Update Child issue via automation from Initiative down to Story

[Erica Robinson]

We were asked to make an automation that would update a field value (Capacity Category) for all tickets beneath an Initiative ticket item. So far, I've only been able to get the automation to go down a single level (Initiative > Epic) and it won't go down to the next round of children. 

Based on the description, it seemed that it would go down further than just the epic level.

[Trudy Claspill · Accepted solution]

Hello @Erica Robinson 

On the Rule Details page there is a check box for allowing/disallowing the rule to be triggered by actions taken by rules. Check that box so that when the rule changes the Capacity Category of the children at one level, then that will trigger the rule to run again where those child issues become the trigger issues, and then their children will be updated.

Note that there is a limitation on a rule being able to call itself or other rules in quick succession. That is the Loop Detection limit documented here:

https://support.atlassian.com/cloud-automation/docs/automation-service-limits/

[Erica Robinson]

This should be exactly what we needed. I did forget that box was there, thank you for the reminder and documentation link. :) 

[Jim Knepley - ReleaseTEAM]

Hi @Erica Robinson 

I wouldn't use Automation for that... that sort of recursive drill-down is best left to something more flexible (and complex) like ScriptRunner.

An example would take some experimentation, but I think you would use issueLinkManager.getOutwardLinks() to identify "Child Link" issues in a loop.

[Erica Robinson]

Unfortunately we are limited to jira automation and aren't budgeted for further plugins at this time. But if we are in the future, I'll be sure to look into this one further.