Route Incoming Requests Using Custom Mail Handler Aliases in Jira Cloud

Summary

Learn how to configure a custom mail handler in Jira Service Management to efficiently route work items using email aliases.

Solution

How does it work?

With a custom mail handler configured, Jira will periodically access the account's Inbox searching for new emails to process and create work items. For instance, let's assume that you have support@yourdomain.com as the project's mail handler:

1. Jira accesses the account's mailbox and sees unread emails.

2. For each unread email, Jira will process that email.

3. When applicable, Jira will update existing work items.

4. Otherwise, Jira creates a new work item and:

   1. Adds the Sender address as the Reporter.

   2. Adds email addresses other than support@yourdomain.com it finds as Request Participants.

The Automation

The automation itself is quite simple:

1. WHEN: The Work item is created.

   1. A different trigger can also be used: the "Work item Updated" trigger, checking specifically for changes in the Request Participant field.

2. IF: support-alias@yourdomain.com is a Request Participant

3. THEN: route the work item to the appropriate team.

Why the Re-fetch?

Because Jira creates work items from emails, it will first create the work item (and trigger the automation) and then add the addresses it finds on the email as Request Participants. Because the automation caches the work item on the trigger, it may not contain the Request Participants yet. By adding the Re-fetch action, we're refreshing the automation cache, allowing it to see the Request Participants properly.

Unfortunately, a single Re-fetch may not be enough, so if you see cases where the automation is not finding the Request Participants properly, we'd advise you to add more Re-fetches (as they also act as a small delay in the automation).

Issues with Microsoft 365/Exchange

If the setup above is not adding the proper alias as a Request Participant, it may be due to the Exchange Mail Flow settings. Please access Exchange Admin Center > Settings > Mail flow and check the "Turn on sending from aliases" setting. With this setting enabled, Exchange should send emails as-is, which will allow Jira to properly identify the alias on new incoming emails.