Keeping Epic Name and Summary in Sync

[Amy_Hall]

Is there any way to automatically set the Epic Name to the Summary or vice versa?  We want these values to be the same.  Because we are integrating with Roadmunk and their cards display Summary whereas the Jira Boards we have generally use the Epic Name field.  When these two fields differ, it causes confusion and we see no value in them being different anyway.

[Abdul · Accepted solution]

Navigate to Project settings > Automation

(A global rule will use your monthly limit, a project based one will not. By default a global rule is created.)

1. Create a new rule

2. At the 'New trigger' menu pick 'Field value changed' (located under 'Issue triggers' subheading).

3. Set the values as follows:

   Field value changed: (select both) ‘Epic Name’ and ‘Summary’

   Change type: (select) ‘Any changes to the field value’

   For: (select both) ‘Create issue’ and 'Edit issue'

4. At the 'Add component' screen pick 'New condition'.

5. Select ‘If / else block’.

6. Select ‘Add conditions…’.

7. Select ‘Advanced compare conditions’.

8. Set the values as follows:

   First value: {{fieldChange.toString}}

   Condition: (select) ‘does not equal’

   Second Value: {{issue.epic name}}

9. At the next 'Add component' screen pick 'New action'.

10. At the 'New action' screen pick 'Edit issue' (located under 'Issue actions' subheading)

11. In the 'Choose fields to set...' dropdown pick 'Epic Name'

12. Click on the '...' (ellipsis next to the new text field) and click on 'Copy from'. The text field will turn into a button. Click the button.

13. In the 'Field to copy value from' dropdown menu pick 'Summary'.

14. Save.

15. On the left hand side right at the bottom click ‘Add component.’ (This link will be above ‘Add Else’.)

16. At the 'Add component' screen pick 'New condition'.

17. Select ‘If / else block’.

18. Select ‘Add conditions…’.

19. Select ‘Advanced compare conditions’.

20. Set the values as follows:

    First value: {{fieldChange.toString}}

    Condition: (select) ‘does not equal’

    Second Value: {{issue.summary}}

21. At the next 'Add component' screen pick 'New action'.

22. At the 'New action' screen pick 'Edit issue' (located under 'Issue actions' subheading)

23. In the 'Choose fields to set...' dropdown pick ‘Summary’

24. Click on the '...' (ellipsis next to the new text field) and click on 'Copy from'. The text field will turn into a button. Click the button.

25. In the 'Field to copy value from' dropdown menu pick 'Epic Name'.

26. Save.

27. Name your automation and click ‘Turn it on’.

[Shaun Newman]

This was a MASSIVE help thank you!!

[Brannon Fay]

Agreed!  Big help.  Thank you!

[NSurtani]

Worked like a charm!!!  Thank you!

[Stephan Hannach]

Hej, how do you avoid that the field "Epic Name" is required while creating and Automation rules triggerd by "Issue created" starts after this conditions?

[ashleytse]

data center version dont have this ;[

[Karie Price]

Followed these steps today (with some minor tweaks - I'm assuming related to Cloud UI changes) and it worked GREAT! Thank you so much!

[Dave F]

Thanks for sharing Abdul. I've done something similar but with extra steps with an IF that keeps the shorter of the two fields

If: matches

{{issue.summary.length()}} is less than {{issue.epic name.length()}}

Copy/add Epic name to Description

Copy Summary to Epic Name

Else

Copy/add Summary to Description

Copy Epic Name to Summary

This keeps the Epic Name if they're both the same length, and retains overwritten field in the Description so that data is not lost

[James]

@Stephan Hannachdid you find a solution to not having to populate both the Epic Name and Summary fields on an issue creation?

[Stephan Hannach]

@James

There is a theoretical way to do that.

It is possible to unlock locked fields described here:

https://confluence.atlassian.com/jirakb/unlock-a-locked-jira-software-custom-field-779158866.html

This could give the availability to change the field configurations required toggle.

I do not recommend that and I did that never, as Atlassian support discontinue after that operation.

[Abdul]

I've updated the steps to 1) fix the issue where if the 'Epic Name' was changed then the 'Summary' did not update. Now you will only need one automation rule. If you've used my previous instructions and want to update then delete those rules first.

[Johan Sund Laursen]

@Abdul thanks for the great answer. I think there is a small typo in the first if condition. I need to {{issue.epic name}} (without the dot) to make it work.

[April Villone]

This did not work for me in Jira Service Management.  The create screen would not auto update, I still had to type something into the epic name and save and it didn't update on save.  Once I edit the ticket if I changed one or the other then it worked but it did not work on creation. 

[Adam Ziecik]

@Abdul - I think it is worth editing your original answer with what @Johan Sund Laursen discovered as needed to do the same for the rule to work :) It will help other people in the future :)

" I need to {{issue.epic name}} (without the dot) to make it work."

[Abdul]

@Johan Sund Laursen  and @Adam Ziecik thank you both for pointing out this typo. It's fixed.

[Enna Kladstrup]

almost worked - the one error I think is still in the instructions above is:

"15. On the left hand side right at the bottom click ‘Add component.’ (This link will be above ‘Add Else’.)"

The only way I could select a "New Condition" rather than a "New Action" was if I did the following instead:

 - On the left hand side at the very bottom click 'Add Component.' (This link will be under 'Add Else'.)"

[miikhy · Accepted solution]

Hi Amy!

There's unfortunately no native feature for that.

That being said, you could use third party apps to have a post-function in your Epics workflow after creation (before reaching first status) which would be copying summary to Epic Name. If you already have any script app such as PowerScript or ScripRunner you can even script it :)

Hope this helps!

Cheers

[Amy_Hall]

that's what I suspected but I wanted to be sure I wasn't missing something.  Thanks for your reply.

[miikhy]

I’m happy to see you’re having this consistency between Name and Summary as it’s getting very confusing when they differ!

Have a great day, Amy!

[Dave Furlani]

I'd also like to keep the Epic name and Summary as the same, or more importantly, only prompt the user for one. Unfortunately Epic Name is a required field and locked on the instance we have, so users are forced to enter data to both.

That said, epic name isn't offered when creating an epic through Boards > Backlog > Epics > Create Epic, so I assume something has been added to our Jira (v7.11) that changes the behaviour of the field without changing the default create epic screen. 

I think my only option is to stop Epic Name from being a required field, but as it's locked I can't do that through the UI. https://confluence.atlassian.com/jirakb/how-to-unlock-a-locked-jira-software-field-779158866.html 

I'd love to know how the field became required and locked too, but I'm new here so I doubt I'll find that answer.

[James]

@Dave Fdid you find a solution?

[Dave Furlani]

See my two replies above and Abdul’s post

[Jim Jacoby]

I created another issue type (Epic Creator) that has the same fields as an Epic. Then, I have an automation task that, on creation of an Epic Creator task, copies Summary to Epic Name, and then changes the issue type to Epic. It seems to be working so far.

[Arkadiusz Głowacki]

If anyone is still looking for an answer to this question in (or after) April 2020, then two things changed here:

1. Next-gen epics have only summary, the epic name is gone.

2. You can use automation to set epic name to summary or vice versa without a need to install any addon, it is available in Jira-Cloud natively. 

[Coco S Chaussée]

hi -

I'm assuming that you're referring to Classic projects in #2.  Can you provide more information on the native automation, please?

Thank you

[Arkadiusz Głowacki]

Hi @Coco S Chaussée ,

You can read more about it here: https://www.atlassian.com/software/jira/features/automation and take a look at this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMxv8u30DH8
or read in more details here: https://support.atlassian.com/jira-software-cloud/docs/automate-your-jira-cloud-processes-and-workflows/

Or you can navigate to System > Automation rules and try it by yourself.

Regards

Arek

[Patricia Mayer]

Hi can I have further details? I tried to create an automation rule, to get the Epic Name from Summary at creation stage, but since Epic Name is a required field, it doesn't allow me to create the ticket without putting a value there.

[Ayelet Ben-Tzur]

I'm with @Patricia Mayer - I can't pass the mandatory setting - post function or any automation runs AFTER the issue is created and it can't be created in the first place without the Epic Name.

Can anyone assist on this please?

[Manisha Kode]

I see @Arkadiusz Głowacki  you mentioned epic name is gone in cloud version - my company is using datacenter -- we are trying to keep epic name and summary in Sync.. If Epic name is gone then what is sued in all displays as that short name was used on boards

[Sara Watson]

@Ayelet Ben-Tzur @Patricia Mayer - were you able to solve this? I would like to setup an automation rule so that the epic name equals the summary at both creation and for any subsequent updates. 

[Ayelet Ben-Tzur]

I haven't. If you manage to, PLEASE tell us how :)

[Sara Watson]

@Ayelet Ben-Tzur I was not able to get it to work on epic creation but I was able to write an automation so that if the epic summary changes, so does the epic name. 

When: Issue Updated

If: Summary does not equal the Epic Name from the Current Issue

Then: Edit Issue fields (Epic name = Copy from Summary from Current issue)

[Ayelet Ben-Tzur]

Yes, this part is no problem, the problem is with the creation.

Thank you.

[Abdul]

@Ayelet Ben-Tzur @Sara Watson I've posted what worked for me in the answers.