Introducing Action items in Jira

[Darryl Lee]

Hey all - so ... for whatever good it might do, I guess we could vote and watch these feature requests:

• AUTO-1668 - To-do lists (checkboxes) / action items / checklists in text fields via automation 
• AUTO-1612 - Clone action clones an issue with Action items converted into Bullet list 
• JRACLOUD-85414 - Manage Action items in Jira via JQL or REST API or Automations 

I hear online betting is really big now. I wonder what odds we could get on any of these getting implemented in say, 2 years? (I'd be happy with just AUTO-1668.)

[Dennis Kohl]

I believe our best approach is to focus on AUTO-1612. It addresses a similar issue as AUTO-1668, but AUTO-1612 is recognized as a bug and might be prioritized over a suggestion? If they resolve this bug, it could potentially address the suggestion as well. Even if it doesn't, the clone function is perfect for everything we need via automation until AUTO-1668 is implemented. Still, if you read this and have time...please vote for both!

It's worth noting that the implementation for Action Items took 9 years, despite having many votes. That was a suggestion JRACLOUD-47605

[Stuart McCarthy]

I have used Actions a little recently. One problem I have come across is that when I go back to edit the actions as completed by clicking the checkbox, I have in multiple situations had the formatting erased. It switches to markdown and is unable to be restored.

Anybody know why this could be happening? 

I should add that the whole description gets overwritten by what is stored in the description of the parent Epic.

[Pavel Zemnukhov]

It's a good feature, but isn't it Jira is much behind for things like this? Checklist features existed in systems like Notion long time ago.

Here, we still have limitations with pasting markdown text with checklist items, which doesn't work until you manually delete the space and add it again.

And it's not working in automation, a little bit disappointing. 

[Apryl Harris]

Can native Jira JQL be used to query for Action items?

[Bill Sheboy]

Hi @Apryl Harris 

Short answer: no.

Here is the suggestion to add the ability to search for action items using JQL, the REST API, or automation rules: https://jira.atlassian.com/browse/JRACLOUD-85414

Kind regards,
Bill

[Rafa]

another issue with this feature that took "only" 9 years to implement: the log does not show any updates when the checkboxes are marked. 

An quick'n'dirty implementation would be to simply handle it like an edit text , so it would show that the text went from `[ ] something to do` to `[x] something to do`, without having to deal with some new way of logging changes to a checkbox

[Annika Wöltje]

Hey, I wanted to know if there is an update on this: 

Can Action Items be used via Automation?

The ability to use Action Items via Automation is an interesting concept. I’ll review this request with the Automation teams to explore the possibilities.

[Don Arsenault]

Another limitation with Action Items. An image or code block cannot be embedded in an Action Item. When I try with "/image" or "/code", the image or code block is added after the list of Action Items. That's different behavior from unordered and ordered lists.

I frequently accompany the text description of the action with an image to help visually, or with a code block containing commands to perform. 

Crappy workaround is to use inline attachments. First attach the image to the work item, or create a file with the command and attach the file. It's a lot more work for the editor than just copying and pasting. And the viewer has to click and be taken out of the list.

[Rob vanSpronssen]

See AUTO-1612 - there are significant issues with this feature that we have run across. Would love to know if there is a resolution planned as it has made Action Items somewhat unpredictable, leading to unusable, for us.

[Andreas Inhofer]

Hi all, I took the json snippet from @Sunny Ape , and I expected the code to actually work in an automation rule if filled in an "Edit work item fields" by using the "Advanced" mode under "More options": with 

'''

{
"fields": {
    "description": {
      "type": "doc",
      "version": 1,
      "content": [
        {
          "type": "taskList",
          "content": [
            {
              "type": "taskItem",
              "content": [
                {
                  "type": "text",
                  "text": "Action Item 1"
                }
            ],
"attrs": {
"localId": "1",
"state": "DONE"
}
},
{
"type": "taskItem",
"content": [
{
"type": "text",
"text": "Action Item 2 "
},
{
"type": "mention",
"attrs": {
"id": "",
"accessLevel": "",
"localId": "1"
}
},
{
"type": "text",
"text": " with a mention"
}
],
"attrs": {
"localId": "",
"state": "TODO"
}
}
],
"attrs": {
"localId": ""
}
}
]
}
}
}

'''

Sorry for the formatting...
Anyway when the rule runs I get an error saying

"Operation value must be a string (description)"....

Anyone figured out a workaround for this (not using any additional (paid for more than 10 member team) plugin)?

[Darryl Lee]

Hey there @Andreas Inhofer --

So as discussed in  "Updated way to set Description field using ADF in an Automation rule" in reference to "Updating description field using REST API and Atlassian Document Formatting (ADF)"...

It appears that Atlassian STILL does not support using ADF inside the "Additional fields" section of the Edit work item action.

In fact, I couldn't really find any documentation that describes how developers or users are supposed to use ADF when updating issues with the API. Following the instructions for Advanced field editing using JSON I made a call to GET /rest/api/3/issue/{issueIdOrKey}/editmeta for my test issue and it returns this for description:

    "description": {
      "required": false,
      "schema": {
        "type": "string",
        "system": "description"
      },
      "name": "Description",
      "key": "description",
      "operations": [
        "set"
      ]
    },

So that's the latest API, telling me that according to it, description is supposed to be a string. Nothing about being able to use "type": "doc"

And when I look at the documentation for the Edit issue API endpoint, it's only when you look at the code examples for the v3 version of the API where there is any mention of "type": "doc" being valid, and but it's for customfield_10000, not description.

OK OK SO I JUST TESTED v3 vs v2 ENDPOINTS with CURL

Your JSON works when hitting the v3 endpoint, and fails with the v2 endpoint, resulting in the same error you got: “Operation value must be a string”

CONCLUSION

Automation's Edit work item action is unfortunately still talking to v2 of the Edit issue API which means you cannot use ADF for the Description field.

UGLY WORKAROUND

You could use the Web Requests to make a call to Jira itself, using the v3 endpoint. This sucks for a few reasons:

• You're just trying to edit the Description field, you shouldn't have to call the API.
• You're just trying to put in some Action Items, which @Ahmud Auleear was super excited to announce back in November.
• You're having to do this with JSON. The fact that there is no support to use wiki markup to add Action Items, nor any hooks for Automation makes it clear that this feature was more cosmetic than anything. Yes, a new "shortcut" in the editor that writes to the ADF format which is overly complex.
• Using a Web Request will mean you have to use an API Token and those can only last up to a year, so you'll have to remember to rotate in a new token EVERY YEAR to support this Automation.