Issue with Due Date clearing instead of updating in dependent tasks automation

[Avi Morali]

Hi everyone,

I’ve implemented the automation rule exactly as described in this article:
https://community.atlassian.com/forums/Jira-articles/Updating-dependent-task-s-dates-when-predecessor-task-date/ba-p/2816977

The rule mostly works as expected:

• It correctly detects the dependent (blocked) issues

• It updates the Start Date of the linked issues based on the triggering issue’s Due Date

However, I’m running into a problem with the Due Date of the linked issues:
Instead of being recalculated as Start Date + original duration, the Due Date gets cleared and becomes empty after the rule runs.

In summary:

• Start Date: updated correctly

• Due Date: wiped out instead of being set to the new calculated value

In the example below, ticket SERVIMPL-4227 is blocking ticket SERVIMPL-4228:

Could someone please advise how to preserve and correctly update the Due Date so that the original duration of the dependent tasks is maintained?

Thanks in advance for your help!

[John Funk · Accepted solution]

Hi Avi - Welcome to the Atlassian Community!

When a field gets cleared out, it is usually because the value in the field is not valid. So it might be that the variable is not getting set. Add a log action to after the variable to see what it is. 

Also, you might want to put in a Re-fetch action right after the Trigger to ensure it has the latest information. 

[Trudy Claspill]

I would recommend also just before the Edit action you add Log actions to log the following:

{{issue.Due date}}

{{issue.Start date}}

{{varDuration}}

{{triggerIssue.Due date}}

{{triggerIssue.Due date.plusDays(varDuration.asNumber)}}

[Avi Morali]

Thank you, @Trudy Claspill and @John Funk   , for your feedback.

I’ve implemented your recommendations by adding a Re-fetch action right after the trigger, and I’ve also added Log actions.

As shown in the logs above, issue.Start date returns an empty value, which is likely why this rule isn’t working.

Do you know what could be causing this, and how I could resolve it?

Thank you for your help.

[Trudy Claspill]

Thank you for that additional information.

Can you show us the details of the Log action for logging Start date, so that we can verify there is not a type in the smart value?

It is possible that there is more than one field in your system named "Start date" and the automation is not able to reference the correct one with only the field name. You may need to reference it instead by its ID; i.e. customfield_12345.

Review the documentation below for information on how to find the ID for fields used in your work item. Let us know if you have questions.

https://support.atlassian.com/cloud-automation/docs/find-the-smart-value-for-a-field/

[John Funk]

Yes, almost always there are multiple Start dates that show up in an instance. 

[Avi Morali]

Hi @Trudy Claspill , hi @John Funk ,

Thank you both for your insights.

You were absolutely right — the issue was indeed caused by the presence of multiple Start Date fields in the instance. The automation was not referencing the intended field.

By creating a new variable and explicitly using the correct field, the problem is now resolved.

Thank you again for your help and guidance!

[John Funk]

Glad you got it figured out!