Does anyone know how can I clone multiple Jira stories at once?

[Diego Garza]

I often need to clone around 30 tickets (stories) that include the same information except for a new target date and sprint, I need to go one by one, select clone, then I edit the necessary fields in the new created story. 

If I could only clone multiple stories at once, that would save me a good amount of time.

Thanks!

[Laurie Sciutti · Accepted solution]

Hi @Diego Garza ~ echoing what @Trudy Claspill recommends.  You can also create automation to accomplish this as well....

There's an automation trigger, called "Manual Trigger" that you can use which will add that rule name to your More menu on an issue.  You can also limit who can access that menu item.

HTH

[Bill Sheboy]

Hi @Diego Garza -- Welcome to the Atlassian Community!

Adding to the ideas that Trudy and Laurie suggested...

Perhaps if you explain your scenario more that will focus the suggestions offered.

For example, if you are cloning a specific set of issues, on a defined schedule, with knowable / predictable changes to them, an automation rule may be able to perform all of those actions.

However if these are an always-changing selection of issues to clone, that may encourage use of either the import method or marketplace addons (which Trudy suggests).

Kind regards,
Bill

[Diego Garza]

Hi Laurie and Bill,

Thank you for your quick reply. Please allow me to better explain the scenario so you may have a better idea of what I need...

Every 2-3 weeks my team develops, builds, tests and releases software to our customer. It is my responsibility to anticipate and assign Jira tickets/stories to everybody so that they may start to work on the SW release.

1. I create a parent Feature called "Software Release Activities for "X" milestone".
2. I create (clone) around 30 child stories to assign activities to the engineers (the same release activities apply for all SW releases).
3. After cloning, I edit a few fields in each story such as: title, target sprint, and some SharePoint links in the description. 
4. The team starts to work on their assignments, and they close the stories when done.

It is Step 2 the one I think could be made easier if there was a "multi-clone" function in Jira rather than cloning one by one.

Thanks!

-Diego

[Bill Sheboy]

Restating Trudy's earlier question: which version of Jira are you using: Cloud, Server, or Data Center?

If you are using Jira Cloud, the automation rule Manual Trigger now supports adding questions when the rule is run.  With that, you could specify the information which could be used to edit those fields from the original cloned issues.  Or...the rule could be built to create the issues as new, avoiding some of the problems involved with cloning.

[Diego Garza]

I am using Jira Cloud.

Since I am not an expert in Jira, is there any manual pdf that I can use and follow step by step?

Really appreciate it.

[Bill Sheboy]

There is no step-by-step guide for your scenario, as it is unique...although it has some common needs from other ones.  There is quite a bit of information on automation rules, including example rules:

• https://www.atlassian.com/software/jira/guides/automation/overview#what-is-automation
• https://www.atlassian.com/software/jira/automation-template-library#/rule-list?systemLabelId=all&page=1&pageSize=20&sortKey=name&sortOrder=ASC
• https://support.atlassian.com/cloud-automation/docs/jira-smart-values-issues/
• https://support.atlassian.com/jira-software-cloud/docs/use-advanced-search-with-jira-query-language-jql/
• https://community.atlassian.com/t5/Automation-articles/Request-input-from-users-when-a-Manual-rule-is-triggered/ba-p/2333587

A basic outline for your rule could be this:

• trigger: manual, with addition user inputs to gather the data you need to update the cloned issues
• action: create issue (for the new feature)
• action: create a variable, to save the key for the newly created feature
• branch: on JQL to gather the issues you want to clone
  • action: clone issue, changing the data based on your user inputs and the key of the newly created feature

As an alternative to the branch, you could just create all of the issues as new in the rule.

Perhaps try creating the rule to see how it works for you.

[Diego Garza]

Bill,

Thank you for the broad explanation, let me try that and get back to you. 

[Trudy Claspill · Accepted solution]

Hello @Diego Garza 

Welcome to the Atlassian community.

There are a few ways to accomplish your goal.

There are third party apps that allow you to clone multiple issues at once.

You could export the issues to a CSV file and use the CSV Import option to create a new set of issues from that file.

Depending on your hosting type/product version (Jira Cloud, Jira Data Center, Jira Server) you might be able to accomplish what you want through Automation for Jira.

[Diego Garza]

Hi Trudy,

Thank you for your insight. I use Jira Project Management Software.

I am doing some deeper research on those couple of options that you mentioned, do you recall the name of that 3rd party app?

[Trudy Claspill]

Here's a query from the Atlassian Marketplace that lists the apps that come up searching for "clone" for Jira Cloud

https://marketplace.atlassian.com/search?hosting=cloud&product=jira&query=Clone

And for Jira Data Center

https://marketplace.atlassian.com/search?hosting=dataCenter&product=jira&query=Clone

[Diego Garza]

Thank you, Trudy! Will let you know how it goes after I try them.

[Luka Hummel - codefortynine]

Hi @Diego Garza

I'm Luka from codefortynine 👋

If you are willing to use a third-party app, I'd like to introduce you to one of our products, Deep Clone for Jira.

Here's how Deep Clone can assist in your workflow:

• Bulk Cloning: You can select multiple issues directly in your Jira issue search and clone them in bulk. This feature would eliminate the need to clone each story individually.
• Customizable Cloning with Clone and Edit: When cloning, you can modify fields, links, attachments, and even comments as needed. This would allow you to set the new target date and sprint for each cloned story.
• Preserving Original Data: Deep Clone ensures that the essential information and structure of your original stories are maintained, reducing the risk of losing important data during the cloning process.