Linking issues with matching summaries

[Chaya Jacobs]

When an issue is created, I would like it to automatically search for any other issues in my project which have a matching summary and then link all issues.

This is what I tried so far but it is not working.

When: Issue created

Branch-

For: JQL   

summary="{{issue.summary}}" AND issuetype != "{{issue.issuetype}}" AND key != "{{issue.key}}"

Then: Link issue to

trigger issue

[Chaya Jacobs]

Here is my sample ticket scheduled to recur.

Is there a way to get all these recuring tickets to link even though the date and time will be different?

[Bill Sheboy]

Hi @Chaya Jacobs -- Welcome to the Atlassian Community!

For a question like this, context is important for the community to help.  Please post the following:

• what type of project is this: company-managed, team-managed, JPD, etc.
• an image of your complete automation rule in a single image for continuity
• images of any relevant actions / conditions / branches
• an image of the audit log details showing the rule execution
• explain what is not working as expected and why you believe that to be the case

Until we see those...

The Summary field cannot match with the EQUALS = operator; instead the CONTAINS ~ one must be used: https://support.atlassian.com/jira-software-cloud/docs/jql-operators/#CONTAINS----

And, are you trying to exactly match the Summary to other work items?  If so, the exact phrase syntax would be needed:

summary = "\"{{issue.summary}}\"" AND issueType != "{{issue.issueType}}" AND key != {{issue.key}}

I do not believe that last expression is needed: by default, automation JQL branches automagically exclude the trigger issue in the JQL.

Kind regards,
Bill

[Chaya Jacobs]

Hi Bill, 

Thank you for taking the time to answer my question.

I am working on a team-managed project

I am not sure what part of the audit log to send because I don't see that the rule ever executed.

I did a sample scheduled ticket, so there are multiple tickets with the same exact summary and none of them are linking.

I'm wondering if I can add a dynamic date field to my scheduled tickets and have any ticket with matching 1st word automatically link.

Here is the rule I created which did not have any success.

I tried with what you suggested as well summary = "\"{{issue.summary}}\"" and it still didn't work.

[Bill Sheboy]

Thanks for that information, and let's adjust / confirm some things...

When using the Issue Created trigger, that can start so quickly that some issue data may not yet be available.  The "fix" for that is to always add the Re-fetch Issue action immediately after that trigger.  It will slow the rule a bit and reload the data before proceeding.

Next, if you create an issue manually, is the rule triggering?

And, you note "I did a sample scheduled ticket..."  Is another automation rule creating issues?  If so, this rule will not run by default.  To have the actions of one rule impact others, go to the details at the top of this rule and select this option:

Check to allow other rule actions to trigger this rule...

That is disabled by default to prevent accidental rule looping / errors.

[Chaya Jacobs]

Thank you so much, it worked!

Now I would like to add a dynamic date field to my recurring tickets.

Is there a way to match the summary even if there are different dates?

ex: "Test issue Apr/25" and "Test issue May/25"

[Bill Sheboy]

Awesome; I am glad to learn that helped!

Regarding the changing date values, that may depend upon how / when the date changes...

When it is an expected value, you could use the date / time functions to build a value to match the date(s): https://support.atlassian.com/cloud-automation/docs/jira-smart-values-date-and-time/

When it is unknown and in some date format, that is more challenging to solve with JQL.

[Chaya Jacobs]

Sorry I by mistake posed my reply as an answer, I'll write it again. 

Here is my sample ticket scheduled to recur.

Is there a way to get all these recuring tickets to link even though the date and time will be different?

[Bill Sheboy]

I suspect your rule would need to test only on the part of the Summary which does not change (e.g., "Test Issue 1") to find them first and then use rule conditions to check if the remainder in a format you expect.  Once identified, they may be linked to a specific issue, such as the trigger.

Backing up a bit: what problem are you trying to solve by linking all of these issues together?  That is, "why do this?"

Knowing that may reveal other possible solution approaches.  Thanks!

[Chaya Jacobs]

Thank you.

I'm trying to run business reviews for different clients on a bi-annual basis.

I would like to be able to identify each one by month and year in the summary and link them all together so I can refer back to the notes I wrote on the previous one.

[Bill Sheboy]

Okay; then please try what I suggested with the partial matches and the conditions.