Maybe an Automation Rule for status change

[Jason Chayer]

So, I am new to Automation Rules, and not sure if this is possible, but I am going to pitch the question.

We are wanting to manage the tasks the devs are working on, specifically they should have only one task In Development. Granted they can have other tasks assigned to them, but the status should not be In Development.

Is there an Automation Rule I can set up where if a developer is working on a task, but gets asked to pick up another task or has to pause the existing task, that a rule will not allow them to move the other task to In Development until the other is moved to another status?

[Trudy Claspill · Accepted solution]

Hello @Jason Chayer 

Short answer - no.

An Automation Rule cannot prevent the transition of an issue because a rule has to be triggered by an event of some kind. If the transition has not been completed, then no event has occurred that can trigger the rule.

An Automation Rule could potentially revert an issue to its previous status after the fact, after checking if the user has more than one issue assigned in an "in progress" status.

To prevent the transition from happening in the first place would require modifying the workflows to include Conditions or Validators to see if the assignee had any other issues "in progress". Natively Jira does not have functionality available for Workflows to make that kind of assessment. That would require use of a third party app that extends workflow capabilities.

[Jason Chayer]

Thanks @Trudy Claspill . And thanks for answering all of my questions today.