Automation rule: How to check if previous assignee is in specific group

[Gal Fatal]

Hi,

I try to build automation rule that tigered by assignee change,

I want to add a condition that checks if the former assignee belongs to a specific group.

I tried to use smart value  fieldChange.from to get the previous assignee id but now I want to check if this id is in specific group, cannot find easy way to do it 

Any idea ? thanks , Gal.

[pawarsachin84]

Hello @Gal Fatal ,

You can try to check below if this helps.

• Add a custom user picker field (e.g., Previous Assignee)

• On assignee change:

  • Set this field to {{changelog.assignee.from}}

• Use the User is in group condition on that field (this is allowed)

• Then proceed with your actions

Steps - 

1. Pre-requisite: Add Custom Field

• Create a User Picker (single user) field named Previous Assignee

• Add it to your issue screens

2. Automation Rule Setup

Trigger: Field Value Changed
Field to monitor: Assignee

Action: Edit Issue → Set “Previous Assignee”
Choose field: Previous Assignee

Set value using smart value:

{{changelog.assignee.from}}


Condition: User Condition
User field: Previous Assignee

Condition: “is in group”

Group name: Your desired group (e.g., engineering-team)

Action 2: [Your desired action, e.g., send message]

[Bill Sheboy]

Hi @pawarsachin84 

What is the source of your information? 

There is no "branch: lookup user" and the User Condition cannot access a smart value, such as from the changelog.

Kind regards,
Bill

[pawarsachin84]

Hello @Bill Sheboy ,

Thank you for correcting me. 

You're correct — there's no Branch: Lookup user or ability to check group membership directly on the changelog.assignee.from value.
However, in this case Gal Fatal can:

1. Create a User Picker custom field (e.g., "Previous Assignee")

2. Use changelog.assignee.from to populate it upon assignment change

3. Add a User condition to check if that field’s user is in your target group

4. add the necessary action to take on. 

[Bill Sheboy]

Yes, that is what I suggested, and...it requires adding a Re-fetch Work Item Data after the edit so the condition gets the updated information.

[Bill Sheboy]

Hi @Gal Fatal 

There are currently only two ways to do what you ask:

• User Condition and a Custom Field
  • with the changelog entry, save the previous value in a single-select, user custom field
  • use a Re-fetch the Work Item Data action to reload the update
  • use a User Condition to test the custom field value is in your group
• REST API
  • with the Send Web Request action, call the REST API endpoint to get the groups for the user, based upon the changelog
  • use smart values and conditional logic to test for your group

Kind regards,
Bill