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Jira Automation - different actions based on each value in a multi-select field

Jira Automation - different actions based on each value in a multi-select field

Let us say I have a multi-select field that has values A, B, and C.

If the field contains A, then execute actions 1, 2, and 3.

If the field contains B, then execute actions 4, 5, and 6.

If the field contains C, then execute action 7, 8, and 9.

The actions may or may not be the same for each field value. For two of the value the actions may be Assignee and Send Email while for another value the actions may be Edit Work Item and Comment on Work item (for example).

When the field contains multiple values the actions associated with each value need to be executed. So if the field contains A and C, then execute actions 1, 2, 3, 7, 8, and 9

This can't be done with a series of If blocks since the rule will terminate on the first IF that doesn't evaluate as TRUE.

It can't be done with IF/ELSE statement because the actions for only the first matching value will execute.

There are too many values for the field to try to do all permutations of combinations of values.

Does anybody have a suggestion for a solution for this?

3 answers

1 vote

Hey Trudy,

How many options are we talking about?

In cases like that I have used multiple branches with each branch processing for that action but not preventing subsequent branches from processing. Once you do the first branch and all of the actions/conditions under it, then you can copy the branch which will copy all of the actions and then just change out what is different.

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Hello @John Funk

Right now there are individual automation rules for 11 values:

Rule 1:

if field contains A do these actions.

Rule 2:

If field contains B do these actions

etc.

Can you provide an example of how you would do multiple branches? What would be the condition for your branches?

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The condition for each branch would be the condition you have for each rule right now.

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Do you mean something like this?

WHEN triggered

BRANCH: JQL: key={{triggerIssue.key}} and Field is in (A)
DO THINGS

BRANCH: JQL: key={{triggerIssue.key}} and Field is in (B)
DO THINGS

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Like • Gor Greyan likes this

The above does not work because Branch JQL automatically excludes the trigger issue from being considered in the results set. Even if I add
key={{triggerIssue.key}}
the branch says no matching related issues are found.

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0 votes

Great question — this is one of the trickier automation challenges in Jira Cloud because the standard IF/ELSE branch logic terminates on the first condition it evaluates, which means you can’t check all values in a multi-select field using a simple series of IF blocks.

The cleanest workaround is to use a For Each branch combined with smart value iteration. Here’s the approach:

Add a “For each” branch component to your rule
Set it to iterate over your multi-select field values using: {{issue.yourFieldName}}
Inside the branch, add a condition that checks {{item.value}} equals each specific value (A, B, C, etc.)
Attach the corresponding actions (1, 2, 3 etc.) under each condition

This way the rule loops through every selected value independently rather than stopping at the first match. Each value gets evaluated on its own pass through the branch.

One important note: if you need to combine actions for combinations (A and C together trigger actions 1, 2, 3, 7, 8, 9), you will need a Create Variable action first to build a concatenated string of selected values, then evaluate that string in a single condition. This avoids the termination problem entirely.

Happy to walk through the variable approach in more detail if that fits your use case - We, as an Atlassian Solution Partner, work with these automation configurations regularly and are glad to help.

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0 votes

Hi @Trudy P Claspill

Thanks for the interesting question :)

One approach that comes to mind is to use multiple independent IF blocks rather than nesting them as If/Else.

Each IF condition will be evaluated independently, so if the field contains both A and C, the rule will execute Actions 1, 2, 3, and, via the next block, Actions 7, 8, 9.

The rule won't stop after the first matching condition because these are separate If blocks rather than an If/Else structure.

I will also be happy to read another interesting solutions :)

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Hello @Gor Greyan

Thank you for your reply, but you are incorrect.

A rule will exit when an IF condition evaluates as false.

Let us say my field has options: All, French, German, Spanish.

Let us say I set the field in an issue to select All, French, and German; not Spanish.

Let us say I have a manually triggered rule with this structure:

If Spanish then comment Spanish
If French then comment French
If German, then comment German

When I run that rule it stops running at the "If Spanish" block because that condition is not met.

Screenshot 2026-07-10 at 7.44.27 AM.png

Screenshot 2026-07-10 at 7.48.41 AM.png

I have found a partial solution for the case when the same action should be taken for each value such as the case above where the action is to add a custom Comment for each value.

In that case I can iterate over the values in the field with an Advanced Branch, and use a Lookup Table to look up the field value and get the custom comment text to use in the Comment action.

I haven't yet figured out how to handle a need for different actions based on each value in the multi-select field.

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Like • John Funk likes this

Hi @Trudy P Claspill

Thank you.

Yes, it is right, my original suggestion wasn't correct. I was approaching it from a different angle and expected the conditions to be evaluated independently. In Data Center, I have automations in that logic, and it is not stopping after the first IF, when it is false.

It's an interesting use case, and I'm going to give it some more thought to see if I can come up with another solution that keeps everything within a single rule. If I find one, I'll be sure to come back and share it here.

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Jira Automation - different actions based on each value in a multi-select field

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