Automating Link Between Cloned Support and Development Tickets in Jira

[Robin Specht]

Hello Community,

I am seeking assistance with automating the linking of cloned tickets between our Support and Development projects in Jira. Here is the scenario and the steps I have taken so far:

Scenario

1. Support Ticket Creation:

   • A support ticket is created in our Support project (team-managed Kanban project).

2. Cloning to Development:

   • The support ticket is automatically cloned into our Development project (team-managed Scrum project) using an automation rule.

3. Linking Tickets:

   • I need the cloned development ticket to be automatically linked back to the original support ticket.

Steps Taken

Step 1: Automation in Support Project

1. Created Automation Rule in Support Project:
   • Trigger: Issue Created
   • Condition: Issue Type = Support
   • Action: Clone Issue to Development Project
     • Summary: SupportKlon - {{issue.summary}}: {{issue.key}}

This automation works perfectly. The support ticket is successfully cloned into the Development project with the correct data, including the issue key and summary.

Step 2: Automation in Development Project

1. Created Automation Rule in Development Project:
   • Trigger: Issue Created
   • Condition: Summary contains SupportKlon -
   • Action 1: Create Variable
     • Variable Name: originalIssueKey
     • Smart Value: {{issue.summary.substringAfterLast(": ").trim()}}
   • Action 2: Find Issue
     • JQL: key = {{originalIssueKey}}
   • Action 3: Link Issues
     • Link to: Trigger Issue
     • Link Type: relates to

Issues Encountered

1. Automation Not Triggering:

   • The automation rule in the Development project is not triggering as expected. The audit log shows that the rule execution is successful, but it also reports the following error:
     • Error Message:
       java

       Code kopieren

       Issue did not match the specified JQL (most likely). The selected rule actor does not have permission to view the issue (or its security level). The issue was deleted by Jira or was not yet indexed (rare). We recommend using the "Issue Fields Condition" for more consistent results.

2. Permissions:

   • The error message suggests a potential permissions issue. I have ensured that the rule actor has the necessary permissions in both projects:
     • Browse Projects
     • Edit Issues
     • Link Issues

3. JQL Validation:

   • Manually running the JQL query key = {{originalIssueKey}} in Jira finds the issue correctly, indicating that the smart value extraction and JQL are likely correct.

Request for Assistance

Could anyone provide guidance or suggestions on how to resolve this issue? Specifically:

• How to ensure the automation rule in the Development project triggers and correctly links the cloned issue back to the original support issue.
• Any potential misconfigurations or overlooked steps that might be causing the automation to fail.
• Could this issue be related to permissions, and if so, what specific permissions should I verify or modify?

Any help or insights from the community would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you,

[Bill Sheboy]

Hi @Robin Specht 

First, some ideas to fix the rule symptoms and then a simplification...

By default, the actions of one rule do not trigger others.  When you want the actions of one rule (e.g., your support project rule) to trigger other rules (e.g., your development project rule), the downstream rule should enable the option in the details at the top for "Check to allow other rule actions to trigger this rule..."

Next, rules have scope...that is, which projects they can access / impact.  Project-scope rules can only create / clone issues in other projects, but they cannot view or edit them.  When a rule needs to impact multiple project issues, it needs to be global or multiple-project in scope.  If your Development Project rule was multiple-project, it would work (with some adjustments).  Rules with global or multiple-project scope must be configured by your Jira Site Admin in the global automation area.

Okay, now for a simplification: if your Support Project rule was multiple-project in scope, I believe it can do this without the need for the Development Project rule.  For example:

• trigger: issue created
• action: re-fetch issues (I recommend always adding this action after the Issue Created trigger to prevent timing / racetrack error problems.)
• smart value condition: check if the project field is your Support Project
• condition: issue type equals Support
• action: clone the issue to your Development Project
• branch: to most recently created issue
  • action: link to the trigger issue

Doing this will eliminate the need to store the Support Project issue's key in the summary of the other one.

Kind regards,
Bill

[Luka Hummel - codefortynine]

Hi @Robin Specht

If you are willing to try a third-party app for your cloning needs, you could try our Deep Clone for Jira.

Deep Clone can link the cloned issues to the original issue and can be included in your existing automation with a looping transition.

[Robin Specht]

Hi Luka,

Thanks for your response. Unfortunately, a third-party solution is not an option, as I don't have the permissions to set this up (I am not the Global Admin of our Jira environment). Additionally, it won't work due to internal policies.

I'm from Germany, and the company I work for takes data protection and GDPR very seriously. I will look into implementing Bill Sheboy's approach instead.

Best regards,
Robin

[Luka Hummel - codefortynine]

Hallo @Robin Specht

Kein Problem :)

Wir sind auch aus Deutschland und verstehen die Limitationen der DSGVO natürlich, aber ich denke, jedes Unternehmen kann unsere Apps DSGVO-konform verwenden. Unsere Apps werden, je nach Standort der Jira Instanz, auf Servern in der EU betrieben, sogar in Deutschland, um genau zu sein.

Wir erlauben es auch, die Informationen, die wir speichern, auf ein absolut technisches Minimum zu reduzieren. Mehr dazu hier.

Grüße aus Karlsruhe.