"Create Confluence Page" action failing with template variable errors?

[Maddy Andrew]

I'm trying to set up a Jira Cloud automation rule that automatically creates a Confluence page when an epic transitions to "In Progress."

The rule is configured to use a specific Confluence template. However, whenever the rule triggers, the execution fails with an error stating it cannot resolve the template variables, even though I have mapped the smart values correctly (like using {{issue.summary}} for the page title).

Interestingly, if I configure the automation to create a completely blank Confluence page, it works perfectly. You can view the exact error log and the template variables I am trying to map here.

Has anyone encountered this issue? Is there a specific format that smart values must follow inside Confluence templates when triggered via Jira Automation?

Thanks in advance for any insights!

[Gabriela]

This is a real limitation, not something you've mis-mapped. The Create Confluence page automation action doesn't populate Confluence template VARIABLES, the fill-in-the-form kind you add with /variable in the template. Smart values resolve in the title and in body content you type into the action, but the action can't push values into a template's variable placeholders, so a template that has them fails to resolve. A blank page has no variables to resolve, which is why that path works. It's a known gap, tracked open as AUTO-82 and AUTO-1142.

So the fix is to stop relying on template variables and build the content in the action instead. Two ways that actually work:

Put the whole page body in the action's content field and use smart values there directly, e.g. a heading plus {{issue.summary}}, {{issue.key}}, a link back with {{issue.url}}. You lose the stored-template convenience, but those values resolve fine because they sit in the action, not in a template variable.

Or, if you need the template's layout, create the page from the template first (no variable mapping), then add a second Confluence action or an "Edit page" step that fills the dynamic bits into the body.

Vote/watch AUTO-1142 so you hear when native template-variable support lands.