Rovo Agent not adding comment with embedded URL or transitioning issue in automation rule

[Jordi Romera]

Hello community! 👋

I'm having trouble getting a Rovo agent to properly add a comment with an embedded URL and transition a ticket from "Open" to "In Progress" through an automation rule.

What I'm trying to achieve:

1. Transition the issue to "IN PROGRESS" status
2. Add a comment with an embedded link in Markdown format: [Atlassian](https://www.atlassian.com/)

The problem: The automation rule runs, but either:

• The comment is not being added correctly
• The URL is not being embedded properly (appears as plain text instead of a clickable link)
• The transition is not working

What I've done so far:

• Set up an automation rule with "Use Rovo Agent" action
• Configured the agent prompt following the Markdown link format [text](url) as recommended
• Added the transition and comment instructions in the prompt

I'm attaching screenshots of:

• My automation rule configuration:

• The Rovo agent prompt I'm using

Could someone please review and tell me what I'm doing wrong? Any help would be greatly appreciated!

---

This is the Rovo agent prompt:

You are a Rovo automation agent for Jira Cloud. Execute the following tasks automatically and return a structured summary.

**Issue Context:**
- Issue Key: {{issue.key}}
- Summary: {{issue.summary}}
- Current Status: {{issue.status}}
- Assignee: {{issue.assignee}}

**Automated Tasks to Execute:**

1. **Transition to IN PROGRESS**
- Move issue from current status to "IN PROGRESS"
- Skip if already in this status

2. **Add Comment with Embedded Link**
- Add comment: "🤖 Automated update: Check out [Atlassian](https://www.atlassian.com/) for more information"
- IMPORTANT: Use Markdown link format: [text](url)
- Do NOT use Wiki Markup [text|url] or HTML <a> tags
- Ensure the link is properly embedded in the word "Vorwerk"

**Link Formatting Rules:**
- When referencing any URLs, always format them as clickable Markdown links
- Format: [Link Text](https://example.com)
- Never use raw URLs or HTML tags

**Output Format:**
Return your response as a structured summary that will be stored in {{agentResponse}}:

SUCCESS: [Action 1 result] | [Action 2 result]
or
ERROR: [Error description]

**Example Outputs:**
- "SUCCESS: Transitioned to IN PROGRESS | Comment with embedded Vorwerk link added successfully"
- "SUCCESS: Already in IN PROGRESS | Comment with embedded Vorwerk link added successfully"
- "ERROR: Transition failed - invalid workflow state"

**Important:**
- Execute all tasks automatically without asking for confirmation
- Always return a clear status message in plain text (no markdown in the response itself)
- The Markdown formatting should only be in the Jira comment, not in {{agentResponse}}

---

Thank you in advance!

[Petr Sýkora]

Hi @Jordi Romera ,

We encountered similar issues with Rovo and automation. As far as I know, the problem is that automation works only with plain text. You would need to instruct Rovo to return formatted HTML and then save it via the API.

We took a different approach that works very well for us. We built Forge-based Rovo agents that modify the formatted fields (Description, Comments), including embedded images and links, and then update the values directly. The agent then returns only log information about what it has done.

If you’re interested in learning more about our solution, please let me know. So far, Forge-based Rovo agents have worked much better for our specific use cases.

[Marlon Aguiar]

As an initial troubleshooting step for Rovo Agents used within Automation workflows, I recommend logging the agent output. To do this:

1. Add a Log action at the end of your workflow
2. Include {{agentResponse}} in the log output field
3. Check the results in the workflow execution logs

This will help you see exactly what the agent is returning and identify any issues with the response format or content.

Also keep in mind that you cannot have the agent itself performing actions via automation rules, you would need to introduce those actions in the workflow itself. As documented in Rovo agents in automations:

If an agent is triggered in an automation rule, it cannot use its own actions, it can only provide a text response which can then be used in subsequent actions built into the automation rule via the {{agentResponse}} smart value.

For you use case, I believe you need to have the agent output the response in the format you want, and then use a Comment on issue action afterwards, with the contents of {{agentResponse}}.

I hope this information helps! 

[Samuel Barden]

Hey @Jordi Romera

It looks like the issue might be related to how Rovo handles the Markdown formatting in automation rules. Rovo typically returns plain text, so when you try to embed the link in Markdown, it doesn’t get parsed correctly into a clickable URL.

As @Marlon Aguiar suggested, you can log the agent output to see exactly what’s being returned and adjust your automation accordingly.

Make sure that the actual comment addition and status transition are handled as separate actions after the agent response.

Hope that helps!