How to Auto-Fill Issue Pickers Based on Existing Links

Auto-fill your VIP.LEAN Issue Pickers from existing Jira links. Perfect for migrating from Advanced Links or competitor apps, with bulk processing up to 1,000 work items.

1. Why Auto-Filling?

Required Jira Role: Jira Software Administrator

Auto-filling is useful for the following reasons:

  • Migration from VIP.LEAN Advanced Links to VIP.LEAN Issue Pickers: An initial population of the new Issue Pickers is necessary to restore the same state as in the old app.
  • Migration from a competitor’s app to VIP.LEAN Issue Pickers.
  • Installation in an existing instance with already linked work items that need to be initially populated.

2. Preconditions

Required Jira Role: Jira Software Administrator

Before executing the auto-fill, the Jira admin should complete the following tasks:

  • Create the new Issue Picker using the VIP.LEAN app.
  • Configure the Issue Picker, including all required parameters. A link type must be configured to enable the auto-fill feature.
  • Configure contexts, if necessary, using different selection logic (e.g., based on current project and/or JQL).
  • Assign the Issue Picker to the correct Edit screens of the issue types and projects where you want to auto-fill.
  • Ensure that the target work items already have existing links to work items that match the Issue Picker’s JQL and context configuration.

3. Prepare the Auto-Fill Bulk Process

Required Jira Role: Jira Software Administrator

Click on the Auto-Fill icon next to the Issue Picker you want to auto-fill:

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The app will now perform the following checks:

  • Identify the custom field behind the selected Issue Picker.
  • Check which Edit screens the custom field is assigned to.
  • Navigate through the screen schemes and issue type screen schemes to determine which projects and issue types allow the app to edit the Issue Picker.
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The results will be displayed for your review:

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The Jira Admin can adapt the selection:

  • Select a subset of projects to include in the auto-fill process.
  • Add your own JQL filter, which will be combined with the search logic using an "AND" condition.


Then click on "Load work item candidates". The app looks for:

  • Work items matching the selected project and issue type conditions.
  • Work items matching the JQL filter (if entered).
  • Work items where the Issue Picker field is empty (auto-fill only applies to empty fields).
  • Work items linked using the correct link type to other work items that fully match the Issue Picker’s JQL and context conditions.
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4. Select the Work Items for the Auto-Fill Process

Required Jira Role: Jira Software Administrator


The app scans up to 3,000 work items to identify those eligible for auto-fill. If more than 1,000 eligible work items are found, the admin can process a maximum of 1,000 per batch.

The admin will receive a list of candidates including:

  • The source work items
  • The target field value that would be filled

The admin can either:

  • Select all candidates
  • Manually select specific work items to auto-fill

If the results need refinement:

  • return to step 3
  • adjust the JQL or project selection,
  • and click "Load Work Item Candidates" again
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5. Execute the Auto-Fill Process

Required Jira Role: Jira Software Administrator

The admin can now push the Start button and the process starts. It can be cancelled at any time.

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After completion, a final message will be displayed:

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The process window can now be closed (click "Cancel"). The Jira Admin can check the changes in the work items.

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6. Handling of a Major Number of Work Items

Required Jira Role: Jira Software Administrator

After a full iteration of an Auto-Fill bulk action, the popup window must be closed by clicking "Cancel."

To process the remaining work items, restart from Step 3. The next list of candidates may be:

  • Empty, if all eligible work items have already been processed, or
  • A new batch of eligible work items ready for processing.

Note: Previously processed work items now have their Issue Picker fields filled and are therefore no longer considered as candidates.

Similar to Atlassian’s own bulk processing limitations, the 1,000-item limit is crucial to protect the performance and stability of your Jira instance.

⚠️ Important:

Please make sure that no two Project Admins run the Auto-Fill process at the same time, as this could lead to performance degradation or conflicts during data processing.

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