Why IF Else Block Condition is not Allowed inside the Branch

SOMASUNDARA BHARATHI

I want to lookup the Issues of an Certain list and Set the Due Date individually for Each item i attained it Throuh Lookup issues and then in branching why i was not able to use the IF else block and if i use the Edit Work item with the Smart value and use if Else am not geting the Expected Result its not updating i have loged action in each and every step and the only problem is with the IF Else Smart Value 
{{#if(equals(issue."Story Points",1.0))}}
{{issue."Start date".plusDays(2).jiraDate}}
{{else}}
{{#if(equals(issue."Story Points",2.0))}}
{{issue."Start date".plusDays(3).jiraDate}}
{{else}}
{{#if(equals(issue."Story Points",3.0))}}
{{issue."Start date".plusDays(5).jiraDate}}
{{else}}
{{#if(equals(issue."Story Points",5.0))}}
{{issue."Start date".plusDays(7).jiraDate}}
{{else}}
{{#if(equals(issue."Story Points",8.0))}}
{{issue."Start date".plusDays(10).jiraDate}}
{{else}}
{{#if(equals(issue."Story Points",13.0))}}
{{issue."Start date".plusDays(15).jiraDate}}
{{else}}
{{#if(equals(issue."Story Points",21.0))}}
{{issue."Start date".plusDays(25).jiraDate}}
{{else}}
{{issue."Start date".plusDays(7).jiraDate}}
{{/}}
{{/}}
{{/}}
{{/}}
{{/}}
{{/}}
{{/}}

Gabriela - LeanZero

Gor's already put his finger on why the Edit action wasn't updating, and that part's correct — in the ternary it needs to be {{issue.Story Points}} without the quotes, and the comparison values catch people out because the field can come through as 1.0 rather than 1. Easiest way to pin it down is to drop a Log action printing {{issue.Story Points}} just before the Edit, then match your comparisons to exactly what it prints. Since all you're doing is setting a due date per item, that smart-value approach in the Edit is the right tool and you don't need branching for it at all.

On the title question, this is a genuine limitation in Automation. The If/else block is restricted to the main trunk of the rule, so it can't go inside a branch, and branches can't be nested inside one another either. It's a known request with Atlassian (JSWCLOUD-22798, "Allow IF/ELSE block within branches") but nothing has shipped yet.

What does still work inside a branch is a single condition — an Issue fields condition, a JQL condition or an Advanced compare condition. It only has one path though, so if it passes the iteration carries on and if it fails that iteration just stops. That covers "only act on the items matching X." If you genuinely need two different outcomes per item, you'd either split it into separate branches each guarded by its own JQL/condition, or have the branch call a second rule through an incoming-webhook trigger and put the If/else block in that rule where it's allowed on the trunk.

For what you're after here though, since it's just a due date calculated from story points and not really a two-way branch, I'd keep it as the one Edit action with the ternary — that's the cleanest fit.