Why does the Atlas<-->Jira sync force a target date?

[Aaron Morris]

When syncing an Atlas project and a Jira issue, the integration automatically assigns a Target Date value, even when no dates are set in either Atlas or Jira.  What is the use case for this?

There are at least a few annoying things about this:

1) The Target Date is automatically set to the current date.  When would a new project ever be due on the day it's created?

2) The Target Date cannot be directly edited in Atlas (as far as I can tell).  It can only be revised through the Update feature.

3) Atlas doesn't let you clear the Target Date once it's set (as far as I can tell).  When you create a new Atlas project, it defaults to "No target date set".  That's an accurate value that makes it clear you haven't planned a target date yet.  Once the Jira sync populates an arbitrarily assigned value, you're stuck displaying an arbitrary date until a real one is planned.  The problem is that there is no way to distinguish between arbitrarily assigned dates and intentionally planned dates.  This is annoying at best and causes miscommunication at worst.

Steps to reproduce:

Method 1:

1. Create a new project in Atlas.  Leave the Target Date value as "No target date set."
2. Create an epic (or higher) in Jira.  Leave the Due Date value blank.
3. Copy the epic's URL into the "Where is work tracked?" field of the project.
4. Select to Sync with Jira.
5. Establish the sync.

Results:  Both the Atlas "Target Date" and Jira "Due Date" are set to today.

Method 2:

1. Create an epic (or higher) in Jira.  Leave the Due Date value blank.
2. Open the Atlas "Status Updates" panel in the epic's detail view.
3. Select "Create Atlas project."
4. Establish the sync.

Results:  Both the Atlas "Target Date" and Jira "Due Date" are set to today.

[Jesse Rosenberger]

I am experiencing the same outcome (same-date due-dates) while having No Due Date on the Epic.  In fact, I don't even have a Due Date field setup in Jira and it still would seem to indicate during Atlas/Jira linking that it's going to take the date from the Epic (which means I don't understand how it would derive it!).

It doesn't seem to be something I could change aside from going in and publishing an update in Atlas?

[Rufus Casey]

oh that sucks. I definitely don't want to force due dates on Epics as that will cause pushback from engineering. And not trying to get into that conversation at least until they see value from replacing their high-level status updates process.