External system import error

Question

Hello everyone-,

I'm having an issue with External System Import when uploading CSV files for subtask bulk creation.

Issue:
Subtasks are being created under the wrong parent ticket. After the upload, the system also shows:

"~ work items have been skipped because they already exist in destination projects."

Suspected Cause:
The Issue ID values in my CSV may be conflicting with existing Work Item IDs in the system, causing the importer to skip entries or link subtasks to the wrong parent.

Additional Context:

* I'm following the same process and format that worked before.

* This happens consistently on every upload attempt now.

Below is what I tie to each fields.

Assignee

Issue ID

Work item ID

Issue Key

Work item Key

Issue Type

Work Type

Parent ID

Parent

Reporter

Requirement

Status

Summary

Could you please look into this issue and help me fix this?

Thank you!

Piotr -Mederak Apps- · Answer

Hi,

this looks like one of the cases where the CSV file structure matters more than the field names themselves.

For parent-child imports I would double-check three things:

1. Parent rows must appear before their subtasks.
2. The IDs used inside the CSV should be fresh, unique temporary IDs, not values that may collide with existing Jira work item IDs.
3. If you are creating new items, avoid mapping Work Item Key unless you specifically need to update existing work items.

When the same Excel/CSV template is reused many times, this becomes fragile very quickly, because one old ID or one wrong parent reference can produce exactly the kind of skipped/wrong-parent result you described.

Full disclosure: I built Excel Backlog Importer for Jira. It was created for this kind of reviewed Excel-to-Jira workflow: upload XLSX, map fields, validate rows, check hierarchy/duplicate risks, preview what will be created or updated, and only then apply changes in Jira.

It will not bypass Jira permissions or project configuration, but if your source file starts as Excel and the pain is parent-child structure + validation before import, it may be worth checking on Atlassian Marketplace.

Anastasiia Dimnych · Answer

Hi @-,

Apologies for delay on our end!

I have created a ticket for the support team on your behalf. Please look for the email notifications with the ticket key CES-160937.

Best,

Anastasiia

Ivan Manolov _Appfire_ · Answer

@-On a different note, if you find yourself regularly creating subtasks in bulk, here's another option that sidesteps the CSV importer entirely.

If you're open to solutions from the Atlassian Marketplace, JXL is a spreadsheet-style view for Jira where you can create, edit, and organize work items directly in a table. You can copy-paste data from Excel or Google Sheets straight into Jira fields, including parent relationships, without going through External System Import at all.

Disclosure: I work for the team that builds JXL.

Cheers,

Ivan