JSON to Integrate Clockwork Time Spent in Jira Time Tracking through Automation

[Carolyn White]

I have been given the task of correcting messed up time tracking and hope someone here has some guidance to offer to establish the correct process going forward. Cleaning up the mess is another issue for later.

We implemented Clockwork successfully for one project team during #1 below. When Clockwork was introduced to the rest of the project teams, some insisted on another direction, #2, which is the crux of our immediate problem.

1. One project started with tracking time on sub-tasks and through automation. An admin (who is no longer here), was able to bypass the infamous checkmark problem thus eliminating the doubling of Original Estimate.
2. I created my own automation which sort of worked, CST-73 below, except that the "Sum of..." is not a field that is displayed at the story level
3. Another project started that wanted to track time on a story level so the admin modified the existing automation which somehow re-created the checkmark problem and OE started doubling again for the sub-task time trackers.

Goal:

We need to have one process/automation which will allow sub-task time tracking for some projects and another process/automation for those tracking time on the story level. Both of these need to roll up OE, Clockwork Time Spent and then sum to Remaining Estimate, starting either at Sub-task or Story level, then Epic, then Feature, then Initiative. (Don't get me started on why Feature is above Epic, it just is.) These sums need to be displayed properly on the parent.

Occasionally sub-task work will merge with story level work on either an Epic, Feature or Initiative level so the processes need to be able to integrate with each other on those higher levels.

Every problem has a solution. Anyone here have any suggestions?

[Mercy]

Clockwork writes worklogs directly to Jira’s native time tracking fields, so any automation that also updates Original Estimate or Remaining Estimate can easily double-count. The “checkmark problem” comes from re-triggering estimate updates when worklogs are added—Jira recalculates these automatically when time is logged, so you don’t need automation to adjust them. The clean approach is to let Clockwork handle worklog creation and use automation only to roll up totals. For sub-task tracking, set a rule triggered on “Issue Updated” with condition `issueType = Sub-task` and branch to parent. Use smart values like `{{issue.subtasks.sum.remainingEstimateSeconds}}` and `{{issue.subtasks.sum.

[kh_jbau]

@Mercy, this topic has been locked because the thread has become a bit dated. If you’d like to keep the conversation going or have additional questions, we encourage you to start a new topic. You can read more about necro posting (“raising threads from the dead”) in our Community Guidelines.

Thanks!