Getting started with Jira automation

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Hey everyone 👋,

Living in today’s fast-paced world, who doesn’t love getting rid of boring manual tasks and letting automation do the heavy lifting? After all, the less time we spend on repetitive chores, the more we can focus on what really matters.

I’ve been working with Jira for quite a while now, and let me tell you—a lot of folks I’ve collaborated with have shared some clever ideas for streamlining processes with automation. (Spoiler alert: I do it too on my private instance!)

If you haven’t already met the game-changer, allow me to introduce Jira automation! It’s like having a helpful assistant who never takes a coffee break. The star feature? A no-code rule builder! You don’t need to write scripts to create powerful automation rules. Whether it’s a simple task or a complex workflow, this intuitive platform has your back. Plus, there’s a treasure trove of materials and templates to help you hit the ground running.

P.S. Did you know automation is a thing in Confluence too?

So, how do you build a rule?

Every rule has two essential building components: triggers and actions. Think of triggers as the rule’s wake-up call—they’re the spark that gets things rolling. Actions, on the other hand, are the doers, performing tasks on your site once the trigger sets things in motion.

You can also sprinkle in conditions to make sure actions only happen if certain criteria are met—perfect for those “only if” scenarios. And if you’re feeling adventurous, add some branches to work on related issues simultaneously.

Select triggers

Every rule begins with a trigger—think of it as a ‘listener’ that’s always tuned in to specific events in Jira. For example, triggers can activate when an issue is created, a field value is changed, or a comment is added. Currently, there are more than 50 different triggers to choose from.

Check out the following official documentation for the full list: Jira automation triggers.

Add conditions

Conditions help you narrow the focus of your rule, making sure it only runs when specific criteria are met. Think of them as the rule’s filters. For instance, you can set up a rule to escalate an issue—but only if its priority is set to “High.”

Check out the following official documentation for the full list: Jira automation conditions.

Set actions

Actions are the doers of your rule. With actions, you can automate tasks and make changes across your site. Whether it’s editing an issue, sending a notification, or creating sub-tasks, actions ensure your rule delivers results.

Check out the following official documentation for the full list: Jira automation actions.

Use branching

In Jira, issues are often connected in various ways, and automation actions don’t always stop at the source issue. Sometimes, you’ll need to apply actions to related issues as well. That’s where branches come in! Branching allows you to perform actions on related issues or objects, ensuring your rule handles everything in the chain.

Check out the following official documentation to learn more about branching in Jira automation: Branch automation rules to perform actions on related issues.

Power up with smart values

Smart values are your secret weapon to take your automation to the next level! While automations are already intuitive with their “building block” components, smart values let you unlock more advanced capabilities. They allow you to access dynamic issue data within your rules. For instance, you can use the {{issue.key}} smart value to get the issue key, or even create mathematical expressions like {{#=}}{{issue.Invoice Amount}} * 1.2{{/}} to perform calculations on number fields. Need the average of all numbers in a list? You can use something like {{issue.subtasks.Story Points.average}}. The possibilities are nearly endless!

For more details, check out the official Atlassian documentation: Smart values in Atlassian Automation.

Explore templates

You don’t need to reinvent the wheel when creating rules. The Automation platform comes with lots of pre-built rule templates that you can use as-is or customize to fit your specific needs.

You can access automation rule templates by:

1. Navigating to Project settings > Automation.

2. Select Templates.

For even more options, explore the official template library and automation playground, where you can interactively browse hundreds of automation templates: Jira automation template library.

Note: The template rules displayed are selected based on your product and project type.

Create rules with AI

If you’re on Premium plan, you can leverage Atlassian Intelligence (AI) to help you create automation rules. This feature makes it even easier to get started with automation—simply write a description of what you want to automate and AI will handle the heavy lifting for you.

Apart from getting onboarded to the automation itself, AI can also inspire fresh ideas for automating processes or optimizing your existing automation rules, helping you work smarter, not harder.

For more details, check out the official documentation: Use Atlassian Intelligence with Jira automation.

One thing worth mentioning - usage limits! ⚠️

Automation in the Cloud comes with usage limits, which are measured by the number of rules that run each month. These limits vary depending on the product and plan you're using, but they always reset at the beginning of each month.

When an automation rule runs successfully—meaning it performs at least one action—it counts as a run. Even if the rule performs multiple actions, it only counts once toward your monthly usage.

The limits are different based on your specific product and plan. For example, if you’re on Jira Standard, your limit is 1,700 executions per month, whereas on Jira Premium, you get 1,000 x number of users executions per month.

For more details on how usage is calculated, check out the official documentation: How is my usage calculated?

And I use it too!

It doesn’t have to be all about professional use cases—I use automation too! In fact, I have my private site where I’ve set up a few rules to make life a little easier.

Here are some of the automation rules I use:

• Every 3 months → create blood donation task

• Every month → create fixed expenses & placeholders

• When an idea is transitioned to done (JPD) → create delivery issue (Asset input)

Automation can be a real time-saver—even for personal tasks 😄

Did you know?

Did you know that Jira automation was originally a Marketplace app? In 2019, Atlassian acquired Code Barrel, the creators of Automation for Jira. Since then, the automation platform has come a long way, with numerous new features, components, a revamped UI, and even an expansion to Confluence.

If you're curious to learn more, here’s the official blog post on the acquisition: Atlassian acquires Code Barrel, maker of Automation for Jira (2019)

Additional resources

Here are some helpful resources to get you started with Jira automation:

• Get started with Jira automation

• Jira automation tutorials

👉 And if you're looking for a deeper dive, I highly recommend checking out Atlassian University, especially the Automating Jira learning path. 👈

Lastly, if you have any questions related to automation, I recommend reaching out to the Community within the following product group: Atlassian Automation.

Happy automating! 🎉