In Automations, how do I automatically create stories to link to Epic when the Epic is created?

Question

My current company-managed Jira environment doesn't allow me to create stories without also defining the summary in UI (can't do it all in JSON). Since the definitions for the new issue are not all in JSON, the issue description is being overwritten by the JSON itself.

Roshan kumar_9k21gj · Answer

Step 1: Navigate to Automation

* Go to your Project Settings.
* Click Automation (under Project Settings menu).
* Click Create Rule.

Step 2: Add Trigger

* Select Trigger → Issue Created.
* Click Save.

Step 3: Add Condition

* Click New Condition → Issue fields condition.
* Configure:* Field: Issue Type
* Condition: equals
* Value: Epic

* Click Save.

Step 4: Add Action to Create Stories

* Click New Action → Create Issue.
* Configure:* Project: Same as Epic (or select specific project).
* Issue Type: Story.
* Summary: Example: Story for Epic {{issue.key}}.
* Epic Link: Use smart value {{issue.key}} (this links the Story to the Epic).

* Click Save.

(Repeat this step if you want multiple stories created automatically.)

Step 5: Publish and Test

* Click Turn on rule.
* Test by creating an Epic → Stories should be created and linked automatically.

Smart Values

* {{issue.key}} → Epic’s key.
* {{issue.summary}} → Epic’s summary.

Felipe Justino · Answer

You can achieve this using Automation for Jira without relying entirely on JSON (which is usually what causes the issue of overwriting the description or summary fields).

✅ How to configure it
Use the Issue Created trigger.

Add a condition: Issue Type = Epic.

Then add a Create Issue action to generate the Stories.

The key point is: avoid using the “More options → JSON” field unless absolutely necessary.
When you use partial JSON, Jira treats only the fields you provide as valid and ends up overwriting the others, which is why your Description is being lost.

🔗 How to link the Story to the Epic
Inside the Create Issue action, fill in the fields normally:

Issue Type: Story

Summary: whatever summary you need

Description: write your text here as well (do not leave it empty)

Parent (or Epic Link, depending on your instance): {{triggerIssue.key}}

This way, you can automatically create as many Stories as you need, all properly linked to the Epic, without losing the Description field and without having to define every field through JSON.

John Funk · Answer

Hi Daniel,

Do you have the Automation for Jira app? That would be the easiest solution.