Transitioning a child issue status based on status of subtasks

Question

I have an Epic with 3 subtasks (A, B, and C) and 1 child issue (D).  Im trying to find a way to only allow D to transition to IN PROGRESS status if the status of A, B, and C is APPROVED or NOT APPLICABLE.  Is this possible without add-ons to jira?  Any suggestions?

Bill Sheboy · Answer

If the issue hierarchy was changed to use the parent field for the relationships, either of the workarounds I noted may work.  This would require automation rules to both checking the issue type and the parent to decide when to revert a transition (or add the indicator to prevent it).

I recommend working with your Jira Site Admin to configure those rules given the changes to the issue type hierarchy.

Kerry Borden · Answer

Thanks Bill.   Our epic screen resembles this.  To you point the "subtask" section doesnt include subtask issue types. the DEPLOY jira is the one that should not transition unless the 3 "subtask" section jiras are in APPROVED/NA status

Bill Sheboy · Answer

Hi @Kerry Borden

First, Epics have child tasks (e.g., Story, Task, or Bug), and not Subtasks.  A Story, Task, or Bug could have Subtasks.  Is it the Story / Task / Bug that you wanted to handle for the transition validation?

Next...

I believe what you describe may only be prevented directly using a marketplace addon with more advanced workflow validators.

Other workaround options could be:

* With an automation rule, detect the condition and transition the issue back to the prior status, or...
* Using a custom field and automation rule, update an indicator (i.e., custom field) in the parent issue as the Subtasks transition regarding if the parent can transition.  And then use one of the built-in workflow validators to check that custom field.  This could be a brittle approach if the custom field value is out-of-sync with the Subtasks.

Kind regards,
Bill