Automation to update field in current issue with a value from a linked issue.

[Dave Stillwell]

I am trying to create a manually triggered automation that would copy the value of custom field from a linked issue and update the same field in the current issue.

From what I read I am supposed to use a Branch Rule and select linked Issues and the link type and then add an Edit Issue action to update the field and to select the customfield value {{issue.fields.customfield_XXXXX}.  But when I look at the Audit Log for the rule it indicates that the linked issue was edited and not the issue from where the rule was triggered.

[Bill Sheboy]

Hi @Dave Stillwell 

For a question like this, context is important for the community to help.  Please post the following:

• an image of your complete automation rule in a single image for continuity
• images of any relevant actions / conditions / branches
• an image of the audit log details showing the rule execution
• explain what is not working as expected and why you believe that to be the case

Until we see those...

Based on what you describe and the tag indicating you are using Jira Data Center, you may need to use the REST API rather than a branch or Lookup Issues action to access the linked issue's data (or invert your rule logic / approach to change which one is the trigger issue).

Here is a post on a related article describing the general approach using the REST API to do this:

https://community.atlassian.com/forums/Jira-articles/How-Can-I-Sum-Up-Multiple-Issues-into-a-Parent-Number-Field/ba-p/2882712#M16701

Kind regards,
Bill

[Christopher Yen]

Hi @Dave Stillwell ,

When I use branch rules I think it's usually in the opposite direction of what you're describing, usually to update linked issues. I think with what you're describing you should use the lookup issue action and then a smart value that refers to the lookup.

Not super confident on this format but what I found from Googling,

{{lookupIssues.fields.customfield_XXXXX}}

Also if the linked issues are potentially in different projects you'll also want to make this a global automation rule scoped to the all the projects you need or it might run into issues.

[Bill Sheboy]

Hi @Christopher Yen 

Jira Server / Data Center automation for the Lookup Issues action does not support custom fields yet: 

https://jira.atlassian.com/browse/JIRAAUTOSERVER-877

That action only supports a very limited number of fields at this time:

https://confluence.atlassian.com/automation/jira-smart-values-issues-993924860.html#Jirasmartvaluesissues-lookupissues-properties

Kind regards,
Bill

[Christopher Yen]

Missed the data center environment, thanks for pointing that out Bill

[Dave Stillwell]

I eventually went the route indicated by @Christopher Yen and ran the automation from the issue that had the data I wanted to copy.  It was an extra step of opening the linked issue from the issue I wanted to update and running the automation from there, but it wasn't too much of a hassle. 

Thank you @Christopher Yen and @Bill Sheboy for your feedback.