Automatically Updating Goal Progress in Jira Without Key Results

Question

Hi everyone,

I’m working on a use case in Jira where we have a hierarchical structure like this:

* Goal* Sub-goals* Linked Jira issues (tickets)

Our requirement is to automatically reflect progress at the Sub-goal and Goal levels based on the status of the linked Jira issues.

Specifically:

* When linked issues are moved to Done, the progress should automatically roll up to the corresponding Sub-goal.
* The Sub-goal progress should then roll up to update the parent Goal.

Important constraints:

* We do not want to use or rely on Key Results for tracking progress.
* Progress should be calculated directly from linked issues.

Question

Is it possible to implement this kind of automatic progress roll-up using Forge?
If yes, what would be the recommended approach or architecture for achieving this?

Any guidance, best practices, or examples would be greatly appreciated.

Heathere Willoughby_egs6vm · Answer

We tested this scenario in a structured pilot. Our conclusion: there is currently no path to automatic Goal progress updates from linked Jira work — with or without Key Results. We've paused our rollout because of this gap and moved to using Goals only as a strategic communication layer while Jira handles all execution tracking. Full pilot findings and specific pain points are documented in our comment on https://jira.atlassian.com/browse/ATLAS-104 .

Anurag Vipin Vaidya · Answer

I tried implementing this approach on the backend. The progress is being calculated and is visible there, but it’s not reflecting in the Jira project view where we track goal progress.

Could you please take a look when you have time? If possible, we can connect tomorrow it would be really helpful to walk through this together.

Mohamed Benziane · Answer

Hi,

Yes, it should be doable using Forge. You could use the jira post function module : Jira workflow post function (preview)

A simple option is to use automation. When a linked Jira issue is transitioned to Done, you can update the parent issue (Goal). You can then add a second automation rule that listens for updates on the Goal issue and also updates its parent issue.