Is adding/removing an Issue under an Epic considered an "issue update" (trigger) in Jira automation?

[brian_g]

I am trying to create an automation when the automation is triggered when an Epic gets a new issue added/removed under it. 

Does the "Issue updated" trigger work in this scenario?

[Bill Sheboy]

Hi @brian_g 

When a child issue is added / removed / changed for an epic, the parent field is changed in the child issue.  I believe the epic link field is also changed for company-managed project issues, although that field is sunsetting.

To do what you ask, please try using the Issue Updated trigger, check if the issue type is not an epic, and then check the changelog smart value for changes to the parent field.  Once the rule confirms the parent has changed, you may use the parent field (and / or changelog) to branch to the parent epic with JQL to access it.

Please look here to learn more about the changelog smart value:

https://support.atlassian.com/cloud-automation/docs/jira-smart-values-issues/#--changelog--

Kind regards,
Bill

[brian_g]

Hi Bill. Thanks for your reply.

How do I use the smart value {{changelog}} to get information that the parent field is updated (T/F)? From what I can see, the only changelog properties available for me are summary, issuetype, and status. 

I have tried using an "Advanced compare condition" to catch when I add a parent epic to a task

     First value = {{changelog.Parent}}

     Condition = greater than

     Second value = 0

But "The following issues did not match the condition:"

Please advise. 

Thanks!

[brian_g]

I saw your other post here https://community.atlassian.com/t5/Jira-Software-questions/jira-automation-for-team-managed-project-when-story-changes/qaq-p/2296545, and together with you advice from this post, I came up with the following solution. 

Essentially what I wanted was - update an issue with it's parent's labels when an issue gets a new parent. 

This is what worked for me

[Bill Sheboy]

Well done, and interesting: I am not familiar with that smart value, IssueParentAssociation.

What do you want your rule to do if the issue no longer has an epic parent (i.e., the parent is cleared)?

As written, I believe the rule will show an error if there is no parent.  That can be prevented by adding a condition to check if the parent is not empty before the edit action.

[Jack Brickey]

I would assume so. Is that not what you are seeing?

[brian_g]

No. It doesn't seem to take into account adding/removing an epic's children.