Automation to replace part of description with custom field value

Question

I'm looking to run automation to replace a portion of my description with a custom field value

What I'm after is something like this:

There are certain fields we want people to update under certain circumstances, but we don't want them required for other reasons. So I've decided to put a note in the description. The list says all the fields to update. When the field has a value in it, I want the message replaced with the field value:

So by default the description would be:

Due Date: Go to the due date field and set value

When field is set it:

Due Date: 2/6/25

The syntax is is:

Automation is replacing "Go to the due date field and set value" with the field value

The error I'm getting back typically is something like this:

Unable to render smart values when executing this rule: Failed to get value for issue.description.replace("Go to the due date field and set value", issue.dueDate): {{issue.description.replace("Go to the due date field and set value", issue.dueDate)}}I am new to Jira, so it's possible my syntax is wrong. Though I've tried a number of different ways. I've seen a few articles about this and it seems no one can get it to work.I've also tried:"issue.dueDate"{{issue.dueDate}}"{{issue.dueDate}}"

Bill Sheboy · Answer

That depends upon the field type as replace() takes text.

Danielle Drapeau · Answer

Thank you for your suggestions. I will try that.

Beyond the due date replace, I will be replacing with custom fields as well. I was unable to get those to work either. They are either single or multi select picklists.

My syntax was similar to above:

{{issue.description.replace("Go to the due date field and set value", issue.customfield-xyz-code)}}

Do I need to do something similar with the format here too?

Bill Sheboy · Answer

Hi @Danielle Drapeau -- Welcome to the Atlassian Community!

Adding to John's suggestions:

The replace() function takes two text strings as parameters, but you are passing the Due Date directly (which is a date / time represented as a number).  Please try updating that to use the format you want as a text string.  For example:

{{issue.description.replace("Go to the due date field and set value", issue.duedate.format("MM/dd/yyyy"))}}

Even this approach could be error-prone: someone could alter that template text in the Description field, leading to a mismatch.  Please consider what people may do entering the fields if you want the rule to handle the cases,  perhaps using the separate field John suggests.

Kind regards,
Bill