Copy values between two custom fields with Jira Cloud automation rules

Summary

If you're trying to copy the content of 1 text field (Field A) into another text field (Field B), you can accomplish this using a Jira automation rule. The same methods can also be used with most other field types, including number fields, and user picker fields.

Solution

Use the Copy From action in automation

1. Navigate to either your desired project, or the Global automation page in Jira

2. Create a new automation rule

3. Add the Edit Issue action to the rule

4. Select the Field that needs to be set ("Field B" in our example)

5. Select ...(More options) > Copy from...

6. Issue to copy value from: "Current Issue"

7. Field to copy value from: select the source field ("Field A" in our example)

If the field isn't directly available, use Smart Values

Some fields, like the Original Story Points field, aren't directly supported by Automation, and won't appear in the Copy from dialog in the rule editor.

We can still copy data from these fields, but we'll leverage Smart Values to do so. Let's build a rule to copy Original Story Points into the Story Points field:

1. Navigate to either your desired project, or the Global automation page in Jira

2. Create a new automation rule

3. Add the Edit Issue action to the automation rule

4. Select the Field that needs to be set ("Story Points" for example)

5. Copy and paste the string below into the field

Keep in mind, you can also change the Original Story Points field in the Smart Value to other fields that aren't directly available in the Automation editor.

Use JSON object in Automation rules

If you wish to use a JSON formula to perform the field copy via the Additional fields section, you can follow these steps.

1. Add the Edit Issue action

2. Do not select any fields

3. Instead, expand the More Options setting

4. Copy the JSON formula below into the Additional fields section

   1. Make sure to change "Target Field" with the name of the target field of your choice, and "Source Field" with the name of the source field of your choice.

Note: Inserting JSON objects will only work with basic field types such as the Text and Number types. If you are looking into using a JSON formula to copy array-type fields such as Multi-User picker or Multi-Option fields, you will need to use a different syntax.

The solutions that apply to these types of fields are described in the articles below:

• Update multi-user picker fields

• Update select fields (multiple choices)