Update Epic Name in Jira Automation

Question

Hi,

Is it possible to update the Epic name using Jira automation? (Company Managed Project)

Due to the issue collectors not supporting creation of Epic issue types I am trying to create a normal issue and then amend this to an Epic. I seem to come across an issue whereby I cannot automatically set an Epic name and therefore I cannot link stories to the epic without manually adding an Epic name which is not a feasible process.

Please see automation rule below where I am monitoring the creation of issues with a specific issue type, then amending the type to an Epic (which works without issue) and then trying to update the epic name field. (I have tried to update the Epic Name field in the JSON option also and get the same issue).

The error I am getting is as follows:

Unknown fields set during edit, they may be unavailable for the project/type. Check your custom field configuration. Fields ignored -Epic Name (customfield_10011)No fields or field values to edit for issues (could be due to some field values not existing in a given project):ESRT-195Any help is appreciated.

Thanks

Bill Sheboy · Accepted Answer

Hi @Daniel Newman

First thing, the Epic Name and Epic Link fields are being sunset eventually...so it is possible the on-going changes for that are causing problems.  There are lots of posts in the community about that if you want to learn more.

Next, changing the Issue Type of an issue is technically a "move" operation, and so changing the type in a rule could cause problems/side-effects which the app normally handles when this is done using Move explicitly.  For example, Epic Name is a required field (currently) so what happens after the type change?

Have you considered another alternative: clone...such as with

* trigger: issue created
* action: re-fetch to force a data reload
* condition: check if issue type is Intranet Change Request
* action: clone...changing the type to Epic and setting the fields as needed
* confirm the clone succeeded; for example, with a condition on a lookup
* action...decide what to do with the original issue, such as abandon or delete

Please note I also moved the re-fetch earlier.  Generally this is good to do immediately after the Issue Created trigger due to the possibility the data is not available when the event fires.

Kind regards,
Bill