Trigger automation when field value is initially added

[Gregory McShea]

Hi all, I am trying to create an automation rule that only triggers when a field value is added for the first time. I do not want the rule to trigger on any subsequent edits to the field.

For my specific instance I want to trigger the automation rule to trigger when a value is added to the Fix Versions field, so when the field is previously empty and a value is added for the first time. I am aware of the Field value change trigger but this seems to trigger whenever the field value is changed, I am only looking to trigger on initial field value assignment.

Any thoughts on how to do this? 

Thanks.

[John Funk]

Hi Gregory, 

You could use a custom field to populate a value in the field when the field you want is first changed. We use a custom checklist field called Generic Yes Field. I set the value to Yes when the value is first updated on another field. It's a bit of a workaround but it works.  :-)

[Callum Carlile _Automation Consultants_]

@Gregory McShea I don't believe there is a way you can trigger it based off the first time it's given a value.

What you could do is slightly adapt your process, so that you can trigger the rule at a certain point in the issue's flow - e.g. you could keep the same trigger (field value edit) but you could select either the Create issue or Transition Issue operation to trigger the task.

If it was Create, then the rule would trigger only when the Fix Version is given a value when the task is created.

If it was Transition, you could have one particular transition in the workflow which would trigger this rule, and you could have the Fix Version field on the transition screen. Under your trigger in the rule, you could add a condition which says "status is X", which would be the destination status of the transition, so this would be the only situation which triggers the rule