Can an automation send an error message to the user as an action?

[Phil Bustin]

Can an automation that currently creates a sub-task if a checkbox equals a value, to instead send an error message to the user if a related field is empty?  I don't see any action that looks like that.

The broader question is, is there a way of accomplishing this function?  As I think about it, the automation can of course simply not create the sub-task if the related field isn't empty, but the user needs to see an error message.

[Darryl Lee · Accepted solution]

Yeah, the main issue here is that Jira Automation cannot display error messages or prevent actions from happening.

The "standard" way to do this is with a validator, and but in your case, you will need a Custom Validator. You've mention two different scenarios:

• Can an automation that currently creates a sub-task if a checkbox equals a value, to instead send an error message to the user if a related field is empty?  I don't see any action that looks like that.
• I can't unconditionally require field B, since it's only required if field A contains a specific value.

So you would have a custom validator that says:

• If field A is not empty, then field B is required.
• And validators have the ability to put up a custom error message.

Unfortunately custom validators require a paid third-party app, and you might have to learn a little bit about Jira Expressions. 

In this case it would be something like:

!!issue.customfield_20001.value && !!issue.customfield_20002.value

(I modified an example from Use cases for validators.)

[Manoj Gangwar · Accepted solution]

Hi @Phil Bustin ,

In that case, You can add the workflow field required Validator on the create issue Transition. Make the field required and add a error message. 

Go the workflow>>edit >>click on create transition>>click on validator>>Select Field required validator>>Add the field & error message which you want.

[Phil Bustin]

Thank you Manoj, but I think this is not the answer.  To clarify, I can't unconditionally require field B, since it's only required if field A contains a specific value.

[Manoj Gangwar]

If you have JWT Plugin then you can use the "Validation based on JQL query".

[Phil Bustin]

I would have to ask for our first plugin.

[Mikael Sandberg · Accepted solution]

Yes, as you mentioned you can just not create the sub-task if the field isn't empty and in that case notify the user the reason why the sub-task was not created.

[Phil Bustin]

But notify how--add a comment?

[Mikael Sandberg]

Either by adding a comment to the trigger issue, or you have the option to send an email, or sending them a slack message if you are syncing the Slack ID to the user's property as described in this article.

[Phil Bustin]

I'll look into that, but what I've been working on is this: 

1) Position an "Automation message" field at the top of the form.

2) Create a separate automation (to avoid too much complexity in the current one) that interrogates all 7 checkbox/text field pairs and sets a single selection field (yes or no), if a discrepancy is found.

3) Set a condition in the existing automation that will create sub-tasks only if the aforementioned single selection field (that acts as a switch) is 'no' (for no discrepancy).  Otherwise, populate the Automation message field with a message notifying the user that at least one discrepancy was found.

4) Create a validator in the transition that the switch must = 'yes'.  (Possibly I will need to set a separate switch in the existing automation, and use that for the validator, but that's just a detail.)