Dear Community, I have a problem with my workflows since the new workflow editor was switched on. I have a transition that shall only be allowed is a sub-task has been created for this work item (The status of that sub-task has to be DONE -> this condition works fine, but I also need to check IF a subtasks exists at all and block the transition otherwise). In the editor this rule, which has worked fine so far looks now like this: see image But this does not work. It does not recognize that a subtask exists and the transition is blocked. Now all our work items are blocked at this stage. I would have to remove this condition to get it working again. but I still want to have this check there... 2 questions: 1: Any idea WHY this rule suddenly does not work anymore in the new editor? 2: How can I make the rule work again? Thanks for your help!

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Block transition if no subtask exists

Martina Steiner

Dear Community,

I have a problem with my workflows since the new workflow editor was switched on.

I have a transition that shall only be allowed is a sub-task has been created for this work item (The status of that sub-task has to be DONE -> this condition works fine, but I also need to check IF a subtasks exists at all and block the transition otherwise).

In the editor this rule, which has worked fine so far looks now like this: see image Screenshot 2025-09-12 090251.png

But this does not work. It does not recognize that a subtask exists and the transition is blocked. Now all our work items are blocked at this stage. I would have to remove this condition to get it working again. but I still want to have this check there...

2 questions:

1: Any idea WHY this rule suddenly does not work anymore in the new editor?

2: How can I make the rule work again?

Thanks for your help!

Accepted answers

Karan Sachdev

Hey @Martina Steiner

Welcome to Atlassian Community!

I configured my workflow using the same rule and it indeed blocks the transition despite the subtask being present.

I checked but couldn't find any bugs logged for this behaviour. Based on my research, it appears that this is the intended behaviour, because the rule checks if the "sub-tasks" field has has a value greater than 0, and not the actual number of subtasks on the work item.

For now, you'll need to remove this rule to ensure the transition is available, but you may create a support ticket for a confirmation that this is the intended behaviour or further assistance.

This would also mean that it's not possible to achieve this (check if a subtask exists or not) using the existing workflow rules in Jira, and you may have to explore third-party apps that offer extended workflow functionalities (like JWME or scriptrunner).

Thanks!

Martina Steiner

Atlassian Support provided the simple solution:

Thanks!

All comments

Karan Sachdev

Hey @Martina Steiner

Welcome to Atlassian Community!

I configured my workflow using the same rule and it indeed blocks the transition despite the subtask being present.

For now, you'll need to remove this rule to ensure the transition is available, but you may create a support ticket for a confirmation that this is the intended behaviour or further assistance.

Thanks!

Martina Steiner

Thanks for the confirmation that this issue indeed is a bug on Atlassian side.

I cannot find any direct way using either condition nor validator to achieve this goal. The only workaround I can think of is rather tedious:

1. automation: when subtask is created -> fill a new custom field with "yes" (or similar)

2. transition condition to check in the custom field value is yes, otherwise block transition.

Do you have any better ideas?

Thanks for the help!

Martina Steiner

btw this version of the rule also does not work: Screenshot 2025-09-12 Jira issue 2.png

It does NOT block the transition, if no sub-task is there. meaning the transition is always allowed.

Maciej Dudziak _Forgappify_

Hi @Martina Steiner

I’m not sure if this is currently possible using out-of-the-box rules. However, if you have any third-party app that works with Jira Expressions, it becomes much simpler.

There are several options available on the Atlassian Marketplace—look for Jira Expressions Validator. Some free apps support this, but you’ll need to learn the Jira Expression syntax.

I’m from Forgappify, and our team has developed the Linked Issues Validator for this exact use case. It provides a simple UI that lets you block a transition until the selected related issues (in your case, sub-tasks) are in the required status. There’s also an option to require that at least one related issue exist, which you are looking for.

Here’s how the UI looks:

At the bottom, you’ll notice the Jira Expression Preview, which shows exactly what expression the app has generated. You can reuse this expression in the app of your choice.

I hope it will help.

Cheers

Martina Steiner

Thanks, Unfortunately, I have no capacity to use third-party apps.

Martina Steiner

Atlassian Support provided the simple solution:

Thanks!

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