6 Ways To Stay Below Your Jira Automation Usage Limits: A Guide for Administrators

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Built-in Jira automation provides an easy-to-use “no-code” capability, requiring just a few clicks to set up an automation rule, undoubtedly earning its classification as “accessible and user-friendly.” In recent years, it has alleviated the burden of manual work, intricate configurations, and the need for specific expert knowledge in scripting for example. However, on November 1, 2023, Atlassian introduced a new Automation packaging model for all Jira Cloud products, catching many users off guard.

As avid users of the automation capabilities across Jira, we at Nara Syst faced the challenge of adapting to the new automation limits. This situation prompted us to reevaluate automation tools and methods that had been set aside in favor of Jira automation, thereby avoiding the necessity of upgrading to a higher tier without surpassing the limits. We have compiled a list of actions Jira admins can take to optimize their existing automation rules and have included some non-affiliated third-party, external or out-of-the-box tools — each with its own associated benefits, disadvantages, and costs. Stick around until the end to find a comparison table detailing each suggested solution.

1. Audit Your Current Jira Automation Rules

Begin by identifying rules that consume the majority of your monthly Automation quotas. You can track usage per Jira product and individual rules by visiting the automation space in your global administration settings > Select System > Automation rules > Select Usage Tab. This step provides a clear overview of your current usage and informs subsequent optimization efforts. 

2. Optimize Existing Rules

Review existing rules for possible optimizations. Ensure that rules align with best practices, avoiding issues such as running too frequently, involving obsolete projects, or including unnecessary users. Consult Atlassian’s guidelines on optimizing automation rules for valuable insights. Best practices for optimizing automation rules | Cloud automation Cloud | Atlassian Support.

Here’s an example on how to reduce the execution frequency of a rule by using the right Trigger and conditions.

The problem with this rule is that it sends email notifications for every change of an issue, leading to overly frequent and unnecessary executions.

Here’s the solution: We modified the trigger from “Issue updated” to “Field value changed” and implemented a conditional block to verify if the issue matches the desired issue type. After the modification, the rule now runs only when necessary, resulting in a saving of 50 runs per month compared to the original rule.

3. Utilize Out-of-the-Box Tools

Consider using Workflow Post Functions. These functions can be triggered by issue creation or issue transition (change of status) and may prompt actions such as updating fields, generating change history, adding comments, or sending email notifications. Resource link: Configure advanced issue workflows | Atlassian Support. However, Workflow Post Functions come with limitations and pitfalls, such as reduced visibility over your workflow and the risk of breaking workflows. By design they have just 2 event-based triggers (‘Issue created’ , ‘Issue transitioned’) and can execute only 16 actions, in contrast to 42 and 38 offered by Atlassian Automation. Despite these limitations, being built-in, they come at no additional cost.

Example of a post function: Upon transitioning to the “Done” status, set the Resolution to “Done.”

4. Use Third-Party Apps

Consider utilizing automation pioneers such as “JMWE (Jira Misc Workflow Extensions)” by Innovalog and “ScriptRunner for Jira” by Adaptavist. These apps offer advanced post functions, customizable scripts, and additional features, providing a level of flexibility beyond what is achievable with native Automation or Workflow Post Functions. However, potential drawbacks include a steep learning curve and the necessity to grasp a programming language named “Groovy” (ScriptRunner) or the scripting/templating language “Nunjucks.” (JMWE) It’s important to note that these add-ons come with a cost for teams exceeding 10 users.

There are other apps similar to JMWE and ScriptRunner, including:

• Jira Workflow Toolbox by Decadis AG
• Power Scripts – Jira Workflow Automation by Appfire
• Workflow PowerBox – an automation suite by Almarise

There are many more we have not tested. Please note we do not have any sponsorship or affiliation with the mentioned companies and their products.

Here are two examples of automation rules created with JMWE and ScriptRunner:

(JMWE) Lead developer receives an email with unresolved High priority Bugs every 6 hours.

(ScriptRunner) Scheduled job to create a new release every month.

5. Integrate External Automation Tools

If you have an experienced integration team in-house, you may consider using external apps such as Zapier or UiPath. Both tools offer a wide range of integrators and provide visual tools for managing your automation workflows. They support AI features and utilize more common scripting languages like Python, JavaScript, VB.NET, and C#. However, it’s essential to acknowledge that departing from the Atlassian ecosystem and resorting to external tools adds complexity to the automation process and incurs additional costs.

(Zappier) Storing and retrieving Jira records:



(UiPath) Update an issue

6. Do-It-Yourself Programmer’s Approach

You can attempt to replicate the capabilities of the tools and apps we already mentioned by creating the functionality yourself within your own external infrastructure. This involves making POST or REST requests, listening for webhooks, and implementing programming logic, offering another approach to achieve your automation goals. However, this may necessitate additional resources, effort, development work, entail increased risks, and will require maintenance by employees with specific level of technical expertise and domain knowledge.

Tool Comparison

	Jira Automation	Workflow Post Functions	JSWM	ScriptRunner	Zappier	UiPath
Number of event Triggers	42	2	22	46	5	2
Schedules Triggers	✓	✕	✓	✓	✓	✓
Number of Actions	38	16	19	9	11	18

Feature	Jira Automation	Workflow Post Functions	JSWM	ScriptRunner	Zappier	UiPath
Built-In Scripts	✓	✕	✕	✓	✓	✓
Custom Post Functions	✕	✕	✓	✓	✓	✓
JQL Functions Extending	✕	✕	✕	✓	✕	✕
Custom Scripts	✓	✕	✓	✓	✓	✓
Multi-trigger rules	✓	✕	✕	✓	✕	✕

Please note that the features and capabilities may be subject to modifications by Atlassian and/or the respective app developers and by the time of reading this there could be added/removed features.

List of tools and their associated scripting languages:

• Jira Automation: Uses JSON.
• JSWM: Uses Nunjucks and Jira Expressions.
• ScriptRunner: Uses Groovy.
• Zapier: Uses Python and JavaScript.
• UiPath: Uses VB.NET and C#.

Conclusion

Navigating the new Automation packaging model demands a strategic approach. Opting for alternatives to Jira Automation undoubtedly involves increased complexity, additional effort, and potentially higher costs. Therefore, conducting an audit and optimizing your current automation rules is crucial. We trust that our article has assisted you in selecting an approach that aligns seamlessly with your team’s needs and resources, guaranteeing a smooth and efficient automation experience in Jira.

[Bill Sheboy]

Greetings, community!

First thing: I am not a marketplace vendor, employee of one, or selling any products.  I am just a Jira automation user sharing some ideas about managing rule usage after the packaging changes.

I recommend customers, particularly Jira admins, fully read the changes to the packaging model and to the service limits for automation rules.  Reading both is valuable to manage changes as some rule "executions" do not count toward limits, and some improvement approaches may exceed other limits (e.g., execution time, looping, etc.)

https://www.atlassian.com/blog/announcements/cloud-automation-packaging-update

https://support.atlassian.com/cloud-automation/docs/automation-service-limits/

Based on those documents and my usage of automation rules, some approaches to manage "usage limits" could be:

• With your Jira admins, confirm the following to understand the scope of impact
  • Your Atlassian product licensing, automation usage, and expected needs
  • Identify who can create rules and your frequent / power users of rules
  • Identify who can add / or try other marketplace addons which might impact automation usage
  • Identify any recent service limit violations for rules
    • Treat them like production incidents
    • Perform RCAs to address the underlying challenges and solve them
• Pause and confirm shared understanding for each rule
  • What problem is this rule trying to solve?
    • Consider how automation solves that problem, and if it does not, identify other approaches to be used
    • Rules help close gaps in product features, redundant / error prone work, and generally make things better.  But they are not always a better answer to the original problem.
  • Document what you learn, such as in Confluence or a similar wiki
• With rules which send recurring reminder emails, consider instead...
  • Dashboards, for a "pull" versus "push" approach
  • Saved filters with subscriptions
  • Team conversation; this is less likely to be ignored than an recurring email, helping address why a reminder was needed
• Use good judgement when writing and testing rules
  • Create a free Jira account and site for some rule testing
    • This will offload the testing outside of your production site
    • Once rules are validated they can be exported as JSON and then imported (or recreated) in your production site
  • When developing rules have them perform no actions which count toward usage
    • Writing to the audit log does not count toward usage
    • Write values to the audit log until the rule is correct, repeatable, and ready to make issue changes
    • Then add the actions and finalize testing
• Check and use relevant rule scope
  • The packaging changes share some usage limits, but incorrect rule scope can still cause problems
  • While some rules need to be global / multiple-project in scope, they could lead to unnecessary processing and usage
  • When in doubt, start a rule at a project level
• Use rule conditions to limit usage
  • Consider what your rules do and why they do it...That may help to reduce the frequency of actionable usage by...
  • Adjust triggers for JQL, fields, trigger type, etc.
  • Add conditions to rules to only perform actions when needed
• Consider balancing rule execution time with usage count by merging some rules
  • Using if / else conditions can help manage the merged rules, actionable needs
  • This is not always possible, due to some events needing different actions unsupported by rule structures
  • When trying this, beware of branches on multiple things.  Such branches process in parallel and asynchronously and so could lead to unexpected changes in rule behavior.
• Actively monitor rules and the rule ecosystem
  • Admins should check the global logs at least daily
  • Admins should check the Atlassian status pages multiple times a day; recovery from an automation or major Atlassian product outage may not be easily done when there are many automation rules as some may not trigger after the outage as expected
  • Admins should check the community at least daily for any changes to rules which have not yet appeared in support channels
• Speak up to Atlassian
  • If you see something unexpected in your site usage, contact the support team
• and so on...

There are several other community posts, discussions and questions, about how to manage automation usage limits after the packaging changes.  I encourage you to read all of them and consider which will help your teams' usage.

Kind regards,
Bill

[Polina-DevAcrobats-]

Hi @Bill Sheboy

I wanted to take a moment to express my sincere gratitude for your insightful and well-structured suggestions on our recent article. Your additional insights bring immense value to the conversation, especially for Jira admins navigating the complexities of larger-scale organizations. Your expertise stands out and undoubtedly complements the strategies outlined in the article. It's contributions like yours that enrich our community.

Once again, thank you for your invaluable recommendations!

Kind regards,

Polina

[RSavage_stellarindustrial_com]

Agreed!  Thank you for your valuable insight and help with clear steps.  My team is rather green with Jira and struggle to make sure we utilize it properly.