Run a rule against issues in bulk
Rather than running a rule against each issue in a list, it is possible to treat the list as a single unit to process. This feature is usually used to provide summary information for a list of issues. For example, send out a weekly email with a list of issues returned by a JQL query.
Scheduled triggers with JQL
When using a scheduled trigger with JQL to provide a list of issues, there is an option to process issues in bulk:
Behavior
| Option checked | JQL returns | Behavior |
|---|---|---|
| Yes | 5 issues | the rule will only run once passing the list of issues through |
| Yes | 0 issues | the rule will still run once but there won't be any issues in context |
| No | 5 issues | the rule will run 5 times - once against each issue |
| No | 0 issues | the rule will not run |
Actions and conditions (components) that work on issues will still apply to each individual issue. I.e. the "Edit issue" action will edit each issue in the bulk processed list.
When branching, a branch will be created for each issue provided by the trigger, regardless of this option.
Conditions behave slightly differently when bulk processing tickets (via a trigger or a branch).
In this case, issues that do not match the condition will be filtered out. And, issues that do match will continue to flow through the rule.
Bulk handling of related issues
When branching on a list of issues you can also decide to process this list as a single unit, just like the scheduled trigger.
The behaviour of the sub-branch follows the same logic as described above for the scheduled trigger.
Smart value changes
The behaviour of the {{issue}} smart value changes when the bulk handling option is turned on.
| Smart value | Bulk handling behavior | Normal behavior |
|---|---|---|
| {{issue}} | Returns the first issue in the list of issues | Returns the issue in context |
| {{issues}} | Returns the list of issues. For more on lists, see working with lists | Does nothing |
Example: Sending an email with a list of issues
In this example we have a scheduled trigger with the "Bulk processing" option checked. Every week it will find all issues that were resolved during the previous week and send a single email to
all the assignees and Jira administrators containing a list of issues and links to them.
