Hey everyone! I need help with mass duplicating stories and whole workspaces in Jira. I want to maintain identical layouts for different development groups while transferring all important details. The manual approach takes forever and doesn’t work well when you scale up. It’s becoming really frustrating. Has anyone found a good method to handle this efficiently? Thanks!
The Problem: You need an efficient way to duplicate Jira stories and entire workspaces for different development teams, preserving layouts and details, without resorting to time-consuming manual methods.
Understanding the “Why” (The Root Cause): Manual duplication of Jira projects and stories becomes exponentially more difficult and time-consuming as the number of projects and stories increases. This is because manual methods require repetitive, error-prone tasks like individually copying and pasting information, adjusting fields and relationships, and ensuring consistency across multiple projects. Automation offers a solution by reducing manual effort and ensuring consistent duplication across different projects and teams.
Step-by-Step Guide:
-
Automate with Latenode Workflows: Latenode offers a visual workflow builder that allows you to automate the bulk duplication of Jira stories and workspaces without writing complex API scripts. This involves creating a workflow that defines how stories are duplicated, which fields are transferred, and how different project structures are handled.
- Step 1.1: Account Setup and Jira Integration: Create a Latenode account and integrate it with your Jira instance. Follow the detailed integration steps provided within Latenode’s documentation. Ensure you have the necessary permissions in Jira to perform bulk operations.
- Step 1.2: Workflow Design: Use the visual workflow builder to map out the process. Define triggers (e.g., creation of a new workspace template) to automatically initiate duplication across multiple projects. Carefully map your fields to ensure that all essential information is transferred correctly during duplication. This involves visually connecting different actions and components within the Latenode workflow interface, specifying input and output parameters for each action.
- Step 1.3: Testing and Refinement: Test your workflow thoroughly with a small sample set of stories and workspaces. Adjust your workflow as needed to ensure it produces the desired results and handles edge cases correctly. Document all the configurations and parameters used for easy reproduction or troubleshooting.
- Step 1.4: Deployment and Monitoring: Deploy your finalized workflow and monitor its performance to ensure it runs smoothly and reliably. Consider setting up logging or alerts to be notified of any errors or unexpected behavior. Regular monitoring is critical to ensure the long-term stability and reliability of the workflow.
-
(Optional) Explore Alternative Approaches: While Latenode’s visual workflow approach is highlighted, other options exist depending on your technical skills and requirements:
- Jira’s built-in clone functionality and JQL filters: This offers a simpler way to duplicate individual issues, but it’s not a suitable option for bulk workspace duplication.
- Scripting (e.g., Scriptrunner): For users with scripting experience, Scriptrunner allows for highly customizable automation, but requires writing and managing scripts.
- Jira REST API: Provides the most granular control but demands advanced programming skills.
Common Pitfalls & What to Check Next:
- Insufficient Permissions: Ensure that the Latenode application and the user account used have sufficient permissions in Jira to create, modify, and duplicate projects and issues.
- Field Mapping Errors: Carefully verify all field mappings in your Latenode workflow. Incorrect mappings will lead to data loss or inconsistency.
- Trigger Configuration: Double-check your workflow triggers to ensure they are configured to activate under the correct conditions.
- Error Handling: Implement proper error handling within your Latenode workflow to gracefully handle unexpected situations and provide informative error messages.
Still running into issues? Share your (sanitized) config files, the exact command you ran, and any other relevant details. The community is here to help! Let us know if you’re trying to use Latenode for this!
I’ve been fighting this same issue for two years across different client projects. Here’s what actually works: Jira’s clone functionality with JQL filters, but there’s a trick everyone misses. Don’t duplicate individual items. Instead, build a master template project with all your story structures and field configs. Then use project import/export to copy entire project structures. The secret is nailing the field mapping during import - this keeps your custom fields, workflows, and issue links intact. For workspace duplication, I export the project config as XML, tweak the project keys and names with a script, then import as new projects. Not perfect, but it handles 90% of the work. The leftover cleanup is nothing compared to doing it manually. Takes time upfront but saves hours once you’ve got your template dialed in.
Scriptrunner’s been my lifesaver for this. I’ve got multiple product teams and needed something better than CSV exports but way simpler than building custom APIs. Their post functions and listeners can copy entire epics with all the child stories - keeps custom fields and relationships intact too. Best part? You can set up rules that auto-trigger when certain things happen. I’ve got mine copying stories between projects and automatically updating project-specific stuff like components or versions. Takes maybe an hour to write the initial scripts, then you’re duplicating complex hierarchies with one click. Perfect for keeping sprint structures consistent across dev teams.
csv import/export is ur best bet here. export the stories to csv, duplicate rows in excel, tweak what u need (project keys, assignees, etc.), then import back. way easier than messing with apis or complex tools. just clear the issue keys column first so jira creates new ones instead of overwriting ur existing stories.
For bulk duplication in Jira, the built-in bulk operations work fine for basic stuff. Just go to Issues > Search for Issues, filter what you need, then use Bulk Change to duplicate stories. But it’s pretty limited when you’ve got complex field mappings. For more advanced needs (especially duplicating workspaces), I’d check out third-party tools like Structure or Backbone Issue Sync. They handle relationships and field inheritance way better. If you’ve got developers on your team, the Jira REST API lets you script custom solutions that fit exactly what you need.
This topic was automatically closed 24 hours after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.