I want to clone a list of work items with specific labels when I transition an epic

[Negar Jalalian]

i spent many hours asking Rovo and bot and copilot for help . none of them could help .
what I need to do is :
when I transition an epic to a specific status , I want automation for Jira lookup a JQL and find all work items (either task or subtask) with label = template and clone them and ideally link them to the same epic, in this screenshot I removed my ideal step to link to epic because it didn't work . I reallyyyyyy hope someone can help me 

[Negar Jalalian · Accepted solution]

after having a lot of disucssion with Atlassian support . I could clone the task which was linked to Epic and it was fine but when it came to subtasks , cloning subtasks were done to the orignal task not the cloned task. and that was a big problem . this was a limitation in automation for Jira and I'm evaluating to do the whole job by importing CSV instead of using automation job ..meaning importing : Epic, task and subtask 

[Negar Jalalian · Accepted solution]

after having a lot of discussion with Atlassian support , creating task was possible with automation of Jira .  but about Subtask , cloning subtask was possible but it was created under original task not the cloned task and Atlassian support said this is not possible with Automation with Jira . he suggested me to think of pther plugin and I can't get budget for extra app . I'm thinking of using import CSV solution instead of automation 

[Trudy Claspill]

Hello @Negar Jalalian 

Welcome to the Atlassian community.

If you are not getting the results you expect, what results are you actually getting? How do those results not match your expectations?

Please provide a screen image showing the details of the For each step.

Please provide screen images showing all the details in the rule execution audit log for when the rule ran but didn't produce the results you wanted. Make sure you click the ">" characters to expand all the details.

What is the Space scope of the rule? Are the Epic being transitioned in the same Space as the template items you want to clone?

[Trudy Claspill]

@Negar Jalalian 

I saw your response to @Connor .

Please provide a screen image showing the details from the rule Audit Log for the execution when you transitioned an Epic to/from statuses matching the rule trigger. Make sure to click all the ">" characters within the log entry to reveal all the details.

Reasons your rule may not have worked as expected:

1. The Epic is not in the project with the key "BC" (from your JQL statement) and the rule scope doesn't include both the "BC" project and the project containing the Epic.

2. The JQL found no matching issues.

3. The rule actor doesn't have permissions to Clone Work items in the project where the Epic exists.

4. The rule actor doesn't have permissions to Create Work Items in the Business Control project.

5. The Clone action is missing some fields that are required to create the desired issues (Tasks & Sub-tasks)

6. The Clone action is trying to set the newly created issue Parent to the Epic that triggered the rule. Epics can't be parents to Sub-tasks. Epics are a Level 1 item in the issue type hierarchy while Sub-tasks are Level -1. Only issues at Level 0 can be parents to Sub-tasks.

[Negar Jalalian]

hi Trudy 

I could fix half way with the help of support team but not the subtasks 

subtasks are not cloned . I also made this rule still not helping 

[Trudy Claspill]

How do you know that the sub-tasks were not created?

Please provide screen images that show:

1. The details of the step that creates subtasks.

2. The details from the Audit Log for an instance where this rule ran and the subtasks were not created.

Click all the ">" characters to reveal all the details within the log entry.

[Trudy Claspill]

Hello @Negar Jalalian 

You wrote:

after having a lot of discussion with Atlassian support , creating task was possible with automation of Jira .  but about Subtask , cloning subtask was possible but it was created under original task not the cloned task and Atlassian support said this is not possible with Automation with Jira .

It actually is possible, though not within a single automation rule.

The methodology is:

1. In the rule you have now, when you clone the Task, add something to it (like a unique Label value) to indicate you created it via your original rule.
2. Create a second rule that is triggered by Task creation, that has a condition to look for the Task issue type and that label, then executes a branch with JQL to look up the subtasks of the original issue, and clones each subtask. And finally removed the label from the Task. This rule has to also have the option checked on the Rule Details page for "Check to allow other rule actions to trigger this rule." 

[Negar Jalalian]

hi Trudy , I even raised the same solution to atlassian support but they said it is not possible . if you think this is possible , do you have time to arrange a 30 min call to go through it ?

[Trudy Claspill]

Hello @Negar Jalalian 

I am not able to offer real-time consultation.

There is an article that explains the concept of clone Epics, their child issues, and the subtasks of the child issues using two rules. You should be able to use that, excluding the portions that concern cloning the Epic.

https://community.atlassian.com/forums/Jira-articles/Clone-Epic-Stories-and-Subtasks-tree-with-Jira-Automation/ba-p/2316387

That author uses a different methods than I did in the subtask cloning rule.

[Connor]

Hi @Negar Jalalian I think you should move your branch to directly after the trigger. Here's a breakdown of what it could look like.

• Trigger: Work item transitioned from Open to Clone Template
  • Condition: Issue type equals Epic
• Branch flow / related work items: JQL
  
  • JQL query: Project = BC AND Type IN (Task, Sub-task) AND Labels = Template
• Action: Clone work item into Business Central (Note: This is nested in the branch)
  • Choose fields to set:
    • Parent: Trigger work item

[Negar Jalalian]

Hi Connor 

I tried your way  and still no action performed :(

[Olivier_OSTConsulting]

Hi @Negar Jalalian,

"No actions performed" in the audit log almost always means the JQL branch matched zero work items, not that the clone step failed. Two things to check first:

1. Rule scope. If your rule is single-project and the label = template items live in a different project, the branch silently finds nothing. Open the rule details and confirm the scope includes the project where the template items actually sit.
2. The JQL itself. The field is labels, so use labels = Template. Paste the exact query into the regular issue search first: if it returns nothing there, it will return nothing in the rule.

Once the branch finds items, the setup you already tried (branch over JQL right after the trigger, then Clone work item with Parent set to the trigger work item) is correct for tasks.

Two structural limits to be aware of: Automation clones each work item flat, so a cloned task does not bring its sub-tasks along. And sub-tasks cannot be parented to an epic, so setting Parent on cloned sub-tasks will fail; you may want to restrict the JQL to tasks only.

If your template set is really a hierarchy (tasks with sub-tasks under them), marketplace clone apps do the JQL bulk clone with sub-tasks, links and field values preserved in one operation. We are the ones behind Easy Clone, if it can help!

Olivier

[Clara Belin-Brosseau_Elements]

Hi @Negar Jalalian

Cloning scenarios like this one are notoriously difficult to achieve with native Automation rules, you're definitely not the only one who's struggled with this!

As an alternative, I can suggest trying our app Elements Copy & Sync. It handles this kind of use case very well. It allows you to clone a filtered set of work items based on a label without having to build and debug complex automation chains.

Here's how you'd configure it step by step:

1. Create a new "Copy & Synchronize work items" recipe.

2. Configure the Source (JQL filter)

In the Source tab of the recipe, use a JQL query to target only your template items, for example: project = YOUR_PROJECT AND label = template

This ensures only the right items get cloned.

3. Configure the Destination In the Target tab, select the target space where the cloned work items should be created.

5. Enable subtask creation (if needed) If your template items include subtasks, make sure to toggle on "Copy subtasks" so the full hierarchy gets cloned.

6. Trigger the recipe with Automation

Once saved, you can trigger with a simple Jira Automation rule that just fires the recipe when the epic transitions, keeping your automation lean and your cloning logic separate and reliable.

The whole setup takes just a few minutes, and from there running it is a matter of seconds.

You can check the detailed documentation here and there's a free trial on the Atlassian Marketplace if you'd like to test it on your use case.

Hope this helps, feel free to ask if you have any questions!

[Ash H_]

Hi, my name is Ash from Appfire,

It sounds like you're looking to streamline your Epic workflow by automatically duplicating a specific set of issues whenever an Epic moves through a transition. In native Jira Cloud, you can achieve a similar result using Jira Automation. You would set up a rule triggered by an "Issue transitioned" event (filtered for your Epic issue type). Within that rule, you can use a "Lookup issues" action with a JQL query to find the specific work items with the labels you need. Then, you can use a "Create issue" or "Clone issue" action within a "For each: smart value" loop to duplicate those items. One thing to keep in mind with native automation is that linking these new clones back to the transitioning Epic can sometimes require a few extra steps to ensure the "Parent" or "Epic Link" field is correctly populated for each new item.

If you find yourself needing more advanced control or want to keep this logic directly within your workflow's post-functions, Jira Misc Workflow Extensions (JMWE) is a great fit for this. JMWE includes a "Create issue(s)" post-function that is specifically designed to handle cloning multiple issues based on a JQL search. When you configure this on your Epic's transition, you can define the JQL to pull only the items with your specific labels. A really helpful feature here is the ability to automatically link these newly created issues to the "current issue" (your Epic) as part of the same step. This keeps your project structure intact without needing to build complex loops or manual linking rules.

Hope it helps!
Ash, Expert Services