I would like to create a recurring task that is cloned when completed.

[deseymour]

When I click on automation in a task and choose Set to Recur, one of the choices in the next screen is whether I want to do it when scheduled or when completed. I THINK this means do I want the task to be cloned immediately when it is scheduled or if I want it to wait until it is completed. However, if I choose When Completed, it still creates the task recurrence as When Scheduled. I think I'm missing something here...

[Trudy Claspill]

Hello @deseymour 

Welcome to the Atlassian community.

The reference documentation for this feature is located here:

Schedule work items to recur using automations

Almost the same documentation was posted here in the Community at:

Save time by scheduling work in Jira 

An important tiny difference in the documentation is this sentence from the Community post:

1. Fill in the recurring details— when the work item will recur, the trigger, and when the rule will expire. The trigger can be a schedule, and additionally incorporate whether the work item has been completed.

Versus the same sentence in the first document I linked:

1. Fill in the recurring details: when the work item will recur, the trigger, and when the rule will expire. The work item can recur based on a schedule or incorporate whether the work item has been completed.

By actually creating a rule what I found was that it created a Scheduled trigger that included a JQL to select the issue. When I added the When Completed option it added to the JQL in the trigger a condition that the statusCategory=Done. So, it would trigger the rule on the specified schedule, but if the target issue was not "complete" then the action in the rule (the cloning of the issue) would not occur.

If you want the issue to be cloned immediately upon completion you will need to construct the automation rule separately from the built in "Set to recur" option. In that case use the Work Item Transitioned trigger selecting a destination status that matches the status meaning "completed" for your items.

[Trudy Claspill]

If you want the cloning to happen only for the one issue, also add a condition to confirm that the issue that triggered the rule is the one you want to clone.