Setting a default assignee to a project

Sarah Bailey

When I go to Project Settings > Users and Roles, I can see I am assigned as the Project Lead (which is what I want), and the Default Assignee is set to Unassigned. I want the default assignee to be my lead developer (I just manage the project, any open tickets should be assigned to the lead developer automatically). When I click Edit Defaults on that page, it only gives me two choices for the Default Assignee: Project Lead and Unassigned. Why are those the only choices? Why can I not select another user? I've seen similar tickets opened 6 years ago and there doesn't seem to be a simple resolution to this problem. This is certainly not a fringe case.

I tried an ugly workaround I've seen other community members try. I added a post-function to the "Create" transition in the workflow that says "Assign to Lead Developer: Assigns the issue to the project/component lead developer".  And then in my Project Settings, under Components, I created a component that assigns my lead developer as the Component Lead. However, when I create a new issue, it's assigning the issue to me--the Project Lead--and not the Component Lead. Does anyone have any ideas on why this isn't working? Or have any other solution? I really can't understand why the option to select any user as a default assignee is missing.  

Dave Theodore [Coyote Creek Consulting]

Here's how auto-assignment works in Jira by default.  I agree about the poor choice of words to describe this. This is a source of confusion for many, so you're not alone.

What you describe in your first paragraph is correct.  In the Project Setting, you can only select between "Project Lead" or "Unassigned." I think the easiest solution to what you want is you use the Component/s Field to manage additional auto assignment. When you add a Component, you have the ability to define a "Component Lead" and then select the appropriate behavior when someone creates an issue and selects that Component value.  The idea of the feature is to work like this:

You are opening a Bug on your website and you know it has to do with the "User Interface" portion of the site.  You don't know who is responsible for fixing that part of the site, though, so you cannot choose an assignee.  If there is a "User Interface" Component defined with the Component Lead of Sally and the Default Assignee is set to "Component Lead," the issue will automagically be assigned to Sally.  

The default Assignee decision tree is as follows:

1. Assignee is selected, assign to that user.
2. Assignee is not selected, look at Component Field
3. If Component is selected, and that Component has a Component Lead and is set for Component Lead assignee, the issue is assigned to the Component Lead.
4. If no Component is selected, one is select without a Component Lead the Project Default assignee (Project Lead or Unassigned) is used.
5. If the Default Assignee is set to one of the other options, that is what happens.

You can also assign in Workflow Post Functions to the Project Lead or Lead Developer (same as Component Lead) if you need auto-assignment later in the Workflow than just on creation. Hopefully that made some sense!