Comments from emails are added as internal on the customer portal
Platform Notice: Data Center - This article applies to Atlassian products on the Data Center platform.
Note that this knowledge base article was created for the Data Center version of the product. Data Center knowledge base articles for non-Data Center-specific features may also work for Server versions of the product, however they have not been tested. Support for Server* products ended on February 15th 2024. If you are running a Server product, you can visit the Atlassian Server end of support announcement to review your migration options.
*Except Fisheye and Crucible
Summary
Comments made by reporter or request participants via email are added as internal on the customer portal.
Environment
Jira Service Management 4.x.x, 5.x.x
Cause
A Jira Core incoming mail handler is being used by the Service Management project. As described also in this bug, Jira Service Management interprets all comments as internal unless:
- they were created in the Customer Portal
- they were created in reply to an email notification by the reporter / a participant / an agent, and processed by the Service Management mail handler (Email channel)
- an agent made a comment in Jira and selected the "respond to customer" (external) option
- an agent changes any comment from internal to external by editing it in Jira
- they were created before an existing Jira project was converted into a Service Management project
To summarize, the collaborators (non-agent Jira users) are not allowed to make public comments, unless they are acting as a customer (are the reporter or a request participant) and communicating in the Customer Portal or via email with Service Management incoming mail handler (Email Channel).
We have a suggestion request raised to be able to have public comments in Jira Core's mail handler that you can follow and cast a vote on:
Solution
If you would like to create issues and comments in Jira Service Management projects, it is recommended to use a Service Management mail handler rather than a Jira Core incoming mail handler.
Note that with this option you will need to have one separate email address per Service Management project.