Automation for Jira reporting "Unknown fields set during edit, they may be unavailable for the project/type"

Summary

When executing an Automation Rule (using the Automation for Jira plugin), you may encounter a problem where A4J reports that the rule is completed with "Some Errors", and the following descriptions:

• "No fields or field values to edit for issues (could be due to some field values not existing in a given project):"

• "Unknown fields set during edit, they may be unavailable for the project/type. Check your custom field configuration. Fields ignored -"

  

In the application logs, you will also encounter:

atlassian-jira.log

Environment

Jira Data Center on any version from 9.0.0

Diagnosis

To figure out which of the above causes is our culprit here, we can follow the below steps:

Diagnosis for Root Cause 1

Confirm if the field and value are configured as they should using the following steps.

1. In Jira, go to Jira administration (gear icon) > Issues > Custom Fields.

2. Locate the affected field using the search.

3. At the Actions menu (...), select Configure.

4. On this page:

   1. Confirm that there's a Custom Field Context configured for the impacted project, or that there's one with the 'Global Context'.

   2. Verify if the issue type used on the automation is available in the appropriate Field Context, or if it is also set with 'Global Context'.

   3. Verify if the value you are trying to select is available in the appropriate context (this is only applicable if you are using a field with pre-set values).

Diagnosis for Root Cause 2

If you confirmed that the custom field and its values are all configured as they should, but you are still seeing errors when using the automation, it's time to verify if the Actor for the affected automation rule may not have sufficient permissions to perform the update with the Permission Helper tool.

1. Access an affected issue.

2. Click on the 'Admin' drop-down menu on the issue context.

3. Choose 'Permission helper'.

4. Fill out the form as:

   • User: <Actor for your Rule>

   • Permission: "Edit Issues"

5. Click on submit.

Diagnosis for Root Cause 3

As explained in Workflow Properties, properties can be added to specific statuses of the workflow to prevent users from editing the issue.

To check if this root cause is relevant:

• Take note of the workflow status of the Jira issue that the rule failed to edit

• Edit the workflow associated to this issue and switch to the diagram view

• Click on the status and check it's properties

• If you see property keys related to issue editing, such as jira.permission.edit.user or jira.permission.edit.denied as illustrated below, then this root cause is relevant:

Cause

Root Cause 1 - Field/value not available

As the error messages suggest, the most likely cause for this issue is that either the field we're trying to edit, or the value we're trying to input are not available for the project to which the issue belongs to.

Root Cause 2 - Lack of permissions due to the Project Permission Scheme

Another possible cause is the fact that the Actor for the affected automation rule does not have permission to edit the affected issue due to the Permission Scheme associated to the project.

Root Cause 3 - Lack of permissions due to properties added to specific statuses in the workflow configuration

Another possible cause is the fact that the Actor for the affected automation rule does not have permission to edit the affected issue due to some properties used in the Workflow configuration which are preventing all of some users from editing issues that are in a specific status.

Solution

Adjust the field/permissions/workflow settings as per the Diagnostics section, in order to ensure that the field and values are available for the project you want to use them on and that the rule actor has the necessary permissions to edit the issue.

For additional guidance on the required steps you may refer to:

• Configuring custom field contexts

• Managing project permissions

• Workflow Properties