Automation ID as a smart value

[Myles Boyd]

I am trying to debug an issue when a condition allowing the automation to continue, but the check should fail and the automation stop.

I was hoping to email me the automation ID when this happens so I can investigate easier.

Is there a smart value for it>

Thank you,

[Alex David · Accepted solution]

Hey, short version: there's no built-in smart value for a rule's own ID today, so you can't pull the automation ID dynamically the way the failure emails do.

What works in practice:

- Give the rule a unique, descriptive name and filter the audit log by that name. Gets you to the exact rule fast without scrolling.

- If you want the trace to travel with the message, hard-code the rule name (or a direct link to the rule) as static text in the email or comment the rule sends. Whoever receives it can match it back straight away.

- For chained rules, set a rule variable at the start (a short tag) and include it in each action, so you can cross-reference which rule did what.

Not as clean as a real ID smart value would be, but it covers the 'which rule fired this' need. Might also be worth voting for it as a suggestion on jira.atlassian.com so it gets on the radar.

Alex

[Varun Chillamcharla]

Hello @Myles Boyd 

I've run into this same debugging pain before — there's no built-in smart value that returns the automation rule's own ID or name from within itself, so you can't just reference something like {{automation.id}}.

What's worked for me: instead of a comment (which can get noisy over time), I use an email/notification action as the failure step and put the rule name directly in the subject line — something like "Automation Failed: [Rule Name] - [ISSUE-KEY]". That way you get the context immediately without digging through the issue's comment history, and it's easy to filter/search in your inbox if a specific rule fails repeatedly.

If you want the actual rule ID (not just name) for filtering in the Automation audit log, you can also grab it from the rule's URL in the browser when you're editing it — Jira doesn't expose it as a smart value, but it's static per rule so you can hardcode it into your email/comment if needed.

[amelia earhart]

I use a primitive debug method that creates some noise but gets the job done: At the end of any automation I make the last step add a comment listing the name and url of the automation that fired.

Like I said, creates noise. However, after debugging, you can delete that noisy comment.

[Marc -Devoteam-]

Hi @Myles Boyd 

Please explain yourself more.

Provide the following:

• What type of project are you using.
• Show your full automation rule
• Show details of each step
• Provide the audit log
• Pinpoint the action where the issue is

Note if you want to find out what a result is, use a log actions.

[Aaron Pavez _ServiceRocket_]

Hi @Myles Boyd 

To better understand this, can you share a screenshot of the automation config you have so far?

Normally, to debug, you'll add a Log action and smart values and then check the Audit log for the automation.

> I was hoping to email me the automation ID when this happens so I can investigate easier.

If you have checked the box to email you when the autoamtion fails, you'll get an email.

Regards

[Myles Boyd]

I do add a log actions, but I was trying to be efficient; instead of scrolling until I find the one that failed, I wanted the automation ID so I could filter on it.

Normally, if an automation fails, you get an email that has the automation ID in.  I wanted to replicate that so I could filter when the conditon is allowing issues through incorrectly.