Workflow Post Function - Update Issue Field (New Workflow Editor)

Introduction

The Update Issue Field workflow action can set a field based on the value of another field automatically during a workflow transition. It works similarly to Excel’s vLookup function.

New Editor

Starting June 2026, all workflow editors will use the new workflow editor and can no longer select the old editor. This new editor includes all actions consolidated into a single view (Ref).

We have added this page for users who are configuring the workflow using the new workflow editor.

For those who have been using Jira, the terminology has changed

Projects → Spaces
Issues → Work Item
Custom Fields → Fields
Validators → Validate details
Post Functions → Perform actions

How to add the Update Issue Field workflow action

Edit the workflow
Click on the arrow line to select the transition to apply the action
On the right panel, click on the + icon under Perform actions
Select Lookup Manager: Update Issue Field to perform a lookup during issue transition
The popup will appear for you to configure the actions

The various options are listed below

Lookup Project Key	The project space to lookup for the Search Field(s) and Matching Field
Source Field(s)	The custom field which stores the lookup value to be searched in the lookup table.
Search Field(s)	The custom field in which the lookup value will be searched
Matching Field	The custom field in which the matching value will be returned
Destination Field	Field in which the matching value will be populated in
Action if No Value in Source Field	Skip the lookup and continue Do nothing Default to a value If no source field value found, the value will be used to compare with Search Field(s)
Action if No Records Matched	Skip the update and continue Do nothing Default to a value If no match found, the value will be set to a default value pre-defined
Comment Visibility	Always post as public comment When an error occurs, the error will be posted as a comment for the affected Jira Work Item Post error message as internal comment (Service Desk projects only) When an error occurs, the error will be posted as an internal comment for the affected request Stop posting error message as comment When an error occurs, you can suppress the error
Disable Update Notification	Do not send additional email notification Checking this option suppresses any additional Jira email notification sent

Click on Add/Save button to confirm the changes
Publish the workflow by clicking on Update workflow when everyone is done

An example

In this example, when a request is created in the Service Desk (SD) space, it will use the selected value from the Project Picker field to look up the Jira Project Inventory (PROJINV) space. It will find a work item where the Project Picker matches and then use its reporter to update back the assignee of the triggering space.

Setup Lookup Project

Create a lookup space, Jira Project Inventory (PROJINV), which stores the manager for each Jira Project using the reporter field. It should have the following fields:

Summary
Reporter
Project Picker

Configure the Workflow Action

Navigate to another project, Service Desk (SD), in which people can raise requests to add themselves into the role of the project space.

Go to the workflow you wish to perform a lookup function.
Click on Edit Workflow for the workflow you wish to amend
In your workflow page, choose the transition you wish to add lookup function.
E.g. Create issue transition
Under the Perform actions section in the right panel, click on + to insert an action
Select Lookup Manager: Update Issue Field to perform a lookup during work item transition
You can configure as below

You can view the summary of the post function
Remember to publish the workflow by clicking on Update workflow

Testing out the Workflow action

Now, when the ticket is created and user has selected a project (e.g. Lookup Table ) for the Project Picker Field,

The Lookup Manager will

Use the fields in the SD ticket to compose a JQL.

PROJECT = PROJINV AND "Project Picker[Project Picker (single project)]" = "Lookup Table" ORDER BY by updated DESC

Then take the corresponding fields in the matching PROJINV work item (e.g . Reporter) to populate another field in the SD (e.g. set the Assignee field)