Automation basics
Understand the general concepts and best practices of automation in Atlassian cloud products.
Convert usernames to account IDs
The following guidelines outline how to convert user smart values and JQL to user account IDs, to address recent changes to how user data are handled within Jira Cloud.
Converting user smart values
What will break after 29 April 2019?
Any user system field (reporter, assignee, or customfield) that's using the following user properties may break or lead to undesirable results:
Default value (returns the username):
{{reporter}}
{{issue.assignee}}
{{issue.My user custom field}}
any other issue field containing users.
User key:
{{reporter.key}}
{{issue.watchers.key}}
{{issue.My user custom field.key}}
any other issue field containing users.
Username:
{{reporter.name}}
{{issue.creator.name}}
{{issue.My user custom field.name}}
any other issue field containing users.
For example if you had configured an Add comment action with the following comment body:
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Hi {{reporter.name}}, Please respond. Cheers AtlassianThis will currently render the username at runtime and produce:
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Hi johns, Please respond. Cheers AtlassianAfter 29 April 2019 this will now render:
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Hi 557058:5aedf933-2312-40bc-b328-0c21314167f0, Please respond. Cheers AtlassianConverting smart values
User smart values will operate in the following manner:
This will apply to all user fields.
Type | Example | Old value | New account id value (after 29th of April) |
|---|---|---|---|
Default | {{reporter}} | johns (username) | 557058:5aedf933-2312-40bc-b328-0c21314167f0 |
Username | {{reporter.name}} | johns | 557058:5aedf933-2312-40bc-b328-0c21314167f0 |
User key | {{reporter.key}} | johns (user key) | 557058:5aedf933-2312-40bc-b328-0c21314167f0 |
AccountId | {{reporter.accountId}} | 557058:5aedf933-2312-40bc-b328-0c21314167f0 | 557058:5aedf933-2312-40bc-b328-0c21314167f0 |
Display name | {{reporter.displayName}} | John Smith | John Smith |
Depending on their usage, existing smart values can be converted in different ways.
Incorrect usage of usernames
Smart values should use the user’s full name, not user names (default value or .name)
These should be changed to:
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{{reporter.name}} - INCORRECT: This returns the user's username, not full name
{{reporter.displayName}} - CORRECT: renders the user's full name: John Smith
{{reporter.displayName.split(" ").first}} - CORRECT: renders the user's first name: JohnIf you need to uniquely identify the user for an API call, for example, in JQL searches, advanced JSON under More options, or an outgoing webhook, use:
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{{reporter.accountId}}Mentions in wiki markup
Mentions in wiki markup should also be converted:
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Hi [~{{assignee}}] - INCORRECT
Hi [~accountid:{{assignee.accountId}}] - CORRECTAdvanced field values (JSON)
Referencing user fields (reporter, assignee, etc.) now requires the property "id" to be set with a user's account ID rather than using "name".
These values should be converted as follows:
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// INCORRECT: This will stop working since {{initiator.name}} will no longer
return usernames
{
"fields": {
"assignee": { "name": "{{initiator.name}}" }
}
}1
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// CORRECT:
{
"fields": {
"assignee": { "id": "{{initiator.accountId}}" }
}
}Converting JQL
What will break after 29 April 2019?
Currently, it is possible to search for JQL containing usernames, for example:
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reporter = johns and assignee in (fred, barney)After 29 April 2019 these JQL searches will fail and will no longer return valid results. All username's will need to be replaced with their corresponding account IDs.
Converting JQL
Auto-Convert JQL
All stored JQL searches will be auto-converted to the new account ID-based format.
When this occurs, the example above will become:
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reporter = 557058:5aedf933-2312-40bc-b328-0c21314167f0 and
assignee in (5c00beb62434bf3a1a91d5d6, 123123adfafcadfd6)However, you can no longer identify the users in the JQL string. Entering a query like this can also be difficult.
To address this, the following controls can help when entering and reading JQL queries.
Inserting an account Id:
Resolving users in existing JQL:
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