Calculate the sum of original estimates of all issue types to an Epic using Automation

[Alex Koxaras -Relational-]

@Laurent use parent instead of epic link. Epic link is deprecated

[Alexander Oks]

Hi @Alex Koxaras -Relational-

thank you for the nice guide. Unfortunately Step 4 does not work on our side.

There is an error message that suggests using parent instead of Epic Link in the Lookup Issues automation building block, but when it is used it will not return any results. 

When using parent in the Advanced Issue Search I won't get any results neither.

When hard coding the Epic Link to the Lookup Issues JQL everything works as expected.

Any suggestions?

Best regards

Alex

[Laurent]

Hi  @Alex Koxaras _Relational_

It's better with the right "parent" use, no more error.

But, as some others, the step 4 doesn't work : the lookup part doen't match any issues so the EPIC is not updated : 

Is there another parameter to set or something else to do to make it works ?

Thanks

Laurent

[Alexander Oks]

Hi @Laurent

there is a workaround for the situation.

You can use the field ID (cf[10014]) instead of the name (Epic Link) and you won't get the error anymore.

Best regards

Alex

[Laurent]

Hi @Alexander Oks 

thank you ! it almost works : it doesn't take subtasks time. 

Do I have to try another branch inside the Epic (parent) to update tasks before ?

Thanks

Laurent

[Alex Koxaras -Relational-]

@Alexander Oks @Laurent customfield_10014 is again the "Epic Link". To be honest don't know exactly why your rule isn't working with just the "Epic Link" = ABS-XXX. Try writing this and click "Validate query" to see that your query is legit.

@Laurent the rule isn't meant to add subtasks time to the Epic. Subtasks time is automatically added to parent. My rule only add standard issue types to the Epic.

[Laurent]

ok thanks for your help @Alex Koxaras -Relational- 

I'll try to find a way.

[Miguel Rodriguez]

@Alex Koxaras -Relational- is this automation for Jira cloud or Data Center? I am project admin in a Data center version of Jira software (as opposed to instance admin) and I cannot find the "Lookup Issues" action when I go to my project automations, and start to create a new rule similar to your example. So it could be that is only on cloud or that maybe it is only available to site admins? 
Thanks. 

[Bill Sheboy]

Hi @Miguel Rodriguez 

It appears the lookup issues action is being added to Jira Server/Data Center now, and you can follow the progress on this here: https://jira.atlassian.com/browse/JIRAAUTOSERVER-53

Kind regards,
Bill

[elramr]

First, thank you! Great work.

Second I want to ask: right now if I open a story add the original estimate and just then add it to the epic,
the epic didn’t calculate the time, just if I add or update the original estimate after the story is linked to the epic.

Is there an option to solve this problem?

[Deleted user]

@Alex Koxaras -Relational- I am trying to reconstruct this rule, but I have many errors. Please can you attach the JSON of the rule so that I can import it into my Jira Datacenter? Thank you in advance.

[Morten Junker Juul]

The rule works for me, but i think you need to create 1 rule for issue types Task, Bug, Story and use "EPIC Link" = {{issue.key}} in the lookup issue. 

Create another rule, same structure, for sub-task to sum to story, bug or task, and use Parent = {{issue.key}} in the lookup issue, and that should trigger the other rule.

[Morten Junker Juul]

@Omer Gurtemel 

I tried divide(3600) and it works perfect for hours, but when setting original estimate for minutes, it does not add them to EPIC.

{
"fields": {
"timetracking": {
"originalEstimate" : "{{lookupIssues.Original Estimate.sum.divide(3600)}}",
"remainingEstimate" : "{{lookupIssues.Remaining Estimate.sum(3600)}}"
}
}
}

[David Leal]

Thanks for sharing this approach, it really helps, I have seen other solutions to the same problem but it seems they are not working properly. @Alex Koxaras -Relational-  the only comment I have is in regard to the applicability of it, or on which scenario it makes sense to sum the original estimate (durations) up. An epic can have several issue and they can be executed in parallel, Summing the original estimate assumes all the work will be implemented sequentially, but that is not the general situation in real life, you may have several team members working on the epic's children at the same time, so the final duration for the epic will be less than just the sum of all epic's children durations.

[Morten Junker Juul]

I found a solution for the problem with time divide. Jira is always adding time in seconds when doing it from automation, if i divide by 60 and add m when i paste the value into the field, i am telling Jira the time i am adding is in minutes 

This works perfect for me (adding m in the end, after the smart value)

{
"fields": {
"timetracking": {
"originalEstimate" : "{{lookupIssues.Original Estimate.sum.divide(60)}}m",
"remainingEstimate" : "{{lookupIssues.Remaining Estimate.sum.divide(60)}}m"
}
}
}

I have 2 rules, 1 for summarizing time from story to epic, and another rule for summarizing time from sub-task to stories.

[Kim Ranch Olsen]

Hi @Alex Koxaras -Relational- 

Thank you for this great post. I have setup the automation rule as discribed (including a minor tweak, adding 'm' for specifying the update in minutes), but it does not work when remaining estimate is reduced via the Log Work action, as illustrated below. In this case, the remaining estimate on the epic is unchanged. However, if I update 'Time remaining', the epic is succesfully updated.

I hope you can help with some ideas for a solution. I am on a Jira Cloud instance. Here is my rule:

[Ioannis Kapelis]

Last edit date -> 17th of August 2022

Last time I personally used it and it did the trick -> Today 25th of August 2024

[David Weir]

Hello,

I am getting the same result as Simon above. Rule executes without issue, but the Epic's Original Estimate and Remaining Estimate shows "0m"

I even tested by first manually inputting 5d on the Epic's Original Epic, then update the Original Estimate of a linked ticket. It went from 5d to 0m. So I know the rule executing on the Epic, but why is it returning 0m?

I am on Jira Data Center

[Bill Sheboy]

Hi @David Weir 

As this is a very old thread, I recommend using the "Ask a question" link to create a new question, perhaps including a link back to the original thread for context.  This will ensure the maximum number of people see it to offer suggestions.

When creating your new question, please include the following:

• an image of your complete automation rule in a single image for continuity
• images of any relevant actions / conditions / branches
• an image of the audit log details showing the rule execution
• explain what is not working as expected and why you believe that to be the case

Until we see those...

If your rule is trying to use the Lookup Issues action for the sum, that will not work for Jira Data Center's version of automation as only a limited number of fields are supported, and not including the time tracking ones: https://confluence.atlassian.com/automation/jira-smart-values-issues-993924860.html#Jirasmartvaluesissues-lookupissues-properties

Instead, to sum the fields the rule would need to call the REST API endpoint for an issue search with JQL using the Send Web Request action, and then sum the values from the web response.

Kind regards,
Bill