I am trying to link a cloned story with the first story that was used to clone subsequent stories

Question

Hi,

I have created a new story, let's say the Issue ID = 'Story1'

Now, when I clone 'Story1', I rename the newly cloned story to 'Story2'

Under 'Story2', I see the Issue links as: Clones = Story1

Now, I shall clone 'Story2' and further rename the new story to 'Story3'.

Under 'Story3', I see the Issue links as: Clones = Story2

Problem Statement: Is there a way by which I can list the first story that was used for cloning automatically, in this case - 'Story1' in Issue Links of 'Story3' (currently showing only 'Story2').?

Jira only shows the immediate linking/Neighbour of a story, but I want the history to be reflecting too, at least the first story with which cloning started.

Sharath BM · Answer

Hey Damian,

Firstly, thank you for the detailed response.

I will try the approach suggested and get back with my findings.

Thanks again, really appreciate it !

Damian Rosochacki · Answer

This might get convoluted so bear with me.

You’ll need a way to track if issue being cloned is an “original” or if it was cloned itself. If it was cloned, you’ll need a way to refer back to the original from the nth clone, no matter how many levels deep you go. Here we can leverage a custom field called “Source Issue.”

From there, you can set up an automation rule with the following business logic:

Trigger: When new issue is created

Condition: new issue has a “clones” link type

If: cloned issue doesn’t have “source issue” field filled in (meaning, it’s the source issue itself)

Then: Update “Source issue” in new issue with issue key of the cloned issue

Else: Grab the “source issue” value of the cloned issue, use it to set the “source issue” on the new issue, and link the new issue to the source issue.

If you want to get fancy, you could use a custom link type to refer back from nth clones to the source itself (so on a any given ticket you can see what it was actually cloned from AND what the genesis ticket is.)

Remember to test everything thoroughly in your dev environment. Good luck!