emails with ticket number generates new ticket

[kate reeder]

I have created a company managed ITSM space in JSM cloud. I am the Org admin and Jira admin. When Customers send an email and include a work item key in the email subject, I want that email to be added as a comment on the existing work item, however my space keeps creating net-new tickets. 

I have followed the instructions here but it is still creating net-new tickets even when an existing work item key is included in the email subject: https://support.atlassian.com/jira-service-management-cloud/docs/allow-external-emails-to-be-added-as-comments-on-issues/

I have done the following but it is still creating net-new tickets. Any ideas on how to fix? Am I missing a step? ...or is this an Atlassian bug I need to report? 

- In Jira Admin settings > Configuration: I set Allow All Emails that contain a valid issue key to be added as comment to the issue to YES

- In Jira Admin settings > Customer Access: I checked Allow customers to create accounts and within that also checked customers can access and send requests from the portal without logging in

- In Jira Admin settings > Customer Access > Account Types > Internal: I checked to use approved domains and confirmed that the customer sending the test email is using the approved domain

- In Jira Admin settings > Customer Access > Account Types > External: I checked to allow portal-only accts to be created

- Confirmed that Channel Access is set to Open for this space

- I am testing this with an active Customer account

[kate reeder · Accepted solution]

Circling back to close the loop on this thread. I discussed with Atlassian support who clarified that when entering the ticket Key into the email subject line it's case sensitive, so the key has to be in all caps. We tested again with all caps in the email subject and it worked like a charm, net-new email sent from the Customer generated a comment in the ticket instead of creating a net-new ticket. 

I then further tested by removing the Customer as a Request Participant and repeated the test. Again, as long as the Key in the email subject is all caps, a comment is added instead of a net-new ticket being created. So, it appears that a Customer does NOT have to be listed as a Request Participant in order for an email with the ticket Key to generate a comment... as long as the Key is in all caps. Tested and confirmed this works with net-new emails as well as replies to an existing email thread. 

[John Funk]

Thanks for tracking that down and posting the resolution back here. Not sure why they force it to be case sensitive - doesn't really make sense, and that is not in their documentation anywhere that I have seen. Anyway, thanks again!

[John Funk]

Hi Kate,

Are these new emails or emails that are a response to an email that came from Jira/Atlassian? 

[kate reeder]

Hi @John Funk - We are testing with net-new email, but the work item key is the only thing in the email subject. 

[John Funk]

Next thing to check would be that the user sending the email has the Permission to Add comments within the Permission scheme. 

[kate reeder]

THX @John Funk - yes, I see that Add Comments permission lists Service Space Customers - Portal Access as one of the groups with permissions. I have also added this customer as a user to the space with a Customer Role. 

[John Funk]

Had you already done that? Or did you update after your last test? Have you tested again with all of this completed? 

[kate reeder]

Good question, @John Funk - These were the existing settings before I started testing. 

[John Funk]

So that would lead me to believe that it might have something to do with it being a new email instead of a reply. Test it as a reply in the same scenario and see what happens. 

[kate reeder]

Thanks @John Funk. Replies to the email thread populate as comments in the ticket even if the ticket number is not included in the subject or email body... which is great, but I'm under the impression that even net-new emails should still add comments if a valid key is included. The Atlassian docs say "You can choose to allow all emails with a valid work item key to be added as a comment". The Atlassian docs don't specify that this will only work for replies or forwards of the originating email. 

I'm guessing I will have to open a ticket with Atlassian to clarify and validate the expected functionality. I will reply back to this thread when I have more info from Atlassian to share the knowledge with everyone on what I learn. 

If you have any other ideas, plz let me know! TY!!

[John Funk]

Thanks for the extra info. Yes, the best option is to open a support ticket. Really interested to here the resolution. And thanks in advance for coming back here to post it. Best of luck!

[kate reeder]

FYI - Rovo advised that "The sender must be the reporter, a request participant, or a member of an organization the ticket is shared with. If not, a new ticket is created—even if the issue key is present" ...however, even when I add the user as a Request Participant it is still generating net-new tickets. 

I have raised a ticket with Atlassian support and will update this thread again when there is more information to share. 

[John Funk]

Interesting, but makes sense. So you add the user to the Request Participant field. Then send an email for an account that has the exact same email address, but it creates a new ticket instead of adding a comment. Correct? 

[kate reeder]

@John Funk - yes, that's correct. I added the Customer user as a Request Participant of the ticket in question & added them directly by name vs adding an Organization they're just a member of. This Customer is has a JSM user acct tied to their company email, so JSM found them by name in the Request Participants field. 
Then, the Customer sends net-new email (from the same company email address that is linked to their JSM user acct) to our support queue with the ticket key in the subject line. Result: JSM generated net-new ticket instead of adding a comment to the existing ticket. 

The use case here is for high-level stakeholders (think C-level leaders) who don't want to take the time to go look up the ticket in JSM and/or were not copied on the originating email so they do not have the email thread in their inbox. These leaders want to be able to send an email to JSM with only the ticket # in the subject line and the email body could simply say "I'd like an update on this"... we'd like that to automatically populate as a comment in the ticket so the support team can respond quickly and so there is an audit trail with a time stamp of the leader having requested an update. When a net-new ticket is generated (vs comment added to existing ticket), this adds more friction to the whole process and causes delays. 

[John Funk]

Good context - thanks for that. Just curious, how are they getting the initial JSM key for the ticket? How do they know what it is? 

[John Funk]

And just a wild shot - but what project role permissions do they have on the project - any? If they are not in the Service Desk Team project role, maybe add them there and try it one last time while you are waiting on Atlassian support. 

[kate reeder]

@John Funk great question... in the use case I presented, the stakeholder would typically see the ticket # in a report, but may also be given the key by a team member. For example, a team member escalates to their manager that ticket # KEY-123 is problematic. That manager then sends an email requesting IT provide a status update or information,  for said ticket. 

[kate reeder]

@John Funk FYI - got my answer from Atlassian and posted it in this thread... kicking myself for not thinking about the key being case sensitive - DOH!