nav[aria-label="Primary Navigation"] { padding: 0; & ul { list-style: none; width: 100%; display: flex; flex-direction: row; justify-content: start; align-items: start; gap: 30px; padding: 0; & li { margin: 0; } & ul li { list-style: none; } } }

CSV Import is not linking items to epics

justin-oh

I'm unable to create the link from a Story/Task/Bug/etc. to an Epic via the CSV import.

During import, I can see the appropriate fields (work item id, work type, etc.).

After import, all items (including Epics) get created. The Epic associations are missing but I can set them manually afterwards. Sub-tasks are associated to the correct parent items.

I even tried using the raw CSV from this page which I edited to only have Epics and below:

issue type,issue key,status,summary,issue id,parent
Epic,test-125,To Do,Epic with parent and no child story but 1 sub-task and parent Inititive,3,
Epic,test-126,To Do,This is an epic with 1 story and 1 bug as child issues mapped,4,
Story,test-127,To Do,Example story 1 Summary no child issue mapped,5,
Story,test-128,To Do,"Example story with 1 child sub-task mapped, and a parent epic is mapped",6,4
Bug,test-129,To Do,bug with 1 child sub-task ,106589,4
sub-task,test-130,To Do,subtask 1,7,6
sub-task,test-131,To Do,subtask 2,8,106589
sub-task,test-132,To Do,Subtask 3,9,3

I get the same kind of errors after trying to import the above CSV:

Cannot add value [ Work item ] to CustomField [JPT-126] in Parent Link with summary 'Example story with 1 child sub-task mapped, and a parent epic is mapped'. Probably value was in incorrect format
Cannot add value [ Work item ] to CustomField [JPT-126] in Parent Link with summary 'bug with 1 child sub-task'. Probably value was in incorrect format

I have no clue how to proceed with / debug this problem anymore.

Accepted answers

All comments

Rik de Valk (Brainboss)

Hi @justin-oh ,

I think you want to create completely new issues with this import, am I right?

If so, try not to map the issue key while importing. If you use an issue key, it will try to update existing issues.

Whenever you want to create new issues, you have to omit the issue-key column.

Have a nice day.

Rik

Trudy P Claspill

Hello @justin-oh

Into what type of project/space are you trying to import the data; Company Managed or Team Managed, Software or Business or Service?

Please also show us the screen where you are mapping the CSV column headers to Jira fields.

justin-oh

I've tried without an issue key before.

I'm doing the import with no pre-existing work items so the keys would not map to anything. Even if there were existing items, it still wouldn't map to anything because the system creates entirely different keys based on the project/space code (in my case JPT for Jira Project Test).

Still, I'm using CSV directly from the documentation page. It should work.

justin-oh

I believe Team Managed and it's started using the "Scrum" template so probably Software?

I start off at the "old experience": /secure/admin/ExternalImport1.jspa.

I select CSV.

I select the simple CSV file that I mentioned in the question and click Next.

I select my project and click Next.

Here's the field mapping:

Screenshot 2025-12-01 at 9.54.17 AM.png

Note: I cannot select anything referred to as an "issue". Everything is referred to as "work item" or "work type".

Screenshot 2025-12-01 at 9.54.30 AM.png

Here are the errors I get at the end: Screenshot 2025-12-01 at 9.55.01 AM.png

Finally, proof that the Epics get created but no parent association:

Screenshot 2025-12-01 at 9.59.13 AM.png

Trudy P Claspill

Hello @justin-oh

Thank you for that additional information.

As per the following it is not currently possible to create the Epic/Child link when using a CSV import to create items in a Team Managed Space.

https://jira.atlassian.com/browse/JRACLOUD-83172

The relationships have to be created manually after the import, or an alternate issue creation method needs to be explored, such as API use or perhaps an Automation Rule.

On a side note you can find your Space type in two ways.

1. You can go to the View All Spaces page and find the information in the Type column.

2. You can click the ... next to the Space name in the navigation panel on the left and you will find the Type information at the bottom of the resultant pop-up.

justin-oh

Confirmed it was a Team-managed software type project.

However, I just tried creating a Company-managed software type project with the Scrum template and I have the exact same experience using the import. I use the same mappings. The same errors appear. All the work items are created but the Epics are not linked.

Laura Rodriguez_8lz6e7

You can take a look at this article. I was having same issue and after some days searching for an answer this article helped me import my CSV with 4 Epics and 272 linked stories (I had to replace some field names because 'issue' field is now 'work' field).

https://support.atlassian.com/jira/kb/keep-issue-parent-child-mapping-during-csv-import-to-jira-cloud/

The article states the following:

Map the CSV fields with the corresponding Jira fields as below:

Issue id → Issue id
Issue key → Issue Key
issue type → Issue Type
parent → Parent
status → Status
summary → Summary

So I replaced issue id with work item id, issue key with work item key AND issue type with work type. Something like this:

Issue id → work item id
Issue key → work item Key
issue type → work Type
parent → Parent
status → Status
summary → Summary

And 276 work items imported successfully! with their Parent link

Edit: it worked for both, Team-managed and Company-managed spaces.

Welcome!

It looks like you're new here. Sign in or register to get started.

Quick Links

Find more posts tagged with

jira

cloud

jira-cloud