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Unable to assign issues to specific users – error on Assignee field

Jérôme Sicart
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January 6, 2026

Hello Atlassian Support Team,

I’m encountering an issue when trying to assign Jira issues to developers from the same team on a Jira Software board.

When I select one of these users in the Assignee field, the following error message appears:

“We couldn’t update the Assignee value. You can try again in a few minutes, or refresh the page.”

Additional details:

  • The problem occurs only for issues originating from a Jira Service Management project.

  • These issues are automatically duplicated via an automation rule and then created in a Jira Software project.

  • Once duplicated and visible in the Jira board, assigning them to the two affected users consistently fails.

What i've already checked:

  • User permissions and project roles

  • Issue security levels

  • Automation rule configuration

  • Browser cache / refresh

At this point, i'm wondering if this could be related to:

  • A synchronization or permission issue specific to JSM-created issues

  • A user account or directory inconsistency

  • A known limitation or bug

If anyone has encountered and resolved a similar issue, i'd really appreciate your guidance.

Thank you for your help.

Jérôme

3 answers

4 votes
Shalini Pradhan
Atlassian Team
Atlassian Team members are employees working across the company in a wide variety of roles.
January 6, 2026

Hello @Jérôme Sicart ,

Good day! Welcome to Atlassian Community :)

This error occurs when an agent doesn't have the right permissions. 

  • To assign issues to others, agents must have Assign Issues permission in the project

  • To have issues assigned to them, agents must have the following permissions:

    • Assignable User

    • Service Project Agent 

Finally, agents must have a Jira Service Management license.

More details in this document: https://support.atlassian.com/jira/kb/unable-to-assign-tickets-to-jira-service-management-agent-with-issue-could-not-be-updated-error/

If this document doesnt help, I would request you to reach out to create a ticket with our support team here : https://support.atlassian.com/contact/,

2 votes
Prachi Bolar
Atlassian Team
Atlassian Team members are employees working across the company in a wide variety of roles.
January 6, 2026

Hello,

Welcome to community:) 

Please refer this article : https://support.atlassian.com/jira/kb/unable-to-assign-tickets-to-jira-service-management-agent-with-issue-could-not-be-updated-error/ 

If you have checked the details in the above url, request you to reach out to support here : https://support.atlassian.com/contact/ so that team can further check your instance and check for the root cause

Thank You,

Prachi

1 vote
Akhand Pratap Singh
Community Champion
January 6, 2026

Hello @Jérôme Sicart ,

Good day welcome to Atlassian  Community!!

Can you please confirm, if user is having JSM user (agent) License?

If not then that is the issue.

Even if user is not having agent License and has software license they can still be added in JSM project with roles but they will only act as collaborator.

 

It is better to check their JSM license in order to be assigned they must have agent License.

Best Regards,

Akhand

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