Ensuring Sub-tasks Inherit "On Hold" Status from Parent

Question

Hello,

I need help setting up an automation rule that transitions all sub-tasks to On Hold whenever their parent issue is transitioned to "On Hold," as long as these sub-tasks are not already in "On Hold" or "Done" statuses.

Currently, if there is at least one sub-task that is not in the relevant statuses I've specified, the rule is blocked. However, the automation should only transition sub-tasks that are not "Done" or already "On Hold."

In the other hand, when I removed the issue field condition, the automation worked fine, and transitioned each and every subtask to On Hold, even if it was Done.

Automation Rule:

Audit Log:

Any assistance would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

Bill Sheboy · Answer

First back to your original question, would you please post an image of the audit log for the case when the rule worked as expected?  That may clarify what is happening.

Can you manually move an example Subtask to "On Hold" on your board, or in the issue views?

For your follow-up questions...

Each team-managed project has unique configurations for issue types, status values, fields, etc.  And so there could be different id values representing "On Hold" for a Story versus a Subtask.

When necessary, a workaround is to store the id value for the status with the Create Variable action:

* create variable* name: varOnHoldForSubtask
* smart value: 12345

Then that smart value may be used as the status in the transition action, typing in {{varOnHoldForSubtask}}

Sagi Gueta · Answer

Hey @Bill Sheboy ,

Thanks for reply!

Actually, this is a company managed project. I'd like to understand why does it matter for the solution (as I didn't work much with team managed project).

Additionally, can you please share how would you do it with variables?

Bill Sheboy · Answer

Hi @Sagi Gueta

Is this a company-managed or a team-managed project?  You may find that information at the bottom-left of the page expanding area.

I hypothesize this is a team-managed project and that the id values for the statuses are different for your different issue types, such as Story and Subtask.

With the condition, the rule looks like it was going to work based on the issues selected in the audit log, but it tried to use the parent's "On Hold" id rather than the one for the child, Subtask type.

I recall a workaround is to create a variable with the id value of the Subtask's status and use that in the transition rather than using the status name from the dropdown list.

Kind regards,
Bill