Automation rule cannot copy attachments between linked tickets

[Taras Boianovskyi]

I have a request ticket (with attachments) and I have an escalation ticket that escalates inside the request ticket. I have automation that drops a comment in the escalation ticket (based on the info in the request ticket). All fields are being displayed correctly, except for attachments. My goal was to display attachments as files in the newly created ticket.

For now, I dropped a comment that creates a clickable link to those attachments, so the user can download and check. But that's not ideal.

What I want is to display: exact attachments from ticket A (request ticket) in ticket B (escalation ticket), without some kind of links or references. I've tried so many options, but I haven't succeeded. The automation bot does have all the necessary permissions.

Is it possible to do? And if so, how can I achieve that result? Many thanks in advance!

[Marc -Devoteam-]

Hi @Taras Boianovskyi 

Welcome to the community.

You could achieve this cloning the ticket, this will mean it retains the same work item type.

Other options are via automation, see this KB article, how-to-sync-comments-and-copy-attachments-between-linked-issues 

Or see 3rd party solutions, like elements, exalate or scriptrunner

[Taras Boianovskyi]

Thanks a lot for your reply! Cloning won't be the best solution, as we have a specific form for escalation to start development based on the client's request. And a request is a ticket, which we receive from our customers, to analyze the issue/improvement.

I'll check out the link you send, which looks promising, and if it won't cover our needs, I'll work with 3rd party.

Again, your help is much appreciated, and now I at least have some light here to work with. Many thanks, Marc!

[Luka Hummel - codefortynine]

Hi @Taras Boianovskyi

If you are willing to use a Marketplace app, our app Deep Clone for Jira can help you to duplicate your ticket for escalation and keeping the attachments.

Two practical ways to set this up

1. On-demand from the issue view (fastest to try)

   1. Open the request ticket and click Actions (⋯) → Deep Clone.
   2. Pick your target project/issue type for the escalation.
   3. In clone configurations, enable Attachments (and optionally Comments).
   4. Select Immediately clone 1 issue and click Start Clone.
   

2. Automatically when you escalate (no clicks for agents)

   Use a Workflow Post Function Clone: add Deep Clone to your “Escalate” transition, set target project/issue type, and enable Attachments.

Good to know

• Deep Clone creates a new issue and copies the files across; it’s ideal if you can generate your escalation ticket from the source request.
• You can choose exactly which content to include (e.g., attachments, comments, status, work logs, etc.).
• Large files are supported; the maximum attachment size is 2 GB per file.

[Clara Belin-Brosseau_Elements]

Hi @Taras Boianovskyi

Welcome to the Community and thanks @Marc -Devoteam- for mentioning us.

You’re right, Jira’s native automation has a limitation when it comes to copying attachments between linked issues. Even with the right permissions, automation rules can only reference or link to attachments, not actually duplicate the files themselves.

If your goal is to display the same attachments from the request ticket directly in the escalation ticket, you can easily achieve this with our app Elements Copy & Sync. It’s designed specifically to handle these types of use cases where automation alone can’t manage file-level data.

Here’s how you can set it up:

• Go to Elements Copy & Sync → Administration → Recipes

  • Go to the Recipes tab and click Create recipe.

  • Choose the recipe type Synchronize linked issues.

  • Give it a name, such as “Sync attachments from Request → Escalation”.

• Define your source and target issues

  • In the Source tab, select the project or issue type for your Request tickets (where the attachments originate).

  • In the Target tab, select the project or issue type for your Escalation tickets.

• Enable attachment synchronization

• • Go to the Content tab.

  • Under Attachments, toggle Synchronize attachments → ON.

  • This ensures that any attachments on the source issue are copied and kept up to date on the linked escalation issue.

  • (Optional) You can also enable Synchronize comments if you want comments to stay in sync too.

• Choose the synchronization direction

  • By default, the sync goes from source → target (Request → Escalation).

  • If you want attachments added in the escalation issue to also appear back in the request, you can set up bi-directional sync.

• Set up triggers

  • In the Triggers tab, define when the synchronization should occur.

  • Common options include:

    • When an issue link (like “is escalated by” or “relates to”) is created between the two tickets.

    • When an attachment is added to the source issue.

  • This ensures the sync runs automatically whenever linked issues are updated.

• Activate and test your recipe

  • Click Save, then Activate the recipe.

You can also check documentation here.

You can try the app for free to see if it solves your use case properly.

I hope this helps :) 

[Taras Boianovskyi]

Thanks a lot for the detailed steps. I'll try this out if the sync comments solution won't help.

[Isabella Thomas]

I’ve faced the same issue — seems automation rules can’t natively copy attachments between linked tickets yet. Would be great if Atlassian adds this feature to improve escalation workflows!

[Taras Boianovskyi]

Totally agree with you! I spent too much time looking for a workaround, and ended up here. Anyway, thanks for sharing the same problem. Maybe in the future, Atlassian will add this feature.