Clone & Replace Documentation

Complete guide to installing, configuring, and using Clone & Replace for Jira Cloud. Clone any issue and replace text across all fields in one action.

Overview

Clone & Replace is a Jira Cloud app that combines issue cloning with find-and-replace functionality. Instead of cloning an issue and then manually editing multiple fields to update client names, project codes, or other repeated text, Clone & Replace does it all in one step.

Key Features

• One-click clone and replace — Clone an issue and replace text across all fields simultaneously
• Multiple replacement pairs — Define multiple find → replace pairs in a single operation
• Case-aware replacement — Automatically handles uppercase, lowercase, and title case variants
• Full field coverage — Replaces text in summary, description, comments, and custom text fields
• Subtask support — Clone and replace text in all subtasks
• Attachments — Optionally copy attachments to the cloned issue
• Runs on Atlassian — Built on Forge, 100% hosted on Atlassian infrastructure

Use Cases

Clone & Replace is perfect for:

• Client onboarding — Clone an RFC or project template and replace the example client name with your new client's name
• Project kickoff — Duplicate a project checklist and update project codes throughout
• Sprint planning — Clone story templates and customize for each new feature
• Recurring tasks — Duplicate tasks and update dates, versions, or identifiers
• Documentation templates — Create new documentation from templates with proper naming

Installation

Clone & Replace can be installed from the Atlassian Marketplace by a Jira administrator.

Requirements

• Jira Cloud (Software, Service Management, or Work Management)
• Jira administrator permissions to install apps

Installation Steps

1. Go to Jira Settings → Apps → Find new apps
2. Search for "Clone & Replace"
3. Click Get app and follow the prompts
4. Once installed, the "Clone & Replace" action will appear in the issue actions menu

Quick Start

Get started with Clone & Replace in under a minute:

1. Open any issue you want to clone
2. Click the ⋯ menu (issue actions) and select "Clone & Replace"
3. Enter your replacement pairs — for example, find "Acme Industries" and replace with "New Client Ltd"
4. Choose your options — include subtasks, attachments, and comments as needed
5. Click Clone

Cloning Issues

Clone & Replace is accessed from the issue actions menu on any Jira issue.

Accessing Clone & Replace

1. Navigate to the issue you want to clone
2. Click the ⋯ (three dots) menu in the top-right of the issue
3. Select Clone & Replace from the menu

The Clone & Replace Dialog

The dialog presents you with:

• Replacement pairs section — Add your find/replace text pairs
• Options section — Choose what to include in the clone
• Preview — See how many fields will be affected

Replacement Pairs

Replacement pairs define what text to find and what to replace it with.

Adding Replacement Pairs

Click "Add replacement pair" to add a new find → replace rule. You can add as many pairs as you need.

Multiple Replacement Pairs

You can define multiple pairs to handle variations. For example, when cloning a client template:

• Find "Acme Industries" → Replace with "New Client Ltd"
• Find "AI" → Replace with "NCL" (abbreviation)
• Find "acme.com" → Replace with "newclient.com"

Case Handling

Clone & Replace intelligently handles different case variations of your search text.

Automatic Case Matching

When you enter a replacement pair, Clone & Replace automatically applies the same case pattern to the replacement:

Case Sensitivity Option

You can toggle case sensitivity for each replacement pair:

• Case insensitive (default) — Matches "Acme", "ACME", "acme", etc.
• Case sensitive — Only matches the exact case you enter

Cloning Options

Configure what's included in your cloned issue:

Field Coverage

Clone & Replace applies text replacements across all relevant text fields.

Supported Fields

• Summary — The issue title
• Description — The main issue body (including rich text formatting)
• Comments — All issue comments (when enabled)
• Custom text fields — Any custom fields of type Text, Text Area, or URL

Fields Not Modified

The following fields are cloned but not modified by text replacement:

• Labels
• Components
• Fix versions / Affects versions
• Priority
• Assignee / Reporter
• Custom fields that aren't text-based

Subtasks

When cloning an issue with subtasks, Clone & Replace can clone the entire hierarchy.

How Subtask Cloning Works

1. The parent issue is cloned first
2. Each subtask is cloned as a child of the new parent
3. Text replacements are applied to all subtasks
4. Subtask attachments are copied (if attachments option enabled)

Subtask Order

Subtasks are cloned in the same order they appear on the original issue, preserving your task sequence.

Attachments

Clone & Replace can copy attachments from the source issue to the cloned issue.

Supported Attachment Types

All attachment types are supported, including:

• Images (PNG, JPG, GIF, etc.)
• Documents (PDF, Word, Excel, etc.)
• Archives (ZIP, RAR, etc.)
• Any other file type

Comments

Optionally clone all comments from the source issue.

Comment Cloning Behaviour

• Comments are added to the cloned issue in chronological order
• Text replacements are applied to comment content
• Comment authors are attributed to the user performing the clone
• Original timestamps are noted in the comment text

Permissions

Clone & Replace requires the following Jira permissions to function:

User Permissions

Users can only clone issues they have permission to view, and can only create issues in projects where they have create permission.

Troubleshooting

Clone & Replace doesn't appear in the menu

1. Ensure the app is installed correctly (check with your Jira admin)
2. Refresh the page and try again
3. Check that you have permission to create issues in the target project

Text isn't being replaced

1. Check that your search text matches exactly (including spaces)
2. If using case-sensitive mode, verify the case matches
3. Ensure the text exists in a supported field type

Attachments aren't being copied

1. Verify the "Include attachments" option is enabled
2. Check that you have permission to view attachments on the source issue
3. Large attachments may take a few moments to copy

Subtasks aren't being cloned

1. Verify the "Include subtasks" option is enabled
2. Check that you have permission to view the subtasks
3. Ensure the target project supports subtasks

Frequently Asked Questions