How to set a field to be read only in an edit screen

[Chris Zander]

Hello All - I have an edit screen where the user is expected to enter information.  I have an automation (flow) that uses that information to set the value of another field.  The user will then use that information to determine next steps and evaluate what is the appropriate course of action.  I don't want someone to be able to change the value once it's calculated. 

When asking Rovo, it's suggesting that I set the field to Read Only with the following steps:

Option 1: Make the field read-only via Field Configuration (Simplest)

1. Go to ⚙️ Settings → Issues → Field configurations

2. Find the field configuration used by your PPL project

3. Locate "Safety Risk Level" in the list

4. Click "Edit" next to it and check the "Read only" box (or click the "Renderer" link and set it to read-only)

How it works: The field will be visible on issues but greyed out / non-editable for all users. Automation runs as a system actor and bypasses field configuration restrictions, so it can still write to the field.

 But that option appears to no longer exist on Jira Cloud.  Any suggestions?

[Staffan Redelius · Accepted solution]

Hi @Chris Zander and welcome to the community!

Are you using a Company or Team managed project?

For Team managed projects it is not possible as far as I know. If you are using a Company managed project you can create different screens for the operations Create/Edit/View. 

You can put the input field(s) in the Create and Edit screens and put the result in the View screen. That way it will be visible on the screen for the user to take the proper action but it isn't posible to edit the field.

If you want the result field as a read-only field upon creation of the issue it is not possible. There might be marketplace apps that could solve your problem but I am afraid I don't have any good suggestions.

Best regards,
/Staffan

[Chris Zander]

Hello and Thanks @Staffan Redelius  - I am using a company managed project for this.  I did think about having the field only on a view screen, however the input from the users is that they require that field output to help them complete the remaining required fields, so completing half the form, leaving to see the results, and then going back in to finish the remainder is not exactly convienent for them.

Thanks,
Chris

[Gabriela - LeanZero]

Company-managed Jira has no native way to show a field on the edit screen but stop people editing it. A field is either on the edit screen (editable) or not there at all. So visible-but-locked isn't something the screen config alone can do.

The clean way is ScriptRunner Behaviours, or a similar behaviours app like JMWE. Map a behaviour to that project and set the field read-only in it:

getFieldById("customfield_XXXXX").setReadOnly(true)

That keeps the field visible on the edit screen but greys it out for the user, while your automation can still write the calculated value to it. Watch out for one thing though. A few field types don't enforce read-only cleanly in Cloud (Story Points is the usual offender, and some setups report the field vanishing), so test it on your exact field first.

Prefer to stay native? Lean on the automation you've already got. Add a rule on Field value changed for that field that sets it straight back to the calculated value, so any manual edit gets overwritten and can't stick. Not as tidy as greying it out, but no app needed.