Changing the Key

[Sanjay]

I am very new to Jira. this is my first post .

How can the parent key be changed to B or C ... instead of just A1, A2 A3 etc. If this is possible then will the child task also inherit the parent naming of A1 or B1 or C1 and sub task as A1-1 or B1-1 ... etc

[M Chandra Shekar · Accepted solution]

Hi @Sanjay A1 is the project key and the number you see after hyphen that is unique I’d Auto generated by Jira when you create a Work item eg. epic, story etc. 

the project key stays the same, but the issue number auto-increments for every new issue.

[Sanjay]

Hello Chandra, Thanks for your reply. Can the unique id for the work item in the epics can be changed to match the id of the epics. I do not wish it to be auto generated.

The unique id of the work item should ideally match the id or alphabet of the epic.

Thank you

Sanjay

[M Chandra Shekar]

No, you can’t change Jira issue IDs they are auto-generated in Jira.

If you would like to assign custom number. Use a custom text field to store/match the Epic ID instead.

[Andrea Robbins]

Welcome to the community!

The A1 is the key of the space, which means it is the unique identifier. It is not related to the work type, but instead is the unique identifier of the work item within the space. 

If you change it, it will be changed across all work items within the project. You can learn how to do it by reading this documentation:

https://support.atlassian.com/jira-cloud-administration/docs/edit-a-projects-details/

[Fabio Racobaldo _Catworkx_]

Hi @Sanjay ,

A1,B1,C1 is the key of your project/space and it is the same for all items within space.

Hope this clarifies,

Fabio

[Shivam Sharma - Optimizory]

Hi @Sanjay! Yes, what you're describing is very much achievable.

Custom ID for Jira lets you define custom ID patterns for Jira issues, so instead of being limited to default Jira keys, you can create meaningful, structured identifiers like B1, C1, or hierarchical formats like A1-1, B1-1 for child/subtasks.

You have full control over the pattern, and it can reflect your organizational or documentation needs, similar to section numbering in a document.

You can learn more about the app and how custom patterns work here.

The app is available on the Atlassian Marketplace, and the bonus is it's a free app.

If you have more specific questions about pattern configuration, do let me know; I'd be happy to help!

[Sanjay]

I guess the key cannot be changed. How to close the question, without accepting the answer ?

[Aron Gombas _Midori_]

@Sanjay 

 If you want to maintain your own IDs, it is possible, but you would need to use a custom field and automation rules for that.

For example, you introduce a scheme where this custom ID of any work item looks like:

1234:4567

where "1234" is the Atlassian-assigned ID of the epic, while "4567" is the Atlassian-assigned ID of the work item. 

Just add a "text" type custom field, make it read-only, and automation rules that will update its value when the work item is added to or remove from an epic.

It would absolutely work.

[Carlos Garcia Navarro]

Hi @Sanjay ,

You can’t change existing issue keys, but you can change the project key (which only affects future issues), or move issues to another project, where they’ll get new keys automatically.