What are smart values in Jira Automation?

Smart values are placeholders you write inside double curly braces that Jira replaces with real data when an automation rule runs. {{issue.key}} becomes PROJ-123, {{issue.assignee.displayName}} becomes the assignee's name. They're what turns a fixed rule into one that produces different output per issue — most often in the body of an email or comment the rule sends.

Why is my smart value showing as blank or literal text?

Three usual causes. The field is genuinely empty on that issue, so there's nothing to substitute. The path is wrong — {{issue.assignee}} renders an object rather than a name, where {{issue.assignee.displayName}} renders the name. Or the value isn't available to that trigger: a rule fired by a scheduled trigger without a JQL search has no single issue in context, so issue-scoped values have nothing to resolve against.

How do I loop over a list of issues in a Jira Automation rule?

Wrap the repeated part in {{#list}}...{{/}} — everything between the opening tag and {{/}} renders once per item. Inside the loop you reference fields on the current item directly, or use {{.}} for the item itself when it's a plain value rather than an object. This is how a Lookup Issues action turns into a single email containing one line per issue instead of one email per issue.

How do I format a date in a smart value?

Append .format() with a Java date pattern, for example {{now.format("dd MMM yyyy")}}. The date format tester on this page lets you try a pattern against a sample date and see the output before you paste it into a rule.

Is this list of smart values complete?

No, deliberately. It covers the smart values that come up repeatedly in real rules, checked against Atlassian's current documentation, rather than mirroring the full reference. Atlassian's own smart values docs, linked at the bottom of this page, are the exhaustive list and the authority if something here looks out of date.

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Jira Automation smart values reference

A searchable cheat sheet of the smart values you’ll actually reach for when writing Jira Automation rules, with a copy button on every one. Runs entirely in your browser.

Syntax basics

Smart values sit inside double curly braces, like {{issue.summary}}. Dot notation walks into a field or object — {{issue.assignee.displayName}} is the assignee’s name, not the whole assignee object.

Lists loop with {{#list}}...{{/}}: everything between the opening and {{/}} repeats once per item, and inside the loop you can reference fields on the current item directly (or {{.}}for the item itself, when it’s a plain value rather than an object).

55 smart values.

Issue fields

{{issue.key}}
The issue's key — project key plus issue number.(e.g. PROJ-123)
{{issue.summary}}
The issue's summary field.
{{issue.description}}
The content of the issue's Description field.
{{issue.status.name}}
The issue's current status.(e.g. In Progress)
{{issue.issueType.name}}
The issue's type.(e.g. Story, Bug, Task)
{{issue.issueType.hierarchyLevel}}
The hierarchy level of the issue's type.
{{issue.resolution.name}}
The issue's resolution.(e.g. Fixed, Won't Do)
{{issue.priority.name}}
The issue's priority.(e.g. High)
{{issue.created}}
The issue's creation date.
{{issue.duedate}}
The issue's due date.
{{issue.updated}}
The date the issue was last updated.
{{issue.assignee.displayName}}
The assignee's display name.
{{issue.reporter.displayName}}
The reporter's display name.
{{issue.project}}
The project the issue belongs to.
{{issue.project.key}}
The project's key.
{{issue.versions}}
The issue's Affects versions.
{{issue.fixVersions}}
The issue's fix versions.
{{issue.labels}}
The issue's labels, as a list.
{{issue.Story Points}}
A custom field's value, accessed by its exact name — Story Points on a company-managed project.
{{issue.Story point estimate}}
The equivalent Story Points field name on a team-managed project.

User

{{initiator}}
The person who triggered the rule (manually, or via a scheduled/automatic trigger).
{{initiator.displayName}}
The triggering user's display name.
{{initiator.emailAddress}}
The triggering user's email address.
{{initiator.accountId}}
The triggering user's Atlassian account ID.
{{initiator.timeZone}}
The triggering user's time zone.
{{assignee.displayName}}
The issue's current assignee, by display name.
{{assignee.accountId}}
The issue's current assignee, by account ID.
{{reporter.displayName}}
The issue's reporter, by display name.
{{reporter.emailAddress}}
The issue's reporter, by email address.
{{creator.displayName}}
The user who originally created the issue.
{{comment.author.displayName}}
The author of the comment that triggered the rule.

Dates & formatting

{{now}}
The current date and time.
{{now.plusDays(5)}}
The current date and time, plus 5 days. Works with other date smart values too, e.g. {{issue.duedate.plusDays(5)}}.
{{issue.duedate.format("dd/MM/yyyy")}}
A date formatted with a custom pattern.(e.g. 08/08/2026)
{{issue.created.asLongDateTime}}
A date rendered with a built-in long date-time format.
{{issue.created.jqlDateTime}}
A date rendered in JQL's date-time format, useful when building a JQL string.
{{now.diff(issue.created).days}}
The difference between two dates, in whole days. .hours and .businessDays also work.
{{now.isAfter(issue.created)}}
Whether one date is after another — returns true or false.
{{issue.created.convertToTimeZone("Australia/Sydney")}}
Converts a date-time to another time zone, adjusting the clock time.

Lists & loops

{{#issue.fixVersions}}{{name}} {{releaseDate}}, {{/}}
Loops over a list, printing fields from each item — {{name}} and {{releaseDate}} here refer to the current fix version in the loop.
{{#issue.labels}}{{.}}, {{/}}
Loops over a list of plain values. The dot ({{.}}) refers to the current item itself, not a field on it.
{{#issue.comments}}{{body}}{{^last}}, {{/}}{{/}}
Loops over comments, joining bodies with a comma — {{^last}} runs on every item except the last.
{{#first}}...{{/}}
Inside a loop, runs only for the first item.
{{^first}}...{{/}}
Inside a loop, runs for every item except the first.
{{#lookupIssues}}{{key}}{{/}}
Loops over the issues returned by a Lookup issues action, using each issue's own smart values inside the loop.

Text functions

{{issue.summary.replace("Hello","Goodbye")}}
Replaces every match of one string with another.
{{issue.summary.substring(0, 10)}}
Extracts part of a string by character position.
{{issue.summary.toUpperCase}}
Converts text to upper case. .toLowerCase and .capitalize also work.
{{issue.summary.trim}}
Removes leading and trailing whitespace.
{{issue.summary.isEmpty}}
Whether the text is empty — returns true or false.
{{issue.summary.toLowerCase().substring(0, 10).concat("!!")}}
Functions can be chained, applied left to right.

Trigger & event values

{{webhookData}}
The root of a webhook trigger's JSON payload.
{{webhookData.someValue.childValue}}
A nested property inside the webhook payload, accessed by dot path.
{{webhookResponse.body}}
An alternative to {{webhookData}} for reading a webhook payload, if the payload shape means the first doesn't resolve.
{{triggerIssue}}
The issue that triggered the rule — used alongside webhook or other non-issue triggers where {{issue}} may not be set.

Date format tester

Pick a date and a format pattern to see roughly what a .format("…") smart value would output.

Date & time

Format pattern

Result

—

{{issue.duedate.format("dd/MM/yyyy")}}

This is a client-side approximation of Jira Automation’s Java-based date formatting for common patterns — it’s here to help you get the pattern right before you paste it into a rule, not a guaranteed match for every pattern or locale. Confirm the exact output inside Jira for anything that matters.

Questions

What are smart values in Jira Automation?: Smart values are placeholders you write inside double curly braces that Jira replaces with real data when an automation rule runs. {{issue.key}} becomes PROJ-123, {{issue.assignee.displayName}} becomes the assignee's name. They're what turns a fixed rule into one that produces different output per issue — most often in the body of an email or comment the rule sends.
Why is my smart value showing as blank or literal text?: Three usual causes. The field is genuinely empty on that issue, so there's nothing to substitute. The path is wrong — {{issue.assignee}} renders an object rather than a name, where {{issue.assignee.displayName}} renders the name. Or the value isn't available to that trigger: a rule fired by a scheduled trigger without a JQL search has no single issue in context, so issue-scoped values have nothing to resolve against.
How do I loop over a list of issues in a Jira Automation rule?: Wrap the repeated part in {{#list}}...{{/}} — everything between the opening tag and {{/}} renders once per item. Inside the loop you reference fields on the current item directly, or use {{.}} for the item itself when it's a plain value rather than an object. This is how a Lookup Issues action turns into a single email containing one line per issue instead of one email per issue.
How do I format a date in a smart value?: Append .format() with a Java date pattern, for example {{now.format("dd MMM yyyy")}}. The date format tester on this page lets you try a pattern against a sample date and see the output before you paste it into a rule.
Is this list of smart values complete?: No, deliberately. It covers the smart values that come up repeatedly in real rules, checked against Atlassian's current documentation, rather than mirroring the full reference. Atlassian's own smart values docs, linked at the bottom of this page, are the exhaustive list and the authority if something here looks out of date.