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clone an epic including its child issues

Sama Mohamed

Is it possible to clone an Epic including its child issues in Jira Software without paying for deep cloning

Accepted answers

Mark Segall

Hi @Sama Mohamed - You could do this with automation:

TRIGGER: Manual
CONDITION: Issue Type = Epic
ACTION: Clone Issue
ACTION: Create Variable varNewEpic
- {{createdIssue}}
BRANCH: Stories (or Other Issues in Epic)
- ACTION Clone Issue
  - Epic Link
    - {{varNewEpic}}

All comments

John Funk

Hi Sama,

Not that I am aware of. But it will be well worth your money in my opinion. :-)

Mark Segall

Hi @Sama Mohamed - You could do this with automation:

TRIGGER: Manual
CONDITION: Issue Type = Epic
ACTION: Clone Issue
ACTION: Create Variable varNewEpic
- {{createdIssue}}
BRANCH: Stories (or Other Issues in Epic)
- ACTION Clone Issue
  - Epic Link
    - {{varNewEpic}}

Sama Mohamed

Hello Mark, thank you for your answer.

Can you kindly clarify this part :

ACTION Clone Issue
- Epic Link
  - {{varNewEpic}}

where do I put the Epic link and varNewEpic?

Sama Mohamed

@Mark Segall

Mark Segall

On your clone issue action, you'll want to copy/paste this into the Epic Link section:

{{varNewEpic}}

Iván Muñoz

Hello,
I followed all the steps which were very well detailed, I was able to clone epics with their issues, but for the step of cloning the subtasks of the issues present in the epic, what happens to me is that when I clone the subtasks through the second automation rule, these subtasks are linked to the initial issue and not to the new cloned one, for example:

- Epic 1
-Issue A
-Issue B
- Subtask 1
- Subtask 2

When cloning it is as follows, the original epic:
- Epic 1
-Issue A
-Issue B
- Subtask 1
- Subtask 2
- Clone of Subtask 1
- Clone of Subtask 2

The new cloned epic
- Clone of Epic 1
- Clone of Issue A
- Clone of Issue B

The problem is that when cloning the subtasks they are linked to the original issue (Issue , and I couldn't find a way to assign those subtasks to the new cloned issue (Clone of Issue .

In the case of cloning epic and its issues, there is a condition that changes the EpicLink of the new issues.

At the moment I have not found how to make that relationship for the subtasks with the new cloned issue.

Mark Segall

Hi @sama mohamed / @Iván Muñoz

Here are screen shots of the two rules:

RULE 1 - Clone Epic and Stories

The key aspects of this

The key pieces to this rule are:

Establishing a link to the template issue so we have an anchor for each issue to find relevant sub-tasks (we'll remove this later)
Adding a label so automation can identify which issues it needs to act against (also removed later)

Rule #2 - Clone Sub-Tasks

So explanation on the second rule:

Triggers off of the added label which is on the template issue
Performs a lookup to find its newly created clone
Branches into each sub-task
Clones each sub-task... A couple of notes on this one:
1. I'm explicitly setting the issue type to Sub-Task in the clone action so I can specify the parent issue otherwise the sub-task gets created under the existing issue. This is why we added the lookup action above
2. SUB-TASKS CAN ONLY BE CLONED TO THE SAME PROJECT - So, if you're looking for something where the template can be cloned to other projects, it's going to get a lot more complicated
Cleans up the label and link - If we don't add this, weird duplication can occur in the future.

sama mohamed_bp0ius

@Mark Segall thank you so so much for your effort the rule has finally worked as charm )) that was so helpful, I can't imagine, and thank you for explaining the logic behind it.

@Iván Muñoz Hi Ivan, please follow the steps that Mr.Mark has written, it will work perfectly but a small note here, in the yellow arrow please put the cloneAction label in (Values to add not in Values to delete) in order for it to work

Iván Muñoz

Hi @Mark Segall and @Sama Mohamed

I already get working the automation, with this I can move forward in my processes and save a lot of time manually cloning epics/issues/subtasks, thanks a lot.

One more question..

From what I see the cloning process or cycle is done in parallel, I was looking for a way that when cloning an epic, the order of the issues/subtasks was the same as that of the original/template.

At this time in some it does and in others it doesn't for example:
-Epic 1
-Issue A
-Issue B
-Subtask 1
- Subtask 2

The new cloned epic
- Clone of Epic 1
- Clone of Issue B
-Clone of Subtask 2
-Clone of Subtask 1
- Clone of Issue A

Do you know of any way in which the cloning cycle is done in ascending order based on the Issue ID?

Thank you very much in advance for the help.

Endre_4ggl7k

I followed the same rule in this post but it only clones the epic without the stories.

NOTE: Removed my images. Did not realize it would all expand and spam the space.

Mark Segall

Hi @Endre and welcome to the community!

If I may ask, can you please create a new question in the community for this? You can reference this question/answer and @mention me so I get pinged on it. This thread was already a long one and I just want to make sure your question doesn't get lost.

Endre_4ggl7k

Thanks Mark. Finally I figured out the issue. I thought the manual trigger would trigger when I manually select Clone from the issue action menu. Still not sure what is manual trigger so used a different trigger that actually turned out as a value add. I share it here in case someone find it useful.

I replaced the manual trigger with trigger value change on epic name. To start the cloning I change my template epic name to the epic name I want for my new project. Then as the last step of the cloning automation I reset my template epic name to original value. This way my cloned objects already named what I need them to be.

I still struggle cloning the checklist but I will post that as new question.

John Funk

Can you post the final rule here?

Henri Oru

Hello @Mark Segall

I also have a problem with automation, it clones the Epic but nothing else, can you help me with this?

Even when I turn the subtask cloning off, it only clones the Epic.

And also the sub-task cloning:

Are there any mistakes or...? I can't figure this out on my own, have been at it for 2days straight now.

I'm using a Team-based project board...

Edit: idk why I got put in the middle, when clearly I was answering in the end.

Mark Segall

Hi @Henri Oru - Can we please move this to a new question (just mention me in the new question)? This one has gotten quite long and will be difficult to continue managing.

Florian Bauer

Hey @Sama Mohamed

If cloning an epic is not just a flash in the pan for you, but you want to repeat it multiple times, your epic is a process because recurring projects are processes!

Flower - Process Automation clones your Jira epics as repeatable processes, including all issues, links, and structures.

Here is how to clone an epic as a process.

Happy automating,

Florian

Shelly Walsh_1jqc35

Hi All - This is by far the most straight forward instructional I have found on how to clone epics with tasks and subtasks.

https://community.atlassian.com/t5/Jira-articles/Clone-Epic-Stories-and-Subtasks-tree-with-Jira-Automation/ba-p/2316387

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