autofilling a single select list custom field through automation

[Shahzaib Ansar]

I want to add a single select list custom field in board of Jira that shows a list of Milestones created (already existed and newly created) in the board in order to select single item from that list through an automation.

Problem: Whenever a task or issue is created, I want a single select list custom field that displays all the Milestones in the board in order to select one from the list to associate it with the task or issue created
Steps Taken:

1- I have made a single select list custom field (Milestone) and included "select an option" in the option field while creating and associated it with the screens

2- I made automation with the following rule

3- Now whenever I create a task, list of milestones is not visible to me (can be seen on the bottom-right side of the screen shot at 4th position from bottom). It is not populating the milestones from board, instead it is showing the option which I put in this custom field during the time of creation.

 

Kindly help me to resolve this issue.

[Bill Sheboy · Accepted solution]

Hi @Shahzaib Ansar -- Welcome to the Atlassian Community!

First thing, what problem are you trying to solve by doing this?  That is, "why do this"?  Knowing that may help the community to offer suggested solutions.  Thanks!

Until we know that reason...

From your question, it appears you are trying to do this:

• when an issue is created
• change the values available in a single-select, custom field...copying them from other issues' selections
• so a user can later select specific values from the list

If that is correct, it will not work as you describe.

The values available for a single-select, custom field can be set / updated using the Jira admin functions or a REST API function call.  The list of possible values cannot be edited directly as you are showing.

And even if that was possible, I am unclear how that would make sense: the possible values are fixed at a point in time (although they can be updated).  If the list of values changed, that would impact all other issues / views which use that field.

If I have misunderstood your question, please clarify the problem and reasons for it.  Thanks!

Kind regards,
Bill

[Shahzaib Ansar]

Hi @Bill Sheboy! Thank you so much for your response. The problem is:
I want that whenever an issue is created, it should has a custom field that displays a list of milestones from which we can select a Milestone to which that issue is basically associated. For that purpose, we have an issue type in the board known as Milestone.
For example;
When I create a task, it should has a custom field of Milestone that has a list of milestones from which we can select a milestone to which the created task relates/associated with.

So I want to extract the Milestones created so far (newly or existed) that is in To Do or In Progress status into a single select list custom field in order to choose from the list 

[Bill Sheboy]

While it is possible to do this by calling a REST API function from a rule (using a Send Web Request action), there can be challenges...

I anticipate your list of milestones will continue to increase over time, making the list longer and longer.  If instead you removed old ones, that would break your historical values of those values.

Are these milestones time-based (e.g., 2023-Q4) or goal / product / feature-based (e.g., Reduce Cost X)?

If they are time-based, have you considered using the releases feature and Fix Version field to manage these?  Or for time-based or goal-based, try using Jira Product Discovery.  Here are some links to investigate those options:

• https://support.atlassian.com/jira-software-cloud/docs/enable-releases-and-versions/
• https://www.atlassian.com/software/jira/product-discovery