Diagnosing Bamboo Plan Branching: Feature Branches That Don't Trigger Builds

Problem and useful takeaway

You push a feature branch to your Git repository, but Bamboo never starts a build for it. The mainline plan builds normally, yet the branch tab stays empty or reports "No plan branch found."

Useful takeaway: Branch builds in Bamboo Server are not automatic. An administrator must enable Plan Branching for the parent plan, the branch name must match the configured branch pattern, and the resulting branch plan must be enabled with available agent capacity. Plan Branching is available in Bamboo Server 6.0 and later; it is not available in Bamboo Cloud.

Before you start

Version assumption: Bamboo Server 6.0 or newer. Open Administration > System to confirm your version. Older installations ignore branch settings entirely.

Required permission: Plan administrator for the affected plan, or Bamboo administrator for system-wide agent and repository settings.

Where checks happen: Almost all checks are in the Bamboo web UI under Plans, Build agents, and Administration. No shell commands are required for the standard diagnostic path.

Recognizable conditions

• No build starts after you push commits to a new feature branch.
• A build starts but fails immediately with "No plan branch found."
• The mainline branch builds, but feature branches do not.
• Branch builds sit in the queue for extended periods.

Cause and diagnostic table

Observation	Most likely cause	Where to check
No build triggered for a new branch	Plan Branching is disabled or no branch plan was created	Plans > <PLAN_KEY> > Branches
Build fails with "No plan branch found"	Branch filter pattern does not match the branch name	Plans > <PLAN_KEY> > Branches > Branch pattern
Mainline builds, branches do not	Branch plan exists but is disabled	Plans > <PLAN_KEY> > Branches > <BRANCH_PLAN>
Branch builds consume queue time	Too many active branch plans or insufficient agents	Build agents > All agents

Ordered checks

1. Confirm Plan Branching is enabled on the parent plan

   Navigate to Plans > <PLAN_KEY> > Branches. Look for the branch builds toggle or "Enable branch builds" option. If it is off, Bamboo will not create branch plans when new branches appear.

   Permission: Plan administrator. Risk: None for reading the setting.

2. Verify the branch exists in the linked repository

   Go to Administration > Repositories > <REPO_LINK> and confirm <BRANCH_NAME> appears in the branch list. Bamboo cannot build a branch it does not know about.

3. Check the branch pattern

   Open Plans > <PLAN_KEY> > Branches > Branch pattern. Compare the pattern against your branch naming convention. For example, if the pattern is release/.* and your branch is feature/login-fix, Bamboo will ignore it. A pattern such as feature/.* or .* matches more broadly.

   Risk: Changing the pattern can affect which existing branch plans are considered active. Review current branch plans before saving on a production system.

4. Check whether the branch plan is enabled

   Open Plans > <PLAN_KEY> > Branches > <BRANCH_PLAN>. If the plan shows as disabled, builds will not run even if the branch matches the pattern.

5. Inspect agent capacity

   Open Build agents > All agents. Confirm at least one agent is online and not already at its maximum concurrent builds. Branch builds queue when no agent can accept them.

Fixes tied to findings

Finding	Fix
Plan Branching disabled	Enable branch builds on the parent plan, save, then push a test commit to a feature branch.
Branch pattern mismatch	Update the branch pattern to include your naming convention (for example, feature/.*), save, and trigger a build or wait for the next repository poll.
Branch plan disabled	Open the branch plan and enable it, then run a manual build to confirm.
No agent capacity	Add an online build agent, reduce concurrent builds on existing agents, or disable older branch plans to free queue space.

Escalation criteria

Escalate to your Bamboo administrator or Atlassian support when:

• The repository webhook is not reaching Bamboo. Check repository webhook logs and Bamboo access logs.
• The repository link is broken or credentials have expired.
• Artifact promotion fails for branch builds because artifact sharing rules are not applied to branch plans.
• All checks above pass, but the branch still does not appear under Plans > <PLAN_KEY> > Branches.

Include the plan key, branch name, Bamboo version, and a screenshot of the Branches tab when escalating.

Verification

1. Create a test branch, for example feature/verify-bamboo-branch, in your repository.
2. Push a commit to that branch.
3. Open Plans > <PLAN_KEY> > Branches and confirm a new branch plan appears or an existing one starts a build.
4. Open the build result and check the build log for the trigger source (webhook or poll).

If the build starts and completes, the configuration is correct. If it does not, repeat the ordered checks and compare the result against the diagnostic table.

Limitations

• This guide covers build triggering for plan branches. It does not cover deployment projects, deployment environments, or Bamboo Specs configuration as code.
• Enabling branch builds increases the number of active plans. Monitor agent utilization and queue time after enabling it on a busy instance.
• Plan Branching is not available in Bamboo Cloud.