How can I notify a group when a sub-task issue is created?

[Phil Bustin]

I have a sub-task workflow to which an issue can be submitted from another workflow automatically.  An automation creates zero to 7 types of issues in tandem, based on the values if any selected in a checkbox field.  Each of the different types requires a notification to be sent to a group whose members of one of 7 groups (for now--I might use a role later), may use the one transition the workflow.

What is the simplest way to notify the group members for any of the 7 task types when the sub-task is created?  Since there is a separate action in the automation for each of the 7 sub-task types, perhaps the notification can be sent from the automation.   

Also, I imagine that I need to create a group, perhaps called Task Owners Group, that in a sub-task transition condition has permission to transition the sub-task, and copy members to that group from the appropriate existing group, in the automation.  

[Jens Schumacher - Released_so · Accepted solution]

Hi @Phil Bustin

Perhaps the easiest way to setup notifications for the subtasks

• Create an automation that's triggered when a new task is created.
• Setup conditions for each of the different task types.
• Setup notification actions for each of the conditions. 

Cheers,
Jens

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[Phil Bustin]

Jens, Can the notification action notify members of a group, and if so, how?

[Phil Bustin]

I was able to use groups I created for notifications in the automation, so that's done.  Now I need to figure out how to copy members of each group to one group or field that has permission to transition that particular instance of the sub-task.

[Jens Schumacher - Released_so]

great to hear you’ve got the notifications working @Phil Bustin 

Regarding the second part of the question, I’ve read it multiple times but don’t quite follow what you are trying to achieve. 

Maybe if you could describe the use-case it might become clearer. 

[Phil Bustin]

Sure.  In the parent transition, the user selects zero to 7 checkboxes (usually one or two), that are options in a field called Dev Task Type (or something like that), and the automation creates a sub-task for each checkbox selected. 

In order to set the appropriate permissions for each created sub-task, I created a Dev Task Owner group.  Since each task type requires a different set of users who can transition it, I thought to copy the appropriate one of the seven groups I created, one for each task type, to the Dev Task Owner group. 

That group has permissions to transition the sub-task.  The other seven groups would not have permissions to transition the sub-task (workflow).  Did I leave anything out?

[Jens Schumacher - Released_so]

Thanks for elaborating @Phil Bustin 

The answer to this depends on whether your project is team or organisation managed.

In organisation managed projects, you can have different workflows for different issue types and adjust the permissions accordingly. However, that might not work with sub-tasks, but you could use issue links instead. 

You may be able to do something with automation and reverse a transition if a user isn't in a specific group, but that will get rather complex I'm afraid. I haven't had the time to look into how that might work. 

Another, simpler option, is to consider how important those restrictions are. Unless there are compliance reasons, you might not actually need to restrict the workflow. Since issue transitions are recorded, you will always know if someone transitioned something that they shouldn't have. 

Generally speaking, It's best to apply the least possible amount of restrictions, unless absolutely necessary. The more process and restrictions you add, the more frustrating it can be to the end-users. 

[Phil Bustin]

Sounds like a plan to me.  Still, I would like to know if, in an automation, I can populate a group, and if so, if that can be done from another group, and if a multi-user field can or should be involved instead of a group.

[Jens Schumacher - Released_so]

From what I can tell, you can not populate a group with Jira automation. That would require an external script. 

[Phil Bustin]

Thank you.

[Phil Bustin]

I set a condition in the one transition of the sub-task:

   Only users in group Dev Task Owners group can execute this transition.

That will enable any of the users who need to transition any of the 7 tasks to transition any of them, but I'm sure only the members who are notified in the automation will run the transition.

[Jens Schumacher - Released_so]

That seems like a good workaround.