How to clone the whole Epic and child issues included in the Epic

Lin Zhang November 26, 2021

Hi Team,

 

How to clone the whole Epic and child issues included in the Epic?

Curently I‘’m using the free version of Jira, so I would like to know that do we have this function? How to use it?

Much apperaciate if you can help with this questions, thanks.

 

Best regards,

Summer

4 answers

2 accepted

15 votes
Answer accepted
Peter Youngman November 26, 2021

Hi @Lin Zhang 

Create an automation rule like this - note that the right-hand part shows what you need to enter for the "create variable"-step (highlighted in dark background within the logic of the rule.Copy Epic including Stories within it.png

And what you need to set in the last "create"-step...

Copy Epic including Stories within it2.png

Lin Zhang November 28, 2021

Thanks Peter. Are you using the standad version? I can't find "create variable" on my right-hand part.

Peter Youngman November 28, 2021

We are on Jira Software cloud premium. I believe that if you can create automation rules, then the create-variable should be available. This was added to automation rules a while ago.

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PATRICIA MURPHY January 27, 2022

@Peter Youngman 

I tried to set up the automation you share but it is not copying the epic. It does create copies of the child stories in the epic but the child stories have no sub-tasks copied from the original stories.

I think I am missing something :-/

Any guidance you can provide is greatly appreciated Thanks automation to copy an epic and all of its child stoies and their subtasks.jpg

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PATRICIA MURPHY January 27, 2022

This shows the detail of the steps in the rule

 

automation to copy an epic and all of its child stoies and their subtasks 2.jpg

 

Sergey vc March 7, 2022

Hi, @Peter Youngman !

Where did you get this syntaxes? I didn't find this in documetation  Screenshot_63.jpg

James Chan April 22, 2022

@Sergey vc  Peter was showing you how to create your own customised smart value, it wouldn't exist in the atlassian documentation.

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Rob Boerman November 11, 2022

@Peter Youngman You are a legend! Thanks for not only specifying the possibility of doing this using an automation but also showing how to use the variable to store the intermediate epic key!

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Jon Snow January 16, 2023

Hi!
To clone an epic, you also need to specify its epic name (step 3 "Then: Create new --> Same issue type in Same project"). 

image.png

Otherwise, the epic won't be cloned, only its stories will be copied. Also, you'll get the message that automation ended with some errors.

Btw, to add the Epic Name and Epic Link fields, you need to click the Choose fields to set and select them in a pop-up list.

Like Marc Batchelor likes this
Mason Smith February 23, 2023

Is there any documentation? Epic Name or Epic Link form, where can I know the field names?

Kelli Frattini-Adams April 14, 2023

This is automation is extremely helpful! Thanks everyone.

Marc Batchelor February 15, 2024

Thanks for the automation - nicely done. Here are some things you may want to add to the automation:

Reporter

I didn't like that the reporter for the cloned issue was the Jira Automation user. So I updated all the creates to set the reporter to:

{{initiator.accountId}}

Example

SetReporter.png

Subtasks

The proposed solution above doesn't copy the subtasks (if they exist on the Epic). I had to create an additional "For branch" and an additional Variable.

a. The additional variable added was "newEpic" which uses the smart value:

{{createdIssue}

b. The for branch to add is "For: Sub-Tasks"

 

Details

NewCreateVariable.png

 

CloneSubtasks.png

 

CloneSubtasks-Detail.png

 

Thanks again to Peter above for the original solution.

Robbie Heaton
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March 26, 2024

Hi @Marc Batchelor

Complete Jira newbie here, I've tried to incorporate what you've suggested to copy across the subtask and it's coming back with "no related issues could be found" when looking at the audit log.

I'm struggling to identify any difference between the value from smart tag createdIssue and createdIssue.key?

Any suggestions?

Thanks 

Robbie

2 votes
Answer accepted
John Funk
Community Leader
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November 26, 2021

Hi Lin - Welcome to the Atlassian Community!

We use an add-on called Deep Clone that will clone the Epic and all of the children. Otherwise out of the box Jira will not provide that. 

Lin Zhang November 28, 2021

Thanks John. Is that possible to get more guidance on the function?

Marlene Kegel - codefortynine
Marketplace Partner
Marketplace Partners provide apps and integrations available on the Atlassian Marketplace that extend the power of Atlassian products.
December 1, 2021

Hi @Lin Zhang,

I am Marlene from codefortynine and the product manager of Deep Clone for Jira

As @John Funk mentioned, it is possible to clone Epics and child issues included in the Epic.

After you've installed Deep Clone you would just have to

  • Navigate to the Epic you want to clone
  • Select Deep Clone > Epic Clone from the issue action menu
  • Configure your clone

deep-clone-jira_epic-clone.png

 

Deep Clone is easy to use and designed for every Jira user. 

You can read more about the Deep Clone Epic Clone in our documentation, or watch the Epic Clone demo video.

Feel free to reach out to our support, if you have further questions or feedback.

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John Funk
Community Leader
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December 6, 2021

Hi @Lin Zhang  - Any update here? If this answered your question, can you click on the Accept Answer button above to close this one out? Thanks!

Lin Zhang December 8, 2021

@Marlene Kegel - codefortynine @John Funk yes, thanks for your help.

Beside, I have one more question, is that possible to clone the whole Epic across the different project? 

Marlene Kegel - codefortynine
Marketplace Partner
Marketplace Partners provide apps and integrations available on the Atlassian Marketplace that extend the power of Atlassian products.
December 15, 2021

@Lin Zhang 

Sorry for the late reply. 

Yes, you can clone and move the cloned Epic to another project or instance, while cloning.

I hope that answers your question?

deep-clone-jira_epic-clone_instance-clone.png

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Lin Zhang December 16, 2021

Great! Thanks for your help:) @Marlene Kegel - codefortynine 

Lin Zhang December 27, 2021

Hi Marlene,

 

Is this deep clone for Jira free or we need to purchase it before using, thanks.

 

Best regards,

Summer

Marlene Kegel - codefortynine
Marketplace Partner
Marketplace Partners provide apps and integrations available on the Atlassian Marketplace that extend the power of Atlassian products.
January 4, 2022

Hi @Lin Zhang,

Deep Clone for Jira is a paid Marketplace app. The costs are calculated based on your instance size. (Update 2022-01-27: Deep Clone for Jira is free for instances with up to 10 users.)

But you can test Deep Clone for Jira for free for a minimum of 30 days. 

You can read more about Deep Clone pricing on our Marketplace page.

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0 votes
Laura Franceschini March 3, 2023

@Peter Youngman 

I did pretty much what you have shown, above, only:

  • using a JQL - as I would like to clone only the "open" Epics and their "open" child (!= Done)
  • copying to another Jira project

w3 main issues though:

  • it does not copy the issue status (they are all in Backlog for some reasons)
  • in the JQL i selected only the Epic (AND EpicLink IN (BL-123, BL234, BL-789...). Should I use ParentEpic instead?
  • it does not clone and copy over only the != Done tickets

Many thanks!

Laura

Mauricio Heberle
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March 4, 2023

Show us your rule

Laura Franceschini March 6, 2023

Here it is. It's a manual, so When manually triggered.

Thanks,

L.

 

Automation_4_cloning_moving_issues_2023-03-03.png

maurício heberle March 6, 2023

From what I can understand by the ss, I'd suggest:

 

- Change de JQL condition from the first part. Add " Issuetype = epic and statuscategory!= Done

 

You are triggering the epic which is the father.

 

Below the branch "For stories( or other issues in epic)

 

- Add JQL condition " Issuetype != epic and statuscategory!= Done

- Then Clone to desired project. Fill the EpicLink  field with the var you've just created

- Add transition to the status of destination workflow

0 votes
Fernando Eugênio da Silva
Community Leader
Community Leader
Community Leaders are connectors, ambassadors, and mentors. On the online community, they serve as thought leaders, product experts, and moderators.
November 26, 2021

Hey, @Lin Zhang 

I'm not sure if natively in the free version this feature is available.

I also tried to do this in a free cloud version even by automation, but I wasn't completely successful.

In the Standard version this option is completely released.

What you can try using the Standar version of the Cloud is to install the Script Runner plugin for the Cloud version, it is free for up to 10 users. In it you can work with some script that makes this cloning of epics with their child issues

Lin Zhang November 28, 2021

Got it, thanks. Does it works for Kanban Board of Standard version?

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