

Now that you have a JCI user account setup in Jama Connect and your spreadsheet is attached to your selected Jama item, you are ready to configure your connector. Log into your JCI instance and do the following. If you don't have the log in credentials or the URL for your JCI instance please contact your customer success manager.

Click on "Connectors" in the tool bar.
Click on "Add Connector."
Specify "Jama Connect" as the application.
Specify the name of the connector.
Specify your Jama Connect URL.
Specify the type of authentication and your credentials.
Click on Save. JCI will notify you if there are any problems connecting to Jama Connect.

Create your Integration

Click on "Integrations".
Select "Jama Connect to Excel Functions" as your integration type.
Select Single or Multiple Projects depending on the scope of the integration.
Click "Next".
Select the connector for your Jama Connect instance.
Specify the Jama Project ID of the item that holds the spreadsheet.
Select the projects you want to include in your integration.

Single Project Integration

Multiple Project Integration
Click "Next".
Name your integration. It is best practice to use a standardized naming convention such as "[Connector]_[Spreadsheet]" (e.g. "JamaProd_RiskCalculator").
Do not change the "Select Frequency". You can change this in the future if you need to.
Click "Submit" to create the integration.

Field Mapping

If you have selected a multi-project integration, you'll be presented with a pop-up that allows you to select the item type (field mapping group) and an associated field mapping group. You can always add and remove these later.
If you have selected a single project integration, you’ll set up the field mapping groups one at a time.
Turn off your integration while making field mapping changes by clicking on the switch in the upper right of the display of your integration.
You’ll create field mapping for one set of items at a time. This is known as a field mapping group. You can pull data in from items related one item above and one item below the target item type.
Click on “Field Mappings” tab.
Click on “Add new field mapping group.”
Select “Explorer” and select the set of items you want to apply the integration to.
Click “Create” to create a field mapping group.

Adding a Field Mapping Group

Select the Jama fields on the left side and the cell in the Excel spreadsheet to map it to on the right. Since you are working with a single item, you will map values to a single cell in Excel such as “A1” or “B1”.
Toggle the left arrow to send data from the spreadsheet to a specific field in Jama.
Toggle the right arrow to send data from a specific field in Jama to the right.
Clicking on the plus icon will add a new field.
To select items related upstream or downstream from the target item, click on the “Add new associated mapping group”.

Adding an Associated Field Mapping Group

To select items related upstream or downstream from the target item, click on the “Add new associated mapping group”.
You’ll be given the option to select upstream, downstream, or item of type. An item of type field is a picklist field that is populated by items of a specific type in your target item. Choose one of the associated item types.
Since an associated mapping group can represent one or more items, you’ll be mapping fields from this group to columns in your spreadsheet.
Toggle the left arrow to send data from the spreadsheet to a specific field in Jama. Toggle the right arrow to send data from a specific field in Jama to the right.
Once your field mapping is complete, enable the integration clickin on the switch in the upper right corner of the display to "On".

Troubleshooting

After enabling your integration, JCI will only update the items that have changed since the integration was switched on. To ensure that the new field mapping is appled to all items, click on the the "Dashboard" tab and then the Full Sync Button. This will apply your new mapping to all affected Jama Items.
You can see the status of the integration by clicking on the "Log" tab. A record will indicate when data has flowed between Jama and the Excel spreadsheet. For more help to decipher what the log messages mean, please contact Jama Support.
Field mapping and formula mistakes are the most common sources of error. A good way of debugging your spreadsheet once it is integrated with Jama Connect is to create a temporary debug text field or text box for troubleshooting purposes. You can modify the field mapping to output data from specific cells in yoru spreadsheet to check that the formula is working as expected.
Always make sure you are uploading the correct version of your spreadsheet to Jama Connect.

Additional Resources

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