Delete all child issues when parent is Deleted

Question

When a Project (parent issue) is marked for deletion, all associated child issues across the hierarchy should also be deleted automatically.

Hierarchy Structure:

* Parent: Project

* Child Issues: Service

* Child of Child: Activity

* Sub-tasks

Expected Behavior:
If a Project is flagged for deletion (e.g., via a "Delete" value in a field), then:

* All related Service issues,

* Their respective Activities, and

* All associated sub-tasks
should also be deleted.

Looking for suggestions on the best approach to implement this deletion logic within Jira, preferably via automation

Cristiano Alves -Appfire- · Answer

Hello @kalyan_kumar1 ,

I'm Cristiano, with the Appfire Team here.

Multiple-level hierarchy in native JQL is not as simple, as the function. portfolioChildIssuesOf() requires a item key, which does not allow for multiple queries, or works on team-managed projects.

In the extension our team works, Jira Misc Workflow Extensions, you are able to set up simple (with a very easy to understand interface) post functions like the one below, which I set up for a custom status (delete) which would query for childs, childs of childs and sub-tasks.

If you need any help setting this up, or even further functionalities from our extension, feel free to contact our support team.

Regards,

Trudy P Claspill · Answer

Hello @kalyan_kumar1

You can use the portfolioChildIssuesOf() function to find all child issues at all levels (per the issue type hierarchy) of a single issue.

https://support.atlassian.com/jira-software-cloud/docs/search-for-advanced-roadmaps-custom-fields-in-jql/#Child-work-items

Theoretically you could use such a query in a For Related Issues: JQL branch in an automation rule and delete each issue found.

I have not tested this out. One area I'm not sure about is what happens with Subtasks. I don't know if they will be deleted automatically with their parent or if they need to be deleted directly.

Trudy P Claspill · Answer

Actually @Marc -Devoteam- that is not entirely true.

Refer to

portfolioChildIssuesOf("work item key")