Automation For Jira - How to create a rule that adds to the watcher list of an issue the members of a project role

Summary

This article describes how to create an Automation Rule using the add-on Automation For Jira (for Jira Server/Data Center) that automatically adds the members of a project role to the watching list of a Jira issue.

As explained in the feature request https://jira.atlassian.com/browse/JIRAAUTOSERVER-826, the Manage Watchers action has some limitations:

• It is only possible to add watchers by:

  • either listing specific users

  • or copying users from a user picker field via a smart value

• However, it is not possible to add to the watcher list:

  • users that belong to a group

  • users that belong to a project role

This article provides some suggestions on how to work around such limitation.

Solution

Let's assume that you are trying to configure a rule that:

• is triggered when a new Jira issue is created

• automatically adds the members of the Developers role, if the assignee is also part of this role

There are 2 ways to implement an automation rule that will work for this use case:

• 1 way without using the paid 3rd party add-on ScriptRunner for Jira

  • This method is supported by Atlassian

• 1 way using the paid 3rd party add-on ScriptRunner for Jira

  • This method is not supported by Atlassian

Solution 1 - Without the ScriptRunner add-on

Preliminary steps

Creating a new Custom Field

• Go to ⚙ > Issues > Custom Fields

• Create a new field of type User Picker (multiple user)

• Make sure that

  • The field context is configured so that the field is available in the project where you wish to configure the rule

  • The field is added to the Edit Issue Screen used by all the issue types in the project where you wish to configure the rule

Getting the project Role ID

• Open the URL below in a new tab of the browser, while making sure that you are already logged into Jira as an Admin User, after replacing <JIRA_BASE_URL> with the Jira Base URL, and <PROJECT_KEY> with the project key:

• Check the output, and get the ID located at the end of the URL next to the role you are interested in

  • In the example below, the ID is 10102 for the Developers role

Creating a PAT (Personal Access Token)

• Create a Personal Access token by:

• Going to your user profile (by clicking on your avatar)

• Clicking on the Personal Access Tokens menu

Rule configuration

The rule needs to be configured as follows:

• Add the trigger Issue Created

• Add the User Condition with the parameters below

  • User

    : Assignee

  • Check to perform

    : is in role

  • Criteria

    : Choose the role of your choice (for example: Developers)

• Add the Send Web Request action with the parameters below:

  • Webhook URL: copy the URL below after replacing replacing <JIRA_BASE_URL> with the Jira Base URL, <PROJECT_KEY> with the project key, and <ROLE_ID> with the ID identified in the preliminary steps:

• Headers: Add 1 header as follows, after replacing <PAT> with the Personal Access Token generated during the preliminary steps:

  • Name: Authorization

  • Value: Bearer <PAT>

• HTTP Method: GET

• Wait for response: Tick this option.

  Ticking this option is necessary for the rule to work properly.

• Add the Edit Issue action with the parameters below

  • Choose fields to set...

    : Select the multi-user picker field created during the preliminary steps

  • Value: copy the smart value below:

• Add the Re-fetch issue data action

  • This action is necessary for the rule to work because it will re-load the new value of the multi-user picker field

• Add the Manage Watchers action with the parameters below

  • Add these watchers

    • Add the smart value below, after replacing <MULTI_USER_PICKER_FIELD_NAME> with the name of the field created during the preliminary steps

• For example, if the field name is

Screenshot showing the rule

Solution 2 - With the ScriptRunner add-on

NOTE: Atlassian does not support this solution, as it involves using the third-party add-on ScriptRunner for Jira. It is only provided as is in this KB article.

Rule configuration

• Add the Issue Created trigger

• Add the User Condition with the parameters below

  • User: Assignee

  • Check to perform: is in role

  • Criteria: Choose the role of your choice (for example: Developers)

• Add the Execute a ScriptRunner script action with the code snippet below, and after replacing <PROJECT_ROLE> with the name of the project role:

Screenshot showing the rule