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Copying work items to new spaces

jrmorrison

I'm new to Jira, so please forgive me if this question has been covered elsewhere.

I have a set of work items that are pretty standard across the various projects we have. I'd ideally like to create a sort of "dummy" space that has all of the typical work items (without assignees, comments, attachments, etc.) that I can then bulk copy over to a new space as needed. I suppose it's kind of like duplicating a space. What's the easiest/most efficient approach to accomplish this?

I'm the account admin of our premium account, if that matters.

Thanks!!

Accepted answers

Rohit Utukuri

Hi @jrmorrison ,

There are few options:
1. Automations with a manual trigger which can create those work items in a space. The automation can be pre-configured with the specific work items you would like to create.

Some useful links for automation - https://support.atlassian.com/cloud-automation/docs/jira-cloud-automation/
https://support.atlassian.com/cloud-automation/docs/test-a-jira-automation-rule-using-the-manual-trigger/

2. Clone function to duplicate the work items, if needed you could move them to other spaces using "Move" function.

3. Import the work items using CSV import into spaces.

All comments

Rohit Utukuri

Hi @jrmorrison ,

There are few options:
1. Automations with a manual trigger which can create those work items in a space. The automation can be pre-configured with the specific work items you would like to create.

2. Clone function to duplicate the work items, if needed you could move them to other spaces using "Move" function.

3. Import the work items using CSV import into spaces.

jrmorrison

Thanks for these suggestions! I estimate there are about 30 work items that I'd want to copy over. I wonder if the CSV import might be the quickest or most straightforward approach.

Mohamed Benziane

If you need to make this copy several times, go for the automation solution. If not, yes the csv should do the trick easily.

jrmorrison

@Mohamed Benziane over the next two weeks, I do need to copy several times (maybe 50?). After that, though, it'll be as a new project (space) comes through.

Katrina Lieber

Hi jrmorrison, great question. I agree, CSV import is a great way to import frequently recurring tasks to a Jira project space.

Here's a step by step video on how to set up and import your csv file: https://youtu.be/tTy7x_uRyBk

Hope it helps!

Clara Belin-Brosseau_Elevatic

Hi @jrmorrison

If you're open to use a third-party app, I can suggest trying our app Elements Copy & Sync.

It will allow you to bulk clone your template work items in any project you'd like.

Elements Copy & Sync - Bulk clone issues.png

Here are the steps you should follow (it only takes a few minutes to set up):

Create a project template with the recurring work items you want to clone
Install the app on your instance
Create a new recipe "Copy and synchronize Jira work items"
Set the source and target projects
Define which fields should be copied in the "Content" section

Capture d’écran 2026-01-15 à 09.29.04.png

You can then decide to either trigger the recipe manually or via Automation or a Post-function.

Don't hesitate to try the app (it's free during 30 days and stays free under 10 users).

Luka Hummel - codefortynine

Hi @jrmorrison

One of the other answers already covers the built-in approaches (Automation, single issue Clone + Move, CSV import). If you want something that feels closer to “duplicate my template set” and stays repeatable at scale, this is exactly what our app Deep Clone for Jira is built for.

Option A (most similar to your idea): Bulk clone your template issues into any new project

Create a “template” project that contains the standard work items you want to reuse (no assignees/comments/attachments if you don’t want them carried over).
Tag those template issues so they’re easy to pick up again (for example with a label like template), or put them in a saved filter.
Open Apps > Deep Clone for Jira > Bulk Clone.
Select your saved filter (or JQL selection) as the source, choose the target project, and configure the clone as you want.
To make this a one-click repeatable process, create a Preset via Apps > Deep Clone > Manage Presets and reuse it whenever you spin up a new project.

Option B: Clone the whole template project (“duplicate the space”)

If you truly want to replicate the template project itself (and not just copy a set of issues into an existing project), Deep Clone also supports Space Clone (Project Clone) so you can duplicate an entire Jira project including its work items (and depending on your setup, things like components/versions; boards are supported for company-managed projects with the Advanced Space Clone capability).

W_Diehl _Litew8 GmbH_

Hello jrmorrison,

so you have 'a set of work items' that you want to 'easiest/most efficient approach' to bulk clone to a new space.

In my opinion, the best approach depends on the following:

Complexity of the set of work items you've got. (Amount of Work item, Hierarchy, links)
Ease of use to copy into new created spaces.
Additional utility, like having the option to use placeholders inside the work item summary/description to replace during the cloning.

Let's talk about the native options first.

If the work item set is simple, you are fine with using manual trigger and don't have requirements for dynamic content (or you are good with smart values) go for automation rules. They are free, easy to use and it's an important skillset to learn in Jira anyways.

If the work item set is longer, you are fine with some annoying click through and don't have requirements for dynamic content, check out the built in clone functionality.

If the work item set is long, does not change often, you don't need dynamic content and you are fine having a local csv file stored that you are fine uploading, check out the csv import, but I am not a fan of the usability and scalability of this option.

As vendor of an app I obviously want to talk about the third party options, but if you are happy with any of the above, feel free to stop reading. ;-)

Let's say you have a more complex set of work items that includes hierarchies, work item links between eachother, attachments or components/versions.
Or you want dynamic due dates or other time fields set after a certain time the project was created.
Or you want to have the whole project creation based on project configuration template combined with the dynamic work item creation.
Or you are looking for variables/placeholders inside the work item's description that you can dynamically replace for each project based on project name or some custom variable you enter during the cloning.

There are options and our app 'Space Templates & Content Templates for Jira' is one of them. Other comments have mentioned other options, feel free to compare features and app price to find the best fit. Or just try them out, most, like ours, don't limit the functionality during the free trial period.

Olga Cheban _TitanApps_

hi @jrmorrison ! As you need 30 templates that should be copied 50 times, I would recommend using a dedicated issue template management app + Automation for Jira.

Here's how it can work.

1) Save your 30 "model" work items as templates with a third-party app. You can use our solution, Smart Templates for Jira. It allows you to turn any work item (or a set of work items) into a reusable template. To make things simpler, consider creating one Epic containing 30 work items - then this can be managed as a single template.

2) Mark your templates as Global - this will make them accessible across multiple projects in your instance. You will see them all listed on one tab.

Smart Templates - Example 3.png

3) Set up an automation rule: when a new project is created -> generate work items from a template. So, once you create a new project, it will already be populated with the required work items.

Alternatively, you can use Smart Template's native Scheduler feature to auto-generate work items from your templates on a schedule. This works well if you have a standard interval for these tasks. If not, a standard automation rule will be enough.

I hope this helps!
Let me know if you have any questions

Dorota Popowska - Vilisoft

Hi @jrmorrison

Since you expect to reuse the same set of ~30 work items many times, I’d strongly consider using a dedicated cloning app instead of CSV.

In Clone Expert, you can keep those work items in Jira as a reusable template structure and bulk clone them into a new project/space whenever needed. A key advantage is the preview table before cloning: you can review the structure, remove items that shouldn’t be copied, and update fields like summaries or dates before creating the new work items. Here you can read more about bulk cloning.

That tends to be much easier to maintain than re-importing and updating a CSV every time a new project comes in.

Disclosure: I work on Clone Expert, so I’m obviously not neutral, but this use case is a very natural fit for that approach.

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