My automation isn't running on "work item created" what am I missing?

[Calvin]

Hi all, I have a basic automation which is:

• When: Work Item Created
• Add comment to work item: "test"

Thats it. But it never runs. 

I checked the actor as my account (Site admin) no dice. I put a re-fetch in between the created and comment. Nothing again.

Scope is set to two projects and I'm definitely testing within those projects.

What am I missing?

Thanks so much!

---edit

I wonder if something bigger is going on, I tried this on a personal instance and my automation works perfectly. 

I made the automation global to all projects, and I see the "create" trigger only works with our JSM items even though the scope is global. I wonder if there is an issue in the backend.

[Trudy Claspill · Accepted solution]

Hello @Calvin 

I don't see any active incidents:

https://status.atlassian.com/

How is the issue being created? Are you creating it manually through the UI, or is it being created by another Automation Rule?

I have occasionally seen significant delays between an event occurring and a rule being triggered.

If another Rule is creating the issue then make sure that you have checked the box on the Rule Details settings to "allow rule to be triggered by actions in other rules", for the rule triggered on issue creation.

[Calvin]

Thanks Trudy, I ended up asking Atlassian Support, turns out the user who created the initial workflow removed the post function "Fire - issue created" event.  So the event never fired on create and never triggered the automation.

Great learning for me as I didn't know the "create issue" trigger in Automation is based on that post function event.

Thanks so much :)

[Nagabharana S · Accepted solution]

Hello @Calvin ,

Thanks for sharing the details. From what you’ve described, the issue isn’t with your rule logic itself (since it runs fine in your personal instance) but rather with where the “Issue created” trigger is firing. A few points to check:

1. Trigger applicability – In Jira Cloud Automation, the Issue created trigger only fires for projects where the rule has scope and permissions. If you scoped it globally but only see the trigger firing for JSM items, it may be that your software project(s) aren’t allowing the automation rule to listen to events.

2. Scope of the rule – Even when a rule is set to "All projects", the actor still needs access in each project. Since you’re using your account as the actor and you’re a site admin, that should be fine, but double-check the “Rule details” → Scope to ensure the software projects are included.

3. Project type differences – Global rules can sometimes behave differently depending on whether the project is a JSM, Jira Software, or Jira Work Management project. The “create” trigger works consistently in JSM because of its integration with request types, but in software projects, if the rule doesn’t have explicit scope, it may silently not fire.

4. Audit log – Check the rule’s audit log at the global level. If the trigger is firing only for JSM issues, you’ll see “No actions performed” for software issues, which indicates the trigger didn’t catch the event.

[Calvin]

Thanks mate! Turns out it was probably more related to the Trigger Applicability of the above.

The post function had the "Fire - issue created" event removed. So the automation never knew to trigger. And thus not audit log at all appeared.

[Karan Sachdev · Accepted solution]

Hey @Calvin

Is there any error message recorded in the rule audit logs?

Also, does the rule actor have project permission to add comments on the work items?

Thanks!