Need help: Reliable automation to move the next issue to “In Progress”

[melissa.erhard]

Hi everyone,

I’m trying to build a reliable Jira automation rule that automatically sets the next issue (sub-task or linked issue) to “In Progress” when the current one transitions to “Done.”

I’ve already tried several different approaches:

• Using the Sequence field to determine the order

• Using issue links like “has to be done before / after”

• Splitting it into two separate rules (one to flag, one to trigger the next issue)

• Combining everything into a single rule

Sometimes it works — but only on the second or third attempt, never on the first.
Other times, the parent issue reacts instead of the next sub-task, or nothing happens at all.

Could anyone share a working and reliable automation setup for this case?
The goal is simple:

When I move one issue to Done, the next one (based on sequence or “has to be done after” link) should automatically transition to In Progress.

Thanks a lot for any help or examples! 

— Melissa

[Tomislav Tobijas · Accepted solution]

Hi @melissa.erhard ,

Could you maybe share screenshots of your current automation (each component) and also a few audit logs? This would help troubleshoot this further.

As for the rule, maybe try something like this:

1. Trigger: "Issue transitioned" (set to fire when an issue moves to "Done")
2. Branching: Use related issues action to target related issues > for sub-tasks, branch on "Sub-tasks" or "Children". For linked issues, branch on the specific link type.

As for sequencing, you've mentioned "Sequence" field - is that a number field? Also, does it store values on child/linked issues or on the triggered issue? How exactly does that work? 

Also, related to sequencing, you might have to use Lookup issues action to find the exact and next item. However, it kinda depends on whether you're looking to transition one item or multiple items 👀

Again, if you could share some additional info about the use case, that would be great.
⚠️ Just a note that this is a public forum, so I'd suggest sharing info from some mockup and not production items. 

Cheers,
Tobi

[melissa.erhard]

Hi Tobi,

I just wanted to kindly follow up on this thread — I haven’t received a response yet and wanted to check if you had a chance to look into my case.

I’ve tried simplifying the rule and also testing with a two-step setup (flag + transition), but the issue persists.

If you have any additional ideas or could confirm whether this might be a known behavior with the “has to be done before” link type, that would be helpful.

Thanks again for your support and time!
Best,
Melissa

[melissa.erhard]

Hi Tobi,

Thanks again for taking the time to help me with this.

I’ve attached a screenshot of one of my current automation rules.
In this case, I used the "has to be done before" link type to connect my sub-tasks.

My goal is that when one sub-task transitions from "In Progress" to "Done", the next sub-task (based on that link) should automatically move to "In Progress".

However, right now the rule works in the opposite direction:
If I move a sub-task from "Done" back to "In Progress", then the next sub-task starts — so it seems like the link relationship is being interpreted backwards, even though I set it as "has to be done before".

Another issue is that the rule only works on the second attempt, never on the first one.
For example, the first time I move a sub-task to Done, nothing happens.
Then, if I manually repeat the same action (moving to Done again), the next sub-task suddenly transitions correctly.

That’s why I also tried splitting the logic into two separate rules:
(1) One rule to trigger the next item (for example, by setting a flag or field).
(2) Another rule that reacts to that trigger and transitions the next sub-task to In Progress.

I thought that might make the update sequence more reliable, but it didn’t solve the issue either.

So right now, these are the two main problems:

The direction of the link seems reversed (Done to In Progress instead of In Progress to Done).

The automation only works on the second or third attempt, never on the first.

To keep things simple, I started testing with this basic version (without JQL or Sequence fields) before moving back to the more complex setups. I only want one next item to be triggered, not multiple.

If you have any idea where the direction or timing might be going wrong, I’d really appreciate your thoughts.

Thanks again for your help and patience!
— Melissa

[melissa.erhard]

[Tomislav Tobijas]

Hey @melissa.erhard ,

Apologies for missing this! It just went under the radar.

Related to the linking part - have you checked what link relation and outward/inward description for link name? 

You can navigate to Settings > Work items > Work item linking to check this.

What seems to be the problem here is that link relation in the branch.
Maybe if you would just use the different outward/inward relation in the branch, it would work?

As for rule triggering only on second attempt - on the first try, are you also manually transitioning the sub-task to another status or is it triggered by something else? Also, do you have any entry in the rule audit log on the first try?
What first comes to my mind is to check the option "Check to allow other rule actions to trigger this rule..." in the rule details.

Again, it really depends on how everything is configured.

Cheers,
Tobi

[melissa.erhard]

Hi, thanks a lot for your reply!

I’ve checked both of the points you mentioned:

• I verified the link relation including the outward/inward direction — the dependency is set correctly (“has to be done after” in the right direction).
• I also tested the option “Allow other rule actions to trigger this rule…” with both enabled and disabled.

Unfortunately, neither of these changes solves the issue.
I’ve already tried many different variations of how this rule could be built (different link types, different branch configurations, multiple conditions, JQL adjustments, transition settings, etc.), but the automation still does not behave reliably. Sometimes it runs only on the second or third attempt.

So my question is:
Do you know a stable and reliable rule setup for the use case “When task X transitions to Done, automatically move the next linked task to To Do”?
The tasks are in a chronological order, and the dependencies are defined via “has to be done before/after”.

At this point I’m running out of ideas, so any working example or best-practice configuration would be extremely helpful.

Thanks in advance! 🙏

[Tomislav Tobijas]

Hmm, interesting @melissa.erhard 👀

In this particular scenario, I would suggest reaching out to Atlassian Support staff and giving them access to your site so they can troubleshoot why the rule is behaving in this way 🤔

I mean, if you're using simple relations such as "has to be done before," you wouldn't even need sequencing.

I've used the example below and constructed the automation rule and tested it:

The rule looks:

And then I've tested this on Sub-tasks that were named the same as in the illustration above (with appropriate relations).
Once I moved the first Sub-task to "Done," the next two automatically transitioned to "In progress"