Using automation to set project tasks based on the completion date?

[VAlesbury]

Is there a way to use automation to adjust the start date of a project based on the final completion date? So if the last task has a set end date, can automation use a rule that sets the first task 18 weeks ahead of that date? I understand that JIRA is not usually used for waterfall projects but we have a couple of projects that will follow a start to end timeline and it would be great if changing the completion date would automatically adjust the tasks from start to finish?

[Bill Sheboy]

Hi @VAlesbury -- Welcome to the Atlassian Community!

Short answer: probably that can be done with Jira Automation.

The key for a scenario like this is identifying the correct issues.

If you only need to find the one Task with the latest Due Date, and have a way to identify the "first Task", the rule could use the Lookup Issues action with JQL to get the latest Due Date task and then branch to the "first Task" to update it.

If instead you want to update an entire chain of Tasks' date values, you will need to clearly explain your scenario so the community can advise if that is possible...and if so, how it may be accomplished.

Kind regards,
Bill