How to use "Start date" from the timeline in Automation

[Gordon Whybrow]

I am trying to set up some automation to set the Story Points of a task based on the number of days between the "Start date" and "Due date" as set on the Timeline.

Ideally I would use the following with some complexity multiplier

{{issue.Start date.diff(issue.Due date).days}}

however this does not work and the field remains empty

Using {{now.diff(issue.Due date).days}} works, but obviously provides the wrong answer

Using {{issue.Start date.diff(now).days}} does not populate the field, neither does {{now.diff(issue.Start date).days}} 

Has anyone managed to reference the Start date from the Timeline in automation? If so, could you share your solution?

[Marc - Devoteam]

Hi @Gordon Whybrow 

Welcome to the community.

Can you show your current automation rule, provide details on the following points:

1. what type of project is this (e.g., company-managed, team-managed, etc.), 

2. images that show your complete rule.

3. images showing the details of any relevant actions/conditions/branches.

4. images showing the Audit Log details for the rule execution.

5. Explain where the issue is.

These questions are not for not willing to help, but to have community members understand on how automation works.

On topic.

You would need to use smart conditions in an IF/Else condition

example;

First value: smart value:{{issue.Start date.diff(issue.Due date).days}}

Condition: set as required

Second value: set a number, like 4

Then edit the field Story points

Or it might be that you want to store the difference first and then edit the Story point field, see this KB correct-way-to-store-date-difference-to-a-custom-field-using-automation