How to retrieve previous value from Jira system field called "updated"?

Question

I am trying to write an automation to get the difference between time stamp of the current value and time stamp for the previous value in the jira system field "updated". I want to be able to refer the difference value to trigger an action in the automation. Is this possible?

I tried achieving this using smart values

{{changelog}} &

But both don't seem to be working with "updated" field. Any help or direction appreciated.

Rebekka Heilmann (viadee) · Accepted Answer

Hi @Saurabh Chaurasia and welcome to the Community,

"Updated" is not a field that holds its own value, but will essentially show the timestamp of the last action on the issue that will be reflected in the issue's history.

With the Changelog/Fieldchange you can only access the current change (depending on the Automation trigger) but won't be able to access the change before that - which you'd need to calculate the difference.

I guess the only option is to retrieve the Issue history per Web request: The Jira Cloud platform REST API (atlassian.com) You're interested in the "created" timestamps of each Changelog section.

There are plenty of Community articles on sending Web Requests in Automation rules :)