How to create Jira automation rules for issue management

How to Create Jira Automation Rules

Jira automation rules reduce manual issue management by automatically transitioning, assigning, commenting, and notifying based on triggers. As of April 2026, automation is available on all Jira Cloud plans with varying execution limits.

Step 1: Access Automation

Go to Project Settings > Automation (for project-level rules) or Jira Settings > System > Global automation (for cross-project rules). Click "Create rule."

Step 2: Select a Trigger

Common triggers:

• Issue created — New issue is filed
• Issue transitioned — Issue moves between statuses
• Field value changed — Priority, assignee, or custom field updates
• Scheduled — Run on a cron schedule
• Manual trigger — Button click in issue view
• Version released — A fix version is marked as released

Step 3: Add Conditions

Conditions filter which issues the rule applies to:

• Issue fields condition — Check issue type, priority, labels, or components
• JQL condition — Filter using JQL queries for advanced matching
• User condition — Check if the current user matches a role or group

Step 4: Define Actions

Available actions:

• Transition issue — Move to a different status
• Assign issue — Set or change the assignee
• Edit issue fields — Update priority, labels, components, custom fields
• Add comment — Post an automated comment
• Send email — Notify specific users or groups
• Create sub-task — Generate linked sub-tasks automatically
• Send web request — HTTP call to external APIs
• Log action — Write to the automation audit log

Step 5: Use Branching

Add "If/else" blocks to handle different scenarios. Example: If priority is "Critical," assign to the on-call engineer and send a Slack notification. If priority is "Low," add to the backlog and assign to the next sprint.

Practical Example: Sprint Hygiene

• Rule 1: Scheduled weekly — Find all issues in "In Progress" with no activity for 7+ days → Add comment "This issue has been inactive for 7 days. Please update or move to backlog." → Mention assignee
• Rule 2: When sprint ends — All incomplete issues → Transition to "To Do" → Move to next sprint → Add label "carried-over"
• Rule 3: When issue created with priority "Critical" → Assign to on-call engineer (from custom field) → Send Slack notification → Set due date to today

Usage Limits (April 2026)

• Free: 100 rule executions/month
• Standard ($8.15/user/month): 500 rule executions/month
• Premium ($16/user/month): 1,000 rule executions/month
• Enterprise: Unlimited