How can I find out what changed in an Asset Object Updated automation?

Question

I have automated synchronizations running that update other systems when certain Jira Assets objects are updated. There is a smart attribute value available for the ID of the object that changed, but there is no obvious way for me to determine which attribute of the object has changed.

It does appear to be possible to use the object history API using the object ID I receive in the update event. That API seems to include all changes rather than just the one that triggered the event, but it is a start if I could somehow filter the list returned from that API endpoint. Each change in the event history has its own ID that might be something I could correlate with the automation event, but as far as I can tell there is no way to get that ID from anywhere in the automation event.

Am I missing something here? Is there any workaround I can follow in order to identify what change(s) happened that caused an update event to be triggered?

Bill Sheboy · Answer

Thanks for the additional details!

My understanding is with the latency in processing asset objects, a timing check method may not be reliable given the workflow you describe.  In my opinion, it seems like an automation feature gap when things like asset updates are not in the changelog available to rules.  (Although there are several gaps / defects in that area... :^)

As you appear to be on a Premium license level, I recommend going directly to the source (with the help of your site admin) and asking the Atlassian Support team if / how it is possible to identify the change: https://support.atlassian.com/contact/#/

When you hear back from them, please post what you learn to benefit the community.  Thanks!

Tim Dean · Answer

Thanks for the suggestions @Bill Sheboy

As far as I can tell, there is no {{changelog}} smart value supported for the object type provided by Jira Assets. A quick trial didn't show anything when I referenced it in my rule.

I may be able to get something working with getting the last change based on timestamps. However, there are some situations where that gets complicated. The way Jira Assets works right now, it triggers a separate update event for each field as user tabs around and changes values. Getting a flurry of events within a couple of seconds is not uncommon.

My automation workflow results in each event being pushed to a queue for subsequent processing. The delay to the event subscriber is typically small (no more than a couple of seconds) but it is certainly possible and perhaps fairly common for a single event consumption to happen after multiple changes happened on the Jira Assets side. So just taking the latest one isn't likely to be a reliable solution.

I suspect I can insert the current time into the event published by my Jira automation flow and then use the API and filter out events that happened before that time (and hope for no significant clock skew between systems). But this feels like a difficult workaround that may not work in all cases (e.g. what if there is a delay between when the change is made to the Assets object and the event triggering an automation event).

I'm hoping there's a better and more reliable way but perhaps there isn't.

Bill Sheboy · Answer

Hi @Tim Dean

First thing, I am not using Assets currently and so my suggestions are based on what I know about rules, in general.  With that out of the way...

For the Object Updated trigger, have you checked what is in the {{changelog}} smart values to learn what they contain regarding the object?

For the REST API endpoint you referenced, have you tried passing the parameter to sort them as descending and grab the first one (which would then be the last change)?

Kind regards,
Bill