Automating Epic Ticket with Linked Tasks - Smart Values Needed

[alice.choi]

Dear JIRA Support Community,

I'm writing to inquire about automating an epic ticket with linked tasks within the epic ticket. I am specifically interested in utilizing smart values to link the tasks in a way that triggers the next task or designates the previous task as a prerequisite.

Please see attached screenshots as reference (First screenshot is the current set up and second screenshot is what we're hoping to achieve with smart values).

Could you please provide guidance on the smart values that I need to use to establish these links between tasks within the epic ticket? I would greatly appreciate any information or examples you can provide to help me understand the syntax and usage of the smart values for this purpose.

Your assistance will be invaluable in enhancing our workflow efficiency and task management within JIRA. 

Thank you in advance for your time and support.

Looking forward to your response.

Alice

[Bill Sheboy]

Hi @alice.choi -- Welcome to the Atlassian Community!

What are you trying to automate:

• creating the tasks for the epic
• link tasks to the epic
• updating the description for existing tasks
• updating tasks based on something that happened to a "predecessor"
• something else?

Knowing this will help the community to offer suggestions.  Thanks!

Kind regards,
Bill

[alice.choi]

Hi @Bill Sheboy

Thank you for the question!

Once tasks are created within epic, I'd like to find a way to link the tasks in each task in a way that triggers the next task (as shown in the second screenshot provided above). Let me know if you'd like me to clarify anything!

Thanks!

Alice

[Bill Sheboy]

Thanks, and a couple more questions...

How are the tasks (children of the epic) created: manually, with an automation rule, issue import, something else?

How do you know the task order?  Specifically, is there information in each task to indicate what any predecessors (or successors) are?  If the information is not in the issues, I am unclear how linking could be automated.

[alice.choi]

The child tasks are currently being created using an automation rule.

I have attached a screenshot of my current automation setup for a task, which you can refer to.

In this automation template, we have 14 child tasks, and each task is linked to the next task through an instruction. For example, in this task, we have it set as "[{{issue.summary}} | 01 - Business Requirements and KPIs]" in the automation.

Currently, once the child tasks are created, we manually update them to use a link instead of just the text.

I have tried using smart values such as {{createdissues.get(0).key}}, {{#createdIssues}}{{key}}{{/}}, etc., but none of these seem to work for me.

Do you have any advice?

[Bill Sheboy]

If you are creating all 14 issues as children of the epic in one rule, you could do what you ask. 

Please note that smart values are name, spacing, and case-sensitive, so please try using {{createdIssues}} after the issues are added, or {{createdIssue}} for the most recent one.

Here is the key: you are trying link a series of issues, and so I suspect you will need to follow a pattern:

• create an issue
• create another, linking to the most recently created one
• ...and so forth

Without seeing your entire rule, it is difficult to know what else to suggest.