Jira Automation: Epic in progress when a linked task goes into progress

[Sina Mathieu]

Hi everyone,
I'm trying to create an jira automation rule that allows setting an epic to "In progress" as soon as a linked task goes "in progress." Unfortunately, it doesn't really work yet. 

Can anyone help me?

Thanks in advance!

[Sina Mathieu · Accepted solution]

Hello everyone,

I've modified the rule:

So, for me, the epic is transferred to the "in progress" status when a task is transferred to the "in progress" status. Thank you very much for your support! :)

Best regards,

Sina 

[Sina Mathieu]

Hi everyone,

Thanks for the quick replies. :)
I've now tried to redesign the workflow as described above:

Then I created an epic and attached a task. I set the task to "In Progress." I expected the epic to also be set to "In Progress." Unfortunately, that wasn't the case.However, the audit log reports a "success":

I'm still doing something wrong, can you please help me?

[Staffan Redelius]

You wrote: when a linked task goes "in progress...  and that makes me wonder.

There is a difference between links between work items (they are only relations) and Epic-> Task where you have a hierarchy where the Epic is the parent and the Task  is the child of.

The example is based on the assumption that you have a hierarchy with an Epic and want to change the status on the Epic based on the status of the Child work item (Task) included in the Epic.

Can you verify that the following:

• The Task that triggers the rule is actually a child work item of the Epic and not just a linked work item?
• The Epic is in status "Open" and not in i.e "To Do" when you fire the rule?
• Does the Task that triggers the rule have the status "In progress"?
• Does the workflow for the Epic allow transition from "Open" to "In progress"

Note that there is a difference between "Status" = "In progress" and "Status category" ="In progress where the first one is an absolute state in the workflow and the second is all stauses that are blue in the workflow.

Below is a picture of a linked vs. child work item

Best regards,
/Staffan

[Sina Mathieu]

Hello @Staffan Redelius ,

I can give the following answers to your questions:

• These are linked tasks, no child tasks
• The epic is in the "Open" status
• The task is set to the "In Progress" status and should then trigger the rule
• The workflow allows a status change from anywhere to all statuses

Thanks for your quick answer an best regards,

Sina

[Staffan Redelius]

Ok, then I understand why it doesen't work. 

The Task should be a child work item and not a linked work item. It makes sense to set the Parent Epic to "In progress" when the work is started on included work Items.

All planning and progress reports in Jira are based on the parent/child structure where the Epic is the container of several child work items.

Links are as I described just relations between work Items.  

[Sina Mathieu]

Ok, thanks for your reply.

My company relies more on links. Is there a way to define the rule so that it would work with links?

[Staffan Redelius]

You need to create the branch based on linked issues instead of parent Epic since that is the type of relation you are using.

But I doubt it will be a reliable solution since you might have several Epics that would be affected  by the rule unintentionally. 

I highly recommend you to re-evaluate how you are using epics since this will affect core features in Jira regarding planning, execution and reporting. 

[Sina Mathieu]

Hello @Staffan Redelius ,

I changed the rule for the branch to linked issues:

The rule now recognizes that the task triggers and that the epic is the target, but the rule says that no actions are necessary.

Best regards,

Sina 

[Staffan Redelius]

The rule is looking for "Some Stories (or other issues in this Epic)" and as you have described there are no issues in the Epic, only linked issues.

 Again, this is not a good idea and I recommend you to use Epics as intended in Jira.

[Staffan Redelius]

Hi @Sina Mathieu 

If you build the rule as described below the Rule will be triggerd by the transition of a Work item. IF the work item has a Parent Epic that is in status Open AND the child work item is moved to blue status (status category = "In progress") THEN the Epic status will be moved to "In progress"

Make sure that your workflow allows the transitions when designing the rule

If this solves your problem, please mark the answer as accepted to help other find working solutions.

If you have any other questions I am happy to assist!

All the best!
/Staffan

[John Funk]

Hi Sina,

So, what is not working? Can you share a screenshot of the Audit Log for when you run the rule? Can you describe the steps you are taking when you expect the rule to run? 

[John Funk]

Thanks for the screenshots and additional information, Sina. 

Is the Epic in a different project from the Task? If so, you need to add both projects to the Rule details page for the scope of the project. 

[Sina Mathieu]

Hello @John Funk ,

Thanks for your reply. No, both issues are in the same project.

Best regards,

Sina