Purpose

The purpose of this article is to show how to change the default renderer (Select List Renderer) on a Multi-Select Custom Field to use the Autocomplete Renderer without changing Jira's source code. This can be done by adding JavaScript to the custom field's description.

This document will give you more details on how to work with Custom Fields in Jira. 

Possible Solutions

Solution 1

As per JRASERVER-23013, the multi select custom field renderer can be switched to one similar to the labels picker. To enable this feature, add the dark feature: multiselect.frother.renderer

For how to enable dark feature, please refer How to manage dark features in Jira

Solution 2

1. Go to Administration > Issues > Custom Fields;
2. Create a Custom Field of type "Select List (multiple choices)".
3. Click on the 'cog' icon on the right side of the newly-created custom field and click Edit;

4. Add the below code to the Description field and click Update;

   <script type="text/javascript">
   (function($) {
       AJS.$("#customfield_<cf-id> option[value='-1']").remove(); //Removes the default value "None"
       function convertMulti(id){
           if (AJS.$('#'+id+"-textarea").length == 0){
               new AJS.MultiSelect({
                   element: $("#"+id),
                   itemAttrDisplayed: "label",
                   errorMessage: AJS.params.multiselectComponentsError
               });
           }
       }
     
       AJS.toInit(function(){ 
           convertMulti("customfield_<cf-id>");
       })
     
       JIRA.bind(JIRA.Events.NEW_CONTENT_ADDED, function (e, context) {
           AJS.$("#customfield_<cf-id> option[value='-1']").remove();
           convertMulti("customfield_<cf-id>");
       });
   })(AJS.$);
   </script>

   Replace <cf-id> with the ID of the custom field you're modifying. You can get this information by running the below query on Jira's database. For example, if the ID is 10100, you'll have to change customfield_<cf-id> to customfield_10100.

   SELECT id FROM customfield WHERE cfname = '<cf-name>';

   Replace <cf-name> with the name of the custom field you're modifying.

   This script is verified to still work in Jira 8.20.10