Displaying a parent's field

[Phil]

Is there a way to display a parent's field value in a child view?  For example, In a sub-task view, can I display (in read ony) the parent's fixversion field value?

[Brant Schroeder · Accepted solution]

@Phil If the field exists on the sub-task you can populate it with the parents information through an automation.  We do this for fix version, components, and other information.  We have an automation that updates them when they are changed on the parent and one that adds them when the sub-task is initially created or updated.  This keeps the information in sync and allows us to see the information on the sub-task without having to go to the parent issue.

[Phil]

got it. thanks

[John Funk · Accepted solution]

Hi Phil,

Short answer is no, that is not possible. 

[Phil]

love short answers. thanks.

[John Funk]

Sorry - I thought you were were referring the the display in the list of Child work items. On the child itself, sure you can do that. See Brant's answer. 

[Phil]

Don't be sorry. I was serious in my response. appreciate the time!!!

[Thiago Wenceslau -Appfire-]

Hi Phil,

I’m Thiago, a support engineer at Appfire.

You can automatically sync child issue fields with their parent whenever the parent is updated or a new child is created. Using Jira Misc Workflow Extensions (JMWE), you can configure this automation effortlessly:

• Create an Event-based Action: Use "Issue Field Value Change" as the trigger.
• Define Criteria: Specify the projects or issues you want to automate.
• Configure the Action: Set the rule to copy the parent's "Fix Version" (or any other field) to all child issues.

It is that simple. Below is an example on how the configuration would look like:

Please contact our support if you have any other questions about this.

Best regards, Appfire support team.

[Ivan Manolov - JXL]

Hi @Phil,

To put a finer point on what @John Funk and @Brant Schroeder said: there's no native way to display the parent's value as a live read-only mirror on the sub-task. What you can do is copy it into the sub-task's own field, then keep it in sync with automation. That's effectively what most teams settle on.

Here's a setup that works well:

• Add the same field to the sub-task screen (e.g., enable Fix Versions on the sub-task work type via Settings > Issues > Screens or, in team-managed spaces, via the work-type configuration).
• Initial copy on creation — Automation rule:
  • Trigger: Work item created
  • Condition: Work item type = Sub-task (and any project filter you need)
  • Action: Edit work item → set Fix Versions = {{issue.parent.fixVersions}}
• Keep in sync when the parent changes — second rule:
  • Trigger: Field value changed on the parent (e.g., Fix Versions)
  • Branch: For each related work item → JQL parent = {{issue.key}}
  • Action: Edit work item → set Fix Versions = {{triggerIssue.fixVersions}}

A few caveats:

• The sub-task field is editable by anyone with permission. You can lock it with a field configuration (Read-only) for non-admins, but the automation rules will still need write permissions.
• For multi-value fields (Components, Labels, Fix Versions), test on a sample first — the smart-value list syntax can need a .join(",") depending on the field type.
• If you want the value as a column in a List/Issue Navigator view rather than on the issue page, that's where the limitation Brant called out really bites: only fields stored on the sub-task itself show up as columns.

Hope this helps,

Ivan

[Ivan Manolov - JXL]

@PhilOne more thing worth flagging, in case the column view is what you actually need.

If you're open to solutions from the Atlassian Marketplace, JXL is a spreadsheet-style view for Jira where you can show parent fields as columns directly on each child row, read-only and live. So in a sheet listing your sub-tasks, you can add a "Parent's Fix Versions" column (or any other parent field), and it always reflects whatever's on the parent at that moment — no automation, no syncing, no extra fields on the sub-task. Useful when you just want to see and filter by the parent's data without duplicating it.

Disclosure: I work for the team that builds JXL.

Cheers,

Ivan