Updating a ticket when the status of a Jira issue changes

Jira can automatically update a Zendesk ticket linked to a Jira issue when the status of the issue changes in a Jira workflow.

This functionality requires the Jira Cloud integration, also known as v4. See Setting up Zendesk for Jira Cloud integration. The integration does not currently support on-premise Jira installations.

A Jira workflow is the set of statuses and transitions that an issue goes through during its lifecycle. See in the Atlassian docs for details. You can configure a workflow to automatically update a linked ticket after a Jira issue moves from one status to another in the workflow.

For example, after an engineer changes the Jira workflow status of an issue from "in progress" to "done" (or whatever you name your workflow statuses), Jira can automatically add an internal note to the linked Zendesk ticket notifying the agent. The agent can then notify the customer.

Jira can also give the agent an automatic heads-up that a developer is now working on an issue by adding an internal note to the ticket after the engineer changes the workflow status of the issue from "to do" to "in progress."

Understanding how the ticket updates work

Zendesk tickets are updated from Jira workflows using post functions. Post functions are a Jira workflow feature used to carry out additional processing after a workflow transition is executed. For example, a post function can update the issue's fields after a transition.

Post functions are added to workflow transitions, not statuses. They run after the transition is complete. Some post functions are essential and can't be deleted from a transition or reordered. However, you can insert optional post functions between them.

The Zendesk integration adds "Notify Zendesk Ticket" to the list of optional post functions in Jira.

For more information, see Post functions in the Atlassian docs.

Configuring a workflow to update tickets

1. In Jira, click the Admin (cog) icon on the left side panel, and select Issues.
2. On the Issues page, select Workflows from the left sidebar.

   

3. Locate the workflow used by engineers to address issues linked to Zendesk tickets and click Edit on the right side of the workflow.
   Note: Jira doesn't let you edit a live workflow. You must edit it in draft mode.
4. In the Transitions column, click the name of the transition you want to use to trigger ticket updates.

   

5. Click the Post Functions tab, and then click the Add Post Function link on the right side.

   

6. Select the Notify Zendesk Support post function from the list and click Add.
7. Configure the ticket update settings, then click Add.

   You can change the ticket status, add an internal or public comment, or add tags.

   

   Note: Deleting tags is not supported.

8. Click Publish Draft, then click Publish.

   It's a good idea to save a backup copy when prompted.

   Important: Your changes won't take effect until you publish the draft.

Changing the ticket update settings

You can change the settings at any time.

1. In Jira, click the Admin (cog) icon on the left side panel, and select Issues.
2. On the Issues page, select Workflows from the left sidebar.
3. Click Edit on the right side of the workflow containing the transition you want to edit.
4. Select the transition and click the Post Functions tab.
5. Click the Edit (pencil) icon on the right side of the post function that updates the ticket.
   Note: You can also delete the post function by clicking the delete (X) icon.
6. Make your changes then click Update.
7. Click Publish Draft, then click Publish.