How do I update Epic status when issue status in other project changes?

[Steven Johnson]

I am trying to change an Epic status to "Started" when any story that it's linked to changes to "In Progress". I can get this to work when the Epic and related stories are within the same project, but it does not work when the Epic is in another project. I have added a screenshot of the rule that works with the Epic and Story in the same project, but does not work for my current situation.

[Bill Sheboy · Accepted solution]

Hi @Steven Johnson -- Welcome to the Atlassian Community!

What is the scope of your rule: project or global/multi-project?  I believe this needs to be global/multi-project for your use case.

Kind regards,
Bill

[Trudy Claspill]

I concur. To be able to affect multiple projects in a single rule the rule must be scoped for global/multi-project use. Project Administrators will not be able put a rule in that scope. That will require assistance from a Jira Administrator.

[Steven Johnson]

Please forgive me if I ask some pretty elementary questions, I'm pretty new to both Automation and Jira as well. I have not had any training, so I use google and usually this forum to find answers to questions that I have. 

So are global rules going to be rules that would run for all projects in an enterprise? I do only have rules at the project level and think I only have rights at that level. There are 3 projects that we use at my level, which are the only 3 we would want to affect. So is there a way to do that without creating a global rule or is that the only way?

Thanks!

Steve

[Trudy Claspill]

A global/multi-project rule can be set to run against all projects or specified projects, so it could be set to run against only the two project where the epics and child issues exist.

However, as I said, only a Jira Admin will be able to create a rule of that scope. You will have to work with a Jira Admin for your instance, if you are not such a one, to get the rule scope changed.

Note that such rules do count against a limit that is set per the Plan/Subscription for your instance, so your Jira Admin might push back on allowing it.

[Steven Johnson]

I think I would understand this a little better if I haven't already created a rule in one project that creates an issue in another project, so it's still a little confusing to me. I'm sure there's a logical reason for that, but I'm just not clear on that.

I do not have global admin rights, just admin rights to the three projects we work on. I have created a rule in one projects that when a story is marked "Done", it creates a story/issue in one of the other projects. Could you please explain how I can do that and not have a rule that changes the status of an issue in one project when the other issue changes?

The rule that created one issue in a different project did give me the option to choose a project to create an issue in, but there was no option like that to transition an issue.

[Trudy Claspill]

Let us back up a moment. Maybe we have gone down the wrong path.

When a rule runs it adds to its Audit Log. When you try this rule with an Epic and child issue in different projects, what are you getting in the audit log? If there is no entry, then the rule is not being triggered at all and you need to look at the trigger information to figure out why.

If the rule is getting triggered but not yielding the expected results, then the audit log should contain some information that helps diagnose the problem.

So, please try to transition an issue where the parent is in a different project, and show us/review the output generated in the Audit Log for the rule.

In case you didn't notice, the Audit Log link is on the left above the flow diagram for the rule.

[Steven Johnson]

There is no triggering happening at all. Just the config changes and "no actions performed". So I think I may understand the difference in working between my projects and why the one did work. The issue and rule were in the same project that created an issue in another project, so that issue never ran a rule in the other project. This one is a rule in the one project that I need triggered by an issue change in another project, so the "no actions performed" in the audit log specifies "This rule was configured with a project restriction. You can change this restriction in the 'Rule details' section. Only issues from the following projects or project types will be considered: PZPZF" So it's not being triggered.

I did have a sort of work-around for my other rule though, that did work, because although the issue and rule were in the same project and it created an issue in a different project, the creation of a new issue was something that I used to trigger another rule in that other project, so I was able to indirectly trigger a rule in a different project, I just can't do it directly.

[Trudy Claspill]

@Steven Johnson 

Are there outstanding questions remaining to be answered? If so, can you list them out?

[Steven Johnson]

I don't think so for this question, so thank you for the replies! It has helped me to better understand the complexities of working with Jira and automation. I do have more questions, but not about this exact subject, so I will post them as separate questions so that they can be retrieved easier in the future, for anyone that might have the same question.

Thanks again!

Steve

[Petter Gonçalves]

Hello @Steven Johnson

Thank you for reaching out.

The limitation you are facing happens because your automation rule is restricted to a single project - Where the trigger issue is transitioned.

In order to change the scope of the rule to include more projects, you can follow the steps below:

1. Navigate to the same automation screen you took the screenshot from
2. Click on Rule details
3. Click to change the scope of the rule, selecting the projects you want
4. Click to save your changes

P.S: Depending on the menu you are in, you may see the following warning for the scope field on the Rule details page:

"The scope can only be modified in the global administration."

In that case, click on the link "Global Administration" to properly change the scope of your rule and include more projects.

Let us know if you have any questions.

[Steven Johnson]

I do not have the ability to change the scope, which is probably because, like they mentioned above, I don't have global admin rights. I'll have to look into that further to see if that's even an option.