Stop Sub-tasks from being parented to Epics with Jira Cloud Automation

Summary

As per the Atlassian Community announcement, Jira’s user interface (UI) now restricts creating Sub-tasks directly under Epics. However, loopholes remain: Sub-tasks can still end up under Epics via parent field updates, cloning, or automation

A Jira Automation rule can be set up to monitor when a Sub-task’s parent is set to an Epic. If this happens, the rule automatically reverts the parent to its previous value, keeping the hierarchy clean and consistent. This automation ensures that if someone tries to change a subtask’s parent to an Epic, which is not supported in Jira, the change is automatically reverted and a comment is added to explain why.

Solution

The steps below walk through setting up an Automation rule that does the following:

• Runs whenever a sub-task’s parent is changed

• Checks if the new parent is an Epic

• If so, it reverts the change and adds a comment to explain why

Step 1: Go to Project Automation

1. Open your Jira project

2. In the left sidebar, select Project settings > Automation

Step 2: Create a New Rule

1. Select Create rule (or Add rule)

2. Choose Custom rule (or Blank rule)

Step 3: Set the Trigger

1. Select Add trigger

2. Select Field value changed

3. In the Field dropdown, select Parent

4. Under Change type, select Value added

Step 4: Add a Condition – Only for Subtasks

1. Select New condition

2. Select Issue fields condition

3. Set Field to Issue type

4. Set Condition to Is one of

5. Set Value to Sub-task (or your subtask type name)

Step 5: Lookup the New Parent Issue

1. Select New action

2. Select Lookup issues

3. In the JQL field, enter: issue in ({{triggerIssue.parent.key}})

Step 6: Condition – Is the New Parent an Epic?

1. Select New condition

2. Select Advanced compare condition (or Compare two values)

3. For First value, enter: {lookupIssues.issuetype.name}

4. For Condition, select equals

5. For Second value enter: Epic

Step 7: Lookup the Previous Parent Issue

1. Select New action

2. Select Lookup issues

3. In the JQL field, enter: issue in ({{fieldChange.fromString}})

Step 8: Revert the Parent Change

1. Select New action

2. Select Edit issue

3. For Field, choose Parent

4. Set the value to: fieldChange.fromString

Step 9: Add a Comment Explaining the Revert

1. Select New action

2. Select Add comment

3. Enter the comment text, for example:

   • Hey [~\\\\{{initiator.accountId}}],The parent value has been changed back to the previous value as reparenting a sub-task to an Epic directly is not recommended in Jira.

Step 10: Name, Save, and Enable the Rule

1. Select the rule name at the top and give it a meaningful name, for example: Prevent Subtask Reparenting to Epic

2. Select Turn it on or Enable