Why is JIRA Automation so dysfunctional?

[Eric Kolotyluk]

I have tried every which way to get JIRA Automation to do something, anything, but it is completely broken.

There are dozens of discussions from people having similar problems, indicating that this is a poorly conceived, poorly designed, and poorly implemented feature of JIRA. In short, it's a joke, a cruel joke designed to waste people's time and leave them frustrated.

[Alex Koxaras _Relational_ · Accepted solution]

Hi @Eric Kolotyluk 

It is unfortunate that you have this experience with Jira automation. From my part I can only say the opposite. It is a fantastic app with possibilities for further development. :)

Now to our business. I've tested your rule, and it works like a charm. I didn't encounter any problem what so ever. Observe:

My rule with the audit log:

The Edit description component

Testing the rule without a component

Testing the rule with a component

To me, it works perfectly and you've done everything correct. Did you take a look at the audit log? What does it say? Can you please paste a screenshot of your failed or "no actions performed" executions? That would help us finding the cause of your problem.

[Eric Kolotyluk]

Okay, I am absolutely dumbfounded... it is now working for me... and I have no idea why?

Today I was trying to reproduce the problem for you with screenshots, and today it seems to be working as I would expect.

This is very troubling behavior, that after almost a dozen attempts to get something working yesterday with Automation, showing no effects at all, then today I try it, and it works first time???

I recall reading some posts where Automation spontaneously stopped working, and people were confused and complaining, but eventually, someone from Atlassian said the problem had been found and resolved. Could this be another case of Automation spontaneously failing?

Looking at the Audit Log, today I can see two `success` messages, but from yesterday there are only `config change` messages.

[Eric Kolotyluk]

As an aside, when I put the following in the edit

{panel:title="Diagnostics"}
1. Capture an example of the calling code with all input parameters to FLE functions
2. Capture any output from `node` such as stdout and stderr
3. Capture any logs from the `crypto-fle` process or Docker container (unless you are using `graal-api.js`)
1. e.g. `docker logs Socket-API-Service`
{panel}

 Then nothing appears in the `description` field, but the Audit Log shows `success`

I was trying to follow the example from How-to-prepopulate-Description-field-system-field-for-a-certain 

[Alex Koxaras _Relational_]

@Eric Kolotyluk 

{panel:title=My Title|borderStyle=dashed|borderColor=#ccc|titleBGColor=#F7D6C1|bgColor=#FFFFCE}
1. Capture an example of the calling code with all input parameters to FLE functions
2. Capture any output from `node` such as stdout and stderr
3. Capture any logs from the `crypto-fle` process or Docker container (unless you are using `graal-api.js`)
- e.g. `docker logs Socket-API-Service`
{panel}

To me again it works perfectly. I've pasted you the code which to my instance works. Perhaps on your code as well you just need to refresh your page.

[Eric Kolotyluk]

OMG, refreshing the Issue page does work... thanks...

So, this demonstrates to me clear defects in JIRA Automation. If I have to sometimes refresh the page after the automation completes, then the automation did not complete correctly.

Perhaps in all those previous tests where I saw no results... that is what was going on too?

While I can clearly see the value in JIRA Automation, this level of defects really makes me question its utility when I have to document to all my users "Oh, and by the way, JIRA Automation is quite flaky, so don't forget to always refresh the page..."

Sorry for the edgy sarcasm, but I have sustained quite a bit of Tech Trauma from trying out this feature...

Oh, and I am a software developer with over 40 years of experience, so it is very clear to me that Atlassian developers need more training in the ACID principles of Databases and Database Applications...

[Alex Koxaras _Relational_]

@Eric Kolotyluk glad to know that this solves the issue. And most likely, yes that was happening to all your previous tests.

Jira automation, which is an app integrated to Jira, can be sometimes frustrating due to lack of auto refreshing. However, you have to keep in mind that this app is NOT the only automation taking place when creating, editing, transitioning etc an issue.

Now, if you are trying to find all the defects of Jira or Jira automation, or a 3rd party app, you might find a some or a lot. But trying to do so, you'll miss the point of actually solving problem. If you point me to a platform which their developers have though of everything, and can do what Jira can, I'd be happy to give it a try. 

Now if you don't have any more questions which I would be happy to answer, kindly mark my answer as accepted, in order to help others in the community to find proper guidance.

Be well!

[John Funk]

Well said @Alex Koxaras _Relational_ 

[Eric Kolotyluk]

Sorry @Alex Koxaras _Relational_ , I cannot accept your answer because it is 'blame-shifting.' You are shifting the blame from Atlassian to me.

You admit "Jira, can be sometimes frustrating due to lack of auto refreshing."

You are stating that we should be happy with what we have because you don't believe that such defects are an important bad user experience. You accuse me of "missing the point," but the point is, that if you ignore significant defects in something as important as JIRA Automation, then there is no motivation for Atlassian to ever fix the defect.

[Alex Koxaras _Relational_]

Your question was about your automation not working. We solved this. This should be enough to mark the question as accepted. The other thing you've got about blaming Atlassian and their automation is another whole chapter, that has nothing to do with the question.

Do not accept the answer dude. But kindly acknowledge that I'm right.

Be well, and stay safe. Im not going to continue this conversation anymore.

[John Funk]

Hi Eric,

Can you share the result you get when you run the rule? Do you get an error? Does it run and produce nothing? What does the audit log say?

[Eric Kolotyluk]

In the simplest case, when I create an issue, such as a bug, I want to populate the `description` field with

1. Capture an example of the calling code with all input parameters to FLE functions
2. Capture any output from `node` such as stdout and stderr
3. Capture any logs from the `crypto-fle` process or Docker container (unless you are using `graal-api.js`)
   - e.g. `docker logs Socket-API-Service`

What I really want is for the following to work as expected

Many others have tried something similar and failed. Many people have responded with solutions, really complicated solutions, that don't work... I have tried several variations on this, and I can see no evidence that any automation does anything at all. This is an extremely poor user experience.

[Jimmy Seddon]

Hi @Eric Kolotyluk,

Could you please elaborate on what exactly you are trying to accomplish with automation rules?

I've been using them quite extensively and have been very successful in getting them to perform some interesting and at times complicated actions.

I'd like to see if I can help if you can share some more details.

Thanks!