Automation to update custom date field from date string

[Rupesh Panchal]

Hello Community. 

I’m working on a Jira Automation rule in my Service Desk project.

Here’s what I’m trying to do:

• I extract a date string from an issue description field and store it in a variable.  Example date string in description field is: 'Start Date: Jan 5, 2026'
  

• 1st action is create a variable called rawStartDate and use this smart value: {{issue.description.match(".*Start Date: (.+).*")}}

• The value of rawStartDate is in the format Jan 5, 2026 - which is great!

• I want to convert this value to a date object and then format it as MM/dd/yyyy (e.g., 01/05/2026) using Jira Automation smart values.

• I’m using the smart value:
  {{rawStartDate.toDate.format("MM/dd/yyyy")}}

• However, when I log either {{rawStartDate.toDate}} or {{rawStartDate.toDate.format("MM/dd/yyyy")}}, the output is blank. I also tried MM-dd-yyyy.

• Logging {{rawStartDate}} shows the correct value (Jan 5, 2026), so the variable is being set.

• Final step would be to edit the custom work item field with this date object.

What am I missing, or is there a known issue with .toDate and this date format in Jira Automation? Any suggestions for troubleshooting or workarounds would be appreciated!

[Bill Sheboy · Accepted solution]

Hi @Rupesh Panchal -- Welcome to the Atlassian Community!

First thing: how is the date getting into the Description field?

If a person is typing it in, the format may be difficult to predict...and thus asking people to select a value with a date-picker custom field may be better than using text.

If instead the date is populated in the Description by a system, rule, etc., please note you are using an alphanumeric format for the date as text.  Thus, you need to supply a matching format for the toDate() function:

https://support.atlassian.com/cloud-automation/docs/examples-of-using-smart-values-with-dates/#Converting-text-to-dates

Perhaps try this:

{{rawStartDate.toDate("MMM d, yyyy")}}

Kind regards,
Bill

[Rupesh Panchal]

@Bill Sheboy This worked and thanks for the explaination. 

To answer your question the date is being populated by another system via email.  The format is consistent. 

Apprciate the help!

[Rupesh Panchal]

Here is picture of the automation: