Cannot see all sprints on JIRA Automation

[Emre Parkan]

When I try to select a sprint on JIRA automation, cannot see all the sprints. 

Sprint on our board:

Sprint is not visible on Transition Issue

[Bill Sheboy]

Hi @Emre Parkan 

Is that sprint you are trying to select an active or a future sprint?  I wonder if the value is only in the drop-down list once the sprint begins.

You could use advanced edit (with JSON) to try to set the value by the sprint ID.

Also, would you please post an image of your complete rule?  That may provide some context for what problem you are trying to solve, and give the community other ideas to offer.  Thanks!

Best regards,
Bill

[Emre Parkan]

The sprint that I am trying to assign is a future sprint as you can see in the following picture. 

Here is my complete workflow: 

I think it is a passive sprint as we are not running any sprints on that board yet. How can I make that sprint selectable from the dropdown that I have shared on top

[Bill Sheboy]

Thanks for the additional information!  When editing the sprint field from automation, you may do one of the following:

• clear it
• set it to the current sprint
• set it to the next sprint (in the order listed from the backlog)
• copy it from another issue (... menu on right side)
• set it from a smart value  <<< This is probably what you want to do.

If you have a specific value you want to use in your rule, such as Contech Backlog, you could first set it to a smart value and then use it.  For example, set it to a created variable:

• ...your rule trigger and steps...
• action: create variable set to Contech Backlog's sprint ID, and perhaps named varContechBacklog
• action: edit issue to set sprint to {{varContechBacklog}}  To select a smart value, you need to type it in directly, and then select the value which displays below the field.

Reading over your rule and backlog, it appears you are using Contech Backlog as a "holding area" for work items.  Is that correct?

[burak.aydin]

hi @Bill Sheboy 

I am struggling with a problem, exactly as this one. But I do not see the option for "set it from a smart value" when I click on the menu next to my selection for sprints.

[Bill Sheboy]

Hi @burak.aydin -- Welcome to the Atlassian Community!

Do you mean when editing the sprint field?

If so, please try typing in your smart value expression, and it will appear below the field.  When it does, select it and that expression should be used.

Kind regards,
Bill

[burak.aydin]

Thank you for your Reply Bill, was very insightful! :)

I can see and select the sprint now, but the automation gives and error below, which I guess due to how I created the input. 

{{sprint.id}}:{{1110}}

 Here is how I created the smart valuable for the sprint id. Is there a different syntax I should rather use while setting this variable?

[Bill Sheboy]

Hi @burak.aydin 

That is the correct smart value for the sprint's id.  However that error shown in the audit log indicates you are trying to set a non-numeric value to a numeric field.  Your created variable contains a colon which is causing the issue.  You may only store that value in a text field.

Thanks,
Bill

[burak.aydin]

Ahh got it! Now I fixed by removing the curved brackets around the id. Seems to be working fine.

Thanks a lot @Bill Sheboy 

[Ben Kojis]

@burak.aydin or @Bill Sheboy - this thread is super helpful, I'm failing to understand the tail end of it.

If the following was incorrect:

{{sprint.id}}:{{1110}}

What was the proper syntax? Bill, you had mentioned the colon being problematic. Burak, you referenced the brackets. Trying to figure out what actually did the trick. Thanks!

[Bill Sheboy]

Hi @Ben Kojis 

Context is key, and so your field type and rule determine what you want to use. 

For example if you are saving that value in a text field you may use almost anything.  If instead the field is numeric just use {{sprint.id}} (or {{issue.sprint.id}} if this was from an issue rather than a sprint trigger).

Kind regards,
Bill

[Ben Kojis]

That's helpful. Given that this was the SprintID field numeric, the following ended out working for me if use the ID from the example above:

{{sprint.id}}1110

[Adam Ziecik]

@Bill Sheboy

Thank you for sharing this. I have the same issue and cannot solve it by using the create variable as this is not available in automations for data center version.

Any ideas for solving the issue without the create variable automation?

[Bill Sheboy]

Hi @Adam Ziecik 

Sometimes for Server/Data Center rules, the work-around is to skip the variable and to enter the smart value expression directly in a field edit, or rule action.

Would you please post an image of your complete rule and explain your scenario?  That information will provide some context for the community to offer suggestions.  Thanks!

Kind regards,
Bill

[Adam Ziecik]

Hello @Bill Sheboy

Thank your for a quick response. This is the automation that I am trying to build and below is the error it produces.

I am a bit surprised that the only options I have to choose on the list are Active Sprint or Next Sprint per each Board in this project, but I guess it does make sense as otherwise the rule would have to be updated with each new sprint.

Is there a way to enter a static Sprit value instead? We use a sprint named Show Stopper and Major Defects a a placeholder in the Boards Backlogs, so that it is easy to monitor for these.

Best wishes,

Adam Ziecik

[Bill Sheboy]

Thanks for that information.  The only work-arounds I know for this with Server/Data Center version depend upon if you exactly know about the target sprint:

1. Know the sprint id: Set your sprint value to a custom field in the issue, re-fetch the issue, and then enter the smart value in the field.  You can use a smart value in the sprint field by typing in the smart value, and it will appear below the field; when it does, select it to use it.
2. Know the name, but not the id: Using a web request action, call the Jira REST API to get all sprints for the board, and use the match() and text functions to extract the correct sprint using a smart value expression.  And...enter that expression in the sprint field, as described above.  I recommend testing using the audit log before actually making the field edit.

[Adam Ziecik]

@Bill Sheboy - thank you Bill, that sounds promising :)

Would you be able to guide me a bit more on option 1? 

I do know the Sprint value id (25675) and its name which is present in the Sprint field in each issue.

However, I am  still not clear on what di I need to do to achieve this in Jira Automation.

[Bill Sheboy]

First you would work with your site admin to add the custom field...which they may not want to do for this use case.

Once you have the field, it should be as simple as this...

• some rule steps...
• action edit issue to set your custom field to the specific sprint id
• action: re-fetch to load your issue change
• action edit issue to set the sprint to your custom field

If your sit admin says, "no", to the custom field, you could also try using an entity property, using the Set Entity Property action.  That could be later accessed as a smart value, such as with {{issue.properties.myProperty}}

[Adam Ziecik]

@Bill Sheboy - thank you again for this.

I have tried the solution with the custom field, but that did not work as the same error as before occurred (print screen of the rule attached).

I have also tried the Set Entity Solution that you proposed and this one works perfectly fine - thank you very much.

As a side question, I am wondering if there may be a way of adding a second sprint if there is one already selected in that issue, rather than replacing the already existing value?

[Bill Sheboy]

The sprint field is a list, and I believe will add the next sprint to the history.  If this does not work that way, I believe you could try an advanced edit with JSON to add the sprint to the field.

You noted the custom field approach did not work.  What error/symptom did you observe with that approach?

[Adam Ziecik]

@Bill Sheboy - I was getting the same error as previously. Please see the custom field approach print screen and the error attached.

With regards to the advanced edit JSON. Could you share a bit more on this solution? It sounds interesting (a print screen would be very helpful) :) 

[Bill Sheboy]

What is the name of your custom field, and what does it contain?

The first Edit Issue action seems to be referencing "Expected Sprint", but the second one does not match that.  Instead you are using {{expected.sprint}}  That should probably be {{issue.Expected sprint}} or something like that.

Next, what value are you putting into the custom field?  When setting a sprint, you need the sprint's id value.

[Adam Ziecik]

Thank you @Bill Sheboy - you are correct, I managed to enter the sprint to the Expected Sprint. However, I am still unable to get that value copied over to the Sprint field.

"Next, what value are you putting into the custom field?  When setting a sprint, you need the sprint's id value." Please can you elaborate on this? Where and what should I enter here if the desired sprint id is 24667?

[Bill Sheboy]

Given the rule image you showed, you would enter the smart value for the custom field that contains the desired sprint id.

If that does not work, please check to confirm you have the correct smart value for your custom field.  This how-to article can help to identify the smart value: https://confluence.atlassian.com/automation/find-the-smart-value-for-a-field-993924665.html

[Henry Yei]

This may only be related in passing, but with Team Managed projects for Jira Cloud, I've found that you need to get to the automation rule editing screen from the project you want to access the sprint of. Otherwise it's not listed.

For example, I have a global automation rule that will put an issue into their active sprint, based on the project key. This is one rule, that refers to multiple sprints on multiple projects. I can have to go into each project, edit the automation rule, set the active sprint for it and save; repeat for each sprint I want to access.

[Adam Ziecik]

*answer deleted as it was not an answer ;)