JIRA Automation: Assign a user to an issue when an Epic is linked

[Robin Hannah]

How do I use automation to assign a user to an issue, when the epic link value is assigned?  When a specific epic is associated with an issue, I would like to assign a specific user.

I tried Field value changed = EpicLink#

Epic Name contains = https://equifax.atlassian.net/browse/XXXX-##

Then: Assign the issue to

I do not receive an error, automation just does not happen.

[Trudy Claspill]

Are you working with issues in a Team Managed project or a Company Managed project?

Company Managed projects use the Epic Link field. Team Managed projects don't use that field. Instead they use the Parent field.

Can you show us the details of your rule? If you are working with a rule for issues in a Company Managed project then I suspect the problem is in 

Epic Name contains = https://equifax.atlassian.net/browse/XXXX-##

...because the issue that triggered the rule does not have an Epic Name field. You would need to add more to the rule to get it to look at the Epic Name for the issue that was specified in the Epic Link field of the trigger issue.

[Robin Hannah]

@Trudy Claspill Thank you for responding. I am using a Company Managed project. The details of the rule are in the image below.

[Trudy Claspill]

@Robin Hannah 

I see that you are checking the Epic Link field in the second step rather than the Epic Name field as you mentioned in your original post.

Try changing the comparison to be just the issue key for the Epic. While the field is named Epic "Link" and in the UI it does provide a hyperlink to the Epic, it is only the Epic Issue Key that is actually contained in the field.

[Robin Hannah]

@Trudy Claspill I tried just the key and it still is not working. I refreshed the view as well. Do you have any other ideas? I also tried Epic Name and the issue type. 

[Trudy Claspill]

When I try to set up a new rule in a Company Managed project, and for the trigger I select "Field Value Changes", I don't find Epic Link as a field that I can select.

Can you show the details of that step, please?

[Robin Hannah]

[Tim]

I have the same problem as Judy where Epic Link (or is it EpicLink?), is not an option on the Fields to monitor from the changes pull-down.   I do see Epic Name, Color, etc.

This is a cloud company managed project using Epics extensively.  Epics have Parent Links in use with Advanced Roadmaps.

I can see the Parent Link field as an option to monitor, but I don't want to manage both Parent and Epic Links for standard issue types.

Is there anything required to see Epic Link here?  

Also, I suspect EpicLink is a custom field of type URL and not the Epic Link field.

[Trudy Claspill]

@Robin Hannah 

I am also suspicious that you are using a custom field named "EpicLink" rather than the built in field named "Epic Link" (notice the space). Can you show the Field to Monitor pulldown to show "EpicLink" in the list, like this?

And can you check the Custom Fields list (a Jira Admin can do that) under the gear icon > Issues > Custom Fields to see what shows up when you search for Epic? These are the built in fields for Epic. 

If you really do have an additional field named "EpicLink" that would be a custom field. It would not be automatically set when you make an issue a child of an Epic unless you have another rule or manual process for setting that custom field. If your current rule is not getting triggered, then the likely culprit is that your "EpicLink" field is not actually getting changed.

[Bill Sheboy]

Yes, and...I do not believe the built-in field "Epic Link" is supported by the automation trigger Field Value Changed (and that is unlikely to be added with the changes to use Parent throughout the issue hierarchy).

One work-around is to use the Issue Updated trigger and use the changelog to detect changes to Epic Link field.  

[Tim]

Thanks Bill, it didn't occur to me that the Parent Link hierarchy must be used on standard issuetypes.  I will implement this way.  Do you know if Agile board backlog will still see epics using Parent Link rather than Epic Link?

[Bill Sheboy]

From the developer community post on this change, my understanding is the UX will still show/use "Epic Link" for now, and automation, the REST API, and webhooks will support both fields until at least 30 November 2022.  There will be an updated announcement with more details as that date approaches.

[Robin Hannah]

@Bill Sheboy & @Trudy Claspill Thank you. I happen to have the global catalog list , previously provided by a global admin, refer to the Global JIRA Catalog image for fields including the name "epic".  I also exported all the issues which allows you to view which fields capturing the data.

You were both correct. "Epic Link" is the field but in the drop down for rules "Epic Link" does not exist only EpicLink. So for this I will need to reach out to the global admin for  the ability to view the correct field to resolve this.

Thank you for pointing this out for me.

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Global JIRA Catalog

Drop down list for field value names