How do I map Epics already in JIRA to my csv Issue import?

[Chris Gorgoroso]

I can find inserting issues and epics in the same file but I just want to link the new issues I'm inserting to the Epics that are already in my JIRA environment.  Can anyone help?

[Akash Singh]

Hi @Chris Gorgoroso ,

You can import new issues while linking them to existing Epics by including four additional columns in your CSV: Parent, Issue ID, Issue Key, and Issue Type.

• Parent and Issue ID serve as placeholders and can be any unique numbers. Each issue must have a distinct ID to define relationships between issues in the CSV.
• For issues that already exist in Jira (e.g., Epics in this case), the Issue Key column should contain their original Jira issue key.
• The Issue Type column specifies the type of issue to be created if it does not already exist in Jira.

Refer to the mapping in the provided screenshot. In the example, the first two rows correspond to issues that already exist in Jira. The existing Epic has been assigned a placeholder ID of 1. Stories and tasks in rows 3 and 4 are linked to this Epic by setting their Parent ID to 1.

You can now proceed with importing issues via CSV by mapping all the necessary fields. This will allow you to import new issues linked to the specified Epic. For more details, please refer to this guide.

[Chris Gorgoroso]

Seems like I did the right thing here but I keep getting this:

[Akash Singh]

@Chris Gorgoroso As highlighted in the knowledge base article here, the issue likely arises because either both issues (SNA-3 and SNA-84) belong to the same hierarchy level, or there’s an attempt to assign a Story as the parent of an Epic, which is not allowed.

Try exporting your issue details in a CSV file from the below JQL filter,

key in (SNA-3, SNA-84)

Don't forget to add the columns Issue Type, Issue Key, and Summary before exporting it in a CSV file. Here is an article on how to export your issues in a CSV file.

Then, update the exported file by adding placeholder values for the Issue ID and Parent columns as explained earlier. Once the changes are made, re-import the updated CSV file into Jira.

[Chris Gorgoroso]

Akash, I appreciate your responses.  Did you see the spreadsheet I provided in the images above?  Does anything in that image suggest that they are in the same hierarchy?

[Akash Singh]

@Chris GorgorosoThe issue hierarchy in the spreadsheet appears to be correct. However, exporting the issues directly from Jira could have eliminated the possibility of any misconfiguration. If you downloaded the detailed log of the import, could you please share it as well?

[Chris Gorgoroso]

Here I tried and brand new import without relating it to the already created epics to see if that worked.  It still failed with the same error.

I did an export as well.  For some reason that's beyond me, it will not allow me to link no matter what I try.  

2025-01-17 19:08:23,279 INFO - Import started by 3dd7e447-cbee-45a8-9540-1251eb517b53 using com.atlassian.jira.plugins.importer.imports.csv.CsvDataBean
2025-01-17 19:08:23,369 INFO - ------------------------------
2025-01-17 19:08:23,369 INFO - Importing: Users
2025-01-17 19:08:23,369 INFO - ------------------------------
2025-01-17 19:08:23,369 INFO - Only new items will be imported
2025-01-17 19:08:23,373 INFO - 0 users associated with import. All of them imported as inactive, this can be changed after import in User Access step.
2025-01-17 19:08:23,373 INFO - ------------------------------
2025-01-17 19:08:23,373 INFO - Finished Importing : Users
2025-01-17 19:08:23,373 INFO - ------------------------------
2025-01-17 19:08:23,373 INFO - 0 users successfully created.
2025-01-17 19:08:23,376 INFO - Retrieving projects...
2025-01-17 19:08:23,393 INFO - Project ExternalProject{id='null', key='SNA', externalName='null', name='SNA', type='software', template='null'} exists and found correctly.
2025-01-17 19:08:23,394 INFO - ------------------------------
2025-01-17 19:08:23,394 INFO - Importing: Versions
2025-01-17 19:08:23,394 INFO - ------------------------------
2025-01-17 19:08:23,394 INFO - Only new items will be imported
2025-01-17 19:08:23,394 INFO - ------------------------------
2025-01-17 19:08:23,394 INFO - Finished Importing : Versions
2025-01-17 19:08:23,394 INFO - ------------------------------
2025-01-17 19:08:23,396 INFO - ------------------------------
2025-01-17 19:08:23,396 INFO - Importing: Components
2025-01-17 19:08:23,396 INFO - ------------------------------
2025-01-17 19:08:23,396 INFO - Only new items will be imported
2025-01-17 19:08:23,396 INFO - ------------------------------
2025-01-17 19:08:23,396 INFO - Finished Importing : Components
2025-01-17 19:08:23,396 INFO - ------------------------------
2025-01-17 19:08:23,403 INFO - Retrieving custom fields...
2025-01-17 19:08:23,409 INFO - ------------------------------
2025-01-17 19:08:23,409 INFO - Importing: Issues
2025-01-17 19:08:23,409 INFO - ------------------------------
2025-01-17 19:08:23,409 INFO - Only new items will be imported
2025-01-17 19:08:23,592 INFO - Importing issue: [externalId='1', summary='Contact Schema']
2025-01-17 19:08:24,101 WARN - Cannot add value [ [SNA-90] ] to CustomField Parent Link in Issue with summary 'Customizable Prefix and Suffix Options'. Probably value was in incorrect format
2025-01-17 19:08:24,106 INFO - Importing issue: [externalId='2', summary='Customizable Prefix and Suffix Options']
2025-01-17 19:08:24,432 INFO - 2 issues successfully created
2025-01-17 19:08:24,432 INFO - 0 out of 2 issues successfully updated
2025-01-17 19:08:24,436 INFO - ------------------------------
2025-01-17 19:08:24,436 INFO - Finished Importing : Issues
2025-01-17 19:08:24,436 INFO - ------------------------------
2025-01-17 19:08:24,452 INFO - ------------------------------
2025-01-17 19:08:24,452 INFO - Importing: Issue Links & Subtasks
2025-01-17 19:08:24,452 INFO - ------------------------------
2025-01-17 19:08:24,452 INFO - Only new items will be imported
2025-01-17 19:08:24,456 INFO - ------------------------------
2025-01-17 19:08:24,456 INFO - Finished Importing : Issue Links & Subtasks
2025-01-17 19:08:24,456 INFO - ------------------------------
2025-01-17 19:08:24,457 INFO - ------------------------------
2025-01-17 19:08:24,457 INFO - Importing: Issue remote links
2025-01-17 19:08:24,457 INFO - ------------------------------
2025-01-17 19:08:24,457 INFO - Only new items will be imported
2025-01-17 19:08:24,460 INFO - ------------------------------
2025-01-17 19:08:24,460 INFO - Finished Importing : Issue remote links
2025-01-17 19:08:24,460 INFO - ------------------------------

[Akash Singh]

It seems that this issue requires further investigation. Without direct access to your instance, it’s challenging to identify the root cause of the error.

I recommend contacting Atlassian Support for assistance. You can provide them with the CSV file you’re using to help troubleshoot the issue more effectively.

You can reach Atlassian Support via this link: https://support.atlassian.com/contact/#/

[Sarah Prouse]

I am getting the same problem.  Import file is correct, heirachy is correct.  It will not link to Parent.