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Info

This is the JSU for Jira Cloud documentation. If you are using JSU on Jira Server or on Jira Data Center, see our JSU Server/Data Center documentation.

Description

The ‘Follow Up Transition’ post function evaluates the workflow conditions of all the next transitions on the target status of the current transition. If exactly one condition is valid, that transition will be triggered as a follow-up.

Configuration

The ‘Follow Up Transition’ post function does not have any additional parameters to configure; however, you must have a least one workflow condition configured.

Consider the following workflow:

An example Jira workflow that includes a junction status that leads to three different follow-up transitions depending on the condition that is met.Image RemovedAn example Jira workflow that includes a junction status that leads to three different follow-up transitions depending on the condition that is met.Image Added
  • Our issue has a mandatory number custom field.

  • At the end of the Go transition, we have configured a ‘Follow Up’ Transition post function.

  • Each transition leading away from the status

    Status
    colourYellow
    titlejunction
    has a workflow condition:

    • 'Under Five' has the condition: Number field < 5?

    • 'Exactly Five' has the condition: Number field == 5?

    • 'Over Five' has the condition: Number field > 5?

  • When the user performs the Go transition, this will always trigger a follow-up transition.

For example, if the user enters Number=3 during the Go transition, this leads to the

Status
colourYellow
titlein progress
status. If they enter 42, this leads to
Status
colourGreen
titleclosed
.

We have been careful to configure our workflow conditions so that always exactly only one condition can be true. This way, the user will never be stuck at the

Status
colourYellow
titlejunction
status.

Conditions

Let's continue the example from above, where a number field is evaluated. We will configure three conditions; one for each outgoing transition from the

Status
colourYellow
titlejunction
status.

Under Five

The Under Five condition.Image RemovedThe Under Five condition.Image Added

Exactly Five

The Exactly Five condition.Image RemovedThe Exactly Five condition.Image Added

Over Five

The Over Five condition.Image RemovedThe Over Five condition.Image Added

Simple Yes / No example

A simpler use case is when you have only two transitions leading away, and you evaluate the same condition; one condition is negated.

  • a == b? 

You can use Jira’s Value Field conditions for this setup.

Example Jira workflow with a junction status with only one condition that determines the follow up transition.Image RemovedExample Jira workflow with a junction status with only one condition that determines the follow up transition.Image Added
  • Check it: Follow Up Transition post function

  • Yes: Condition a == b?

  • No: Condition a != b?

Fast forward example

Some extra steps in your workflow might only be necessary if a condition is not fulfilled. Otherwise, that step could be skipped.

Example Jira workflow that uses a condition to bypass a step.Image RemovedExample Jira workflow that uses a condition to bypass a step.Image Added

Management approval

See the Conditional Approval Process use case for another real-life example.

Tip

You can learn more about workflow conditions in Atlassian’s Configure Advanced Issue Workflows article.

Troubleshooting

Problem: Workflow is blocked at the Junction status

Cause: Not exactly one condition

Usually, the problem can be tracked down, by reviewing the expected outcome of the post function:
”If exactly one condition is valid, that transition will be triggered.”

Info

It's important that you do your analysis with the same user that encountered the problem. There might be issues with permissions that could lead to a different result, depending on the user performing the transition.

If you look at an issue blocked at the Junction status: How many transition buttons does it have? Only if there is exactly one transition button, 'Follow up' will be triggered. If you have none or more than one transition button, you must review your workflow conditions on the transitions leading out from the Junction status.

If there is only one button, there might be something wrong with that following transition. For example, a validator could prevent the transition from getting completed. Try (with the same user, who got stuck in Junction) to click that button to see what happens.

Cause: Triggered transition fails

Another reason might be that the triggered transition does not run through. For example, if it has a validator that fails.

Infinite Loop Detection

An infinite loop can occur when executing the Follow Up Transition post function. An infinite loop occurs when an automation rule results in an endless cycle of issue creation and follow-up transitions following the triggering of the origin issue. To help prevent this, consider the outcome of the rule and the user permissions of your project teams. When a loop is detected JSU will stop the execution and log an execution failure. Learn more about how JSU identifies an infinite loop in Infinite Loop Detection.