How to Sync the Status of Linked Issues Regardless of Their Current Status?

[AnCha Hesse]

Hi everyone,
I’m trying to find out whether Jira Automation allows creating a rule that synchronizes the status of linked issues, regardless of the current status those issues are in.
In other words:
If Issue A transitions to a new status, I want all linked issues (e.g., “relates to,” “is blocked by,” “blocks,” etc.) to automatically transition to that same status — even if their current workflow status normally wouldn’t allow this transition.
Is there a way to configure such a rule, or a workaround that allows syncing statuses across linked issues independently of their existing status conditions?
Any guidance or best practices would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance!

[Jeroen Poismans]

Hi and welcome to the community!

Short answer: No, not possible since the workflow defines from which to which status transitions are possible. Otherwise there would not be any purpose in a workflows.

Longer answer :-):

Yes, but it would indeed be a workaround. Assuming that you know exactly which work items and work types you are linking to, you could change the workflow of those linked work items to include "Any" transitions on all desired statuses. 

To prevent users from performing those transitions you could put a condition on them that blocks all users (this way the transition is only possible from API or automation).

Hope this helps!