use changelog of a customfield in an E-Mail where fields are updated by jira automation

[markus_neuwald_canon_at]

I’m working with several custom fields in Jira, all of which use the Datepicker field type:

• Übergabedatum → ID: cf12085
• UAT Due → ID: cf11921
• Contract Start → ID: cf11920

Automation Rule:
When a user updates the Übergabedatum field and the new date is later than the current UAT Due, Jira Automation updates both UAT Due and Contract Start accordingly.

This part works perfectly.

Issue:
After the update, an email should be sent that includes both the previous and new values of all three fields.

In the Jira Cloud issue history, all changes are correctly logged:

• Übergabedatum → changed by user (from date → to date)
• UAT Due → changed by Jira Automation (from date → to date)
• Contract Start → changed by Jira Automation (from date → to date)

However:
In the email body, only the change made by the user to Übergabedatum is included.
It seems that the smart value {{changelog}} only captures the user-initiated change, and not the ones made by the automation rule.

---

Question:
Is there a way to access all field changes, including those made by automation, and display them separately in the email body — ideally showing both the old and new values?

The screenshots show what i found in web, Ai, etc and tried.

• 1.png -> the rule and tried smartvlaues in the E-Mail Body 
• 2.png -> how the E-Mail looks like i receive.
• 3.png -> the history view in JIRA.

[Bill Sheboy · Accepted solution]

Hi @markus_neuwald_canon_at 

You are correct that the {{changelog}} smart value, when accurate, only contains information about the fields which changed for the specific rule's trigger.

To do what you ask, a rule could:

• use the Create Variable action to save the previous (or current values)
• make the changes
• re-fetch the data
• and then report the differences using both the previous and now updated

And, please experiment to confirm the {{changelog}} actually shows the prior value for your field(s), such as with:

{{#changelog.yourField}}{{fromString}}{{/}}

And after editing the work item, add the Re-fetch Work Item Data action to refresh the data the rule has from the cloud in order to provide the current values.

Kind regards,
Bill

[markus_neuwald_canon_at]

Hi Bill,

thank you for your reply - it works, and i confirm

{{#changelog.Übergabedatum}}{{fromString}}{{/}}

shows the value.

But how can i format the date for this value?

Kind regards,

Markus

[markus_neuwald_canon_at]

Hi Bill,

found it.

{{fieldChange.fromString.toDate.format("dd.MM.yyyy")}}

thank you

Markus