Jira Rest Api | Advanced Topics

Introduction

The Jira REST API provides a powerful way to interact with Jira programmatically. It allows developers to access the functionality of Jira from external applications, enabling automation, integration with other systems, and custom solutions. This tutorial will walk you through the essentials of using the Jira REST API, from setting up authentication to performing common tasks.

Authentication

To interact with the Jira REST API, you need to authenticate your requests. There are several methods for authenticating, including Basic Authentication and OAuth. For simplicity, we'll use Basic Authentication, which requires your Jira username and an API token.

Example: Basic Authentication

Use the following format to authenticate your requests:

curl -D- -u email@example.com:API_TOKEN -X GET -H "Content-Type: application/json" https://your-domain.atlassian.net/rest/api/3/issue/ISSUE-KEY

Creating an Issue

One of the most common tasks is creating an issue in Jira. To do this, you need to send a POST request to the /rest/api/3/issue endpoint with the issue details in the request body.

Example: Creating an Issue

curl -D- -u email@example.com:API_TOKEN -X POST -H "Content-Type: application/json" --data '{
  "fields": {
    "project": {
      "key": "PROJECT_KEY"
    },
    "summary": "Issue summary",
    "description": "Issue description",
    "issuetype": {
      "name": "Task"
    }
  }
}' https://your-domain.atlassian.net/rest/api/3/issue

Updating an Issue

To update an existing issue, send a PUT request to the /rest/api/3/issue/ISSUE-KEY endpoint with the updated fields in the request body.

Example: Updating an Issue

curl -D- -u email@example.com:API_TOKEN -X PUT -H "Content-Type: application/json" --data '{
  "fields": {
    "summary": "Updated summary",
    "description": "Updated description"
  }
}' https://your-domain.atlassian.net/rest/api/3/issue/ISSUE-KEY

Fetching Issue Details

You can fetch details of a specific issue by sending a GET request to the /rest/api/3/issue/ISSUE-KEY endpoint.

Example: Fetching Issue Details

curl -D- -u email@example.com:API_TOKEN -X GET -H "Content-Type: application/json" https://your-domain.atlassian.net/rest/api/3/issue/ISSUE-KEY

{
  "id": "10000",
  "key": "PROJECT-1",
  "fields": {
    "summary": "Issue summary",
    "description": "Issue description",
    "issuetype": {
      "name": "Task"
    }
    // More fields...
  }
}

Deleting an Issue

To delete an issue, send a DELETE request to the /rest/api/3/issue/ISSUE-KEY endpoint.

Example: Deleting an Issue

curl -D- -u email@example.com:API_TOKEN -X DELETE -H "Content-Type: application/json" https://your-domain.atlassian.net/rest/api/3/issue/ISSUE-KEY

Searching for Issues

To search for issues, you can use JQL (Jira Query Language) with the /rest/api/3/search endpoint. This allows you to filter issues based on various criteria.

Example: Searching for Issues

curl -D- -u email@example.com:API_TOKEN -X GET -H "Content-Type: application/json" 'https://your-domain.atlassian.net/rest/api/3/search?jql=project=PROJECT_KEY AND status="To Do"'

{
  "issues": [
    {
      "id": "10001",
      "key": "PROJECT-2",
      "fields": {
        "summary": "Issue 2 summary",
        "status": {
          "name": "To Do"
        }
      }
    }
    // More issues...
  ]
}

Conclusion

This tutorial covered the basics of using the Jira REST API, including authentication, creating, updating, fetching, deleting, and searching for issues. The Jira REST API provides extensive capabilities, and you can explore further by referring to the official Jira REST API documentation.

Jira REST API Tutorial