Copying specific labels from linked issues

Question

Hey all, I'm looking for some help configuring an automation that where as if an epic contains a specific set of labels (integration, system, functional) and there are stories linked to that epic, that those specific labels are copied to the story.

Additionally we will have test and defect issue type tickets linked to stories, whereas, if the story contains any of the specific labels (integration, system, functional) then those specific labels are copied to the linked tests and bugs.

Any help with this would be incredible.

Bill Sheboy · Answer

Thanks for the additional information as that leads to some other questions / insights:

You originally described copying labels from an Epic to its children Stories.  And then you want to further copy those labels to any Test or Bug (defect) issue types which are linked to those child Stories.

In automation rules, branches which could be on more-than-one-thing are executed in parallel and asynchronously.  In fact, there is no guarantee of when the branch will finish, up until the last step of the rule.  Please look here to learn more about that design: https://support.atlassian.com/cloud-automation/docs/jira-automation-branches/#Ordering-of-branch-executions

What this means for the rule you show is that a race-track condition can occur, where the same issues are potentially being edited by the different branches.  That will likely cause problems.

A common solution for this is to use two rules: one to copy labels Epic -> Story, and another to copy labels Story -> linked Test and Bug (defect) issues.  That will ensure a specific Story has finished updating before trying to change its linked issues.

* rule 1* trigger: issue field updated for labels
* condition: issue type is Epic
* condition: label field contains the values you wanted to check
* branch: on the children of the epic* condition: check if the labels are needed
* action: edit the labels

* rule 2 -- For this rule only, enable the option "Allow Rule Trigger" in the details, as the actions of rule 1 will trigger this one.* trigger: issue field updated for labels
* condition: issue type is Story
* condition: label field contains the values you wanted to check
* branch: on the linked issues* condition: issue type is either Test or Bug (defect)
* condition: check if the labels are needed
* action: edit the labels

There is another solution approach using one rule, which first gathers all the possible Story, Test, and Bug issues in the Epic's chain which might need updates, and then branches over them for updates.  However that approach is both more complicated and is more likely to exceed the 100 issue limit for branching.

Scott Federman_dqvi5w · Answer

Yes thank you. Attached is the rule and the logs

Bill Sheboy · Answer

Would you please post an image of your complete rule, the action where the labels are added, and the audit log details?  Those may provide context to explain what you are observing.

Without seeing the rule, I suspect the cause is either in a condition or in the edit action adding the labels.