2. Examples#

Here’s a quick usage example:

# This script shows how to use the client in anonymous mode
# against jira.atlassian.com.
from __future__ import annotations

import re

from jira import JIRA

# By default, the client will connect to a Jira instance started from the Atlassian Plugin SDK
# (see https://developer.atlassian.com/display/DOCS/Installing+the+Atlassian+Plugin+SDK for details).
jira = JIRA(server="https://jira.atlassian.com")

# Get all projects viewable by anonymous users.
projects = jira.projects()

# Sort available project keys, then return the second, third, and fourth keys.
keys = sorted(project.key for project in projects)[2:5]

# Get an issue.
issue = jira.issue("JRA-1330")
# Find all comments made by Atlassians on this issue.
atl_comments = [
    comment
    for comment in issue.fields.comment.comments
    if re.search(r"@atlassian.com$", comment.author.key)
]

# Add a comment to the issue.
jira.add_comment(issue, "Comment text")

# Change the issue's summary and description.
issue.update(
    summary="I'm different!", description="Changed the summary to be different."
)

# Change the issue without sending updates
issue.update(notify=False, description="Quiet summary update.")

# You can update the entire labels field like this
issue.update(fields={"labels": ["AAA", "BBB"]})

# Or modify the List of existing labels. The new label is unicode with no
# spaces
issue.fields.labels.append("new_text")
issue.update(fields={"labels": issue.fields.labels})

# Send the issue away for good.
issue.delete()

# Linking a remote jira issue (needs applinks to be configured to work)
issue = jira.issue("JRA-1330")
issue2 = jira.issue("XX-23")  # could also be another instance
jira.add_remote_link(issue.id, issue2)

Another example with methods to authenticate with your Jira:

"""Some simple authentication examples."""

from __future__ import annotations

from collections import Counter
from typing import cast

from jira import JIRA
from jira.client import ResultList
from jira.resources import Issue

# Some Authentication Methods
jira = JIRA(
    basic_auth=("admin", "admin"),  # a username/password tuple [Not recommended]
    # basic_auth=("email", "API token"),  # Jira Cloud: a username/token tuple
    # token_auth="API token",  # Self-Hosted Jira (e.g. Server): the PAT token
    # auth=("admin", "admin"),  # a username/password tuple for cookie auth [Not recommended]
)

# Who has authenticated
myself = jira.myself()

# Get the mutable application properties for this server (requires
# jira-system-administrators permission)
props = jira.application_properties()

# Find all issues reported by the admin
# Note: we cast() for mypy's benefit, as search_issues can also return the raw json !
#   This is if the following argument is used: `json_result=True`
issues = cast(ResultList[Issue], jira.search_issues("assignee=admin"))

# Find the top three projects containing issues reported by admin
top_three = Counter([issue.fields.project.key for issue in issues]).most_common(3)

This example shows how to work with Jira Agile / Jira Software (formerly GreenHopper):

# This script shows how to use the client in anonymous mode
# against jira.atlassian.com.
from __future__ import annotations

from jira.client import JIRA

# By default, the client will connect to a Jira instance started from the Atlassian Plugin SDK
# (see https://developer.atlassian.com/display/DOCS/Installing+the+Atlassian+Plugin+SDK for details).
# Override this with the options parameter.
jira = JIRA(server="https://jira.atlassian.com")

# Get all boards viewable by anonymous users.
boards = jira.boards()

# Get the sprints in a specific board
board_id = 441
print(f"JIRA board: {boards[0].name} ({board_id})")
sprints = jira.sprints(board_id)

2.1. Quickstart#

2.1.1. Initialization#

Everything goes through the jira.client.JIRA object, so make one:

from jira import JIRA

jira = JIRA()

This connects to a Jira started on your local machine at http://localhost:2990/jira, which not coincidentally is the default address for a Jira instance started from the Atlassian Plugin SDK.

You can manually set the Jira server to use:

jira = JIRA('https://jira.atlassian.com')

2.1.2. Authentication#

At initialization time, jira-python can optionally create an HTTP BASIC or use OAuth 1.0a access tokens for user authentication. These sessions will apply to all subsequent calls to the jira.client.JIRA object.

The library is able to load the credentials from inside the ~/.netrc file, so put them there instead of keeping them in your source code.

2.1.2.2. HTTP BASIC#

2.1.2.2.1. (username, password)#

Warning

This method of authentication is no longer supported on Jira Cloud. You can find the deprecation notice here

For Jira Cloud use the basic_auth= (username, api_token) authentication. For Self Hosted Jira (Server, Data Center), consider the Token Auth authentication.

Pass a tuple of (username, password) to the basic_auth constructor argument:

auth_jira = JIRA(basic_auth=('username', 'password'))
2.1.2.2.2. (username, api_token)#

Or pass a tuple of (email, api_token) to the basic_auth constructor argument (JIRA Cloud):

auth_jira = JIRA(basic_auth=('email', 'API token'))

See also

For Self Hosted Jira (Server, Data Center), refer to the Token Auth Section.

2.1.2.3. OAuth#

Pass a dict of OAuth properties to the oauth constructor argument:

# all values are samples and won't work in your code!
key_cert_data = None
with open(key_cert, 'r') as key_cert_file:
    key_cert_data = key_cert_file.read()

oauth_dict = {
    'access_token': 'foo',
    'access_token_secret': 'bar',
    'consumer_key': 'jira-oauth-consumer',
    'key_cert': key_cert_data
}
auth_jira = JIRA(oauth=oauth_dict)

Note

The OAuth access tokens must be obtained and authorized ahead of time through the standard OAuth dance. For interactive use, jirashell can perform the dance with you if you don’t already have valid tokens.

  • The access token and token secret uniquely identify the user.

  • The consumer key must match the OAuth provider configured on the Jira server.

  • The key cert data must be the private key that matches the public key configured on the Jira server’s OAuth provider.

See https://confluence.atlassian.com/display/JIRA/Configuring+OAuth+Authentication+for+an+Application+Link for details on configuring an OAuth provider for Jira.

2.1.2.4. Token Auth#

2.1.2.4.1. Jira Cloud#

This is also referred to as an API Token in the Jira Cloud documentation

auth_jira = JIRA(basic_auth=('email', 'API token'))
2.1.2.4.2. Jira Self Hosted (incl. Jira Server/Data Center)#

This is also referred to as Personal Access Tokens (PATs) in the Self-Hosted Documentation. The is available from Jira Core >= 8.14:

auth_jira = JIRA(token_auth='API token')

2.1.2.5. Kerberos#

To enable Kerberos auth, set kerberos=True:

auth_jira = JIRA(kerberos=True)

To pass additional options to Kerberos auth use dict kerberos_options, e.g.:

auth_jira = JIRA(kerberos=True, kerberos_options={'mutual_authentication': 'DISABLED'})

2.1.3. Headers#

Headers can be provided to the internally used requests.Session. If the user provides a header that the jira.client.JIRA also attempts to set, the user provided header will take preference.

For example if you want to use a custom User Agent:

from requests_toolbelt import user_agent

jira = JIRA(
    basic_auth=("email", "API token"),
    options={"headers": {"User-Agent": user_agent("my_package", "0.0.1")}},
)

2.1.4. Issues#

Issues are objects. You get hold of them through the JIRA object:

issue = jira.issue('JRA-1330')

Issue JSON is marshaled automatically and used to augment the returned Issue object, so you can get direct access to fields:

summary = issue.fields.summary         # 'Field level security permissions'
votes = issue.fields.votes.votes       # 440 (at least)

If you only want a few specific fields, save time by asking for them explicitly:

issue = jira.issue('JRA-1330', fields='summary,comment')

Reassign an issue:

# requires issue assign permission, which is different from issue editing permission!
jira.assign_issue(issue, 'newassignee')

If you want to unassign it again, just do:

jira.assign_issue(issue, None)

Creating issues is easy:

new_issue = jira.create_issue(project='PROJ_key_or_id', summary='New issue from jira-python',
                              description='Look into this one', issuetype={'name': 'Bug'})

Or you can use a dict:

issue_dict = {
    'project': {'id': 123},
    'summary': 'New issue from jira-python',
    'description': 'Look into this one',
    'issuetype': {'name': 'Bug'},
}
new_issue = jira.create_issue(fields=issue_dict)

You can even bulk create multiple issues:

issue_list = [
{
    'project': {'id': 123},
    'summary': 'First issue of many',
    'description': 'Look into this one',
    'issuetype': {'name': 'Bug'},
},
{
    'project': {'key': 'FOO'},
    'summary': 'Second issue',
    'description': 'Another one',
    'issuetype': {'name': 'Bug'},
},
{
    'project': {'name': 'Bar'},
    'summary': 'Last issue',
    'description': 'Final issue of batch.',
    'issuetype': {'name': 'Bug'},
}]
issues = jira.create_issues(field_list=issue_list)

Note

Project, summary, description and issue type are always required when creating issues. Your Jira may require additional fields for creating issues; see the jira.createmeta method for getting access to that information.

Note

Using bulk create will not throw an exception for a failed issue creation. It will return a list of dicts that each contain a possible error signature if that issue had invalid fields. Successfully created issues will contain the issue object as a value of the issue key.

You can also update an issue’s fields with keyword arguments:

issue.update(summary='new summary', description='A new summary was added')
issue.update(assignee={'name': 'new_user'})    # reassigning in update requires issue edit permission

or with a dict of new field values:

issue.update(fields={'summary': 'new summary', 'description': 'A new summary was added'})

You can suppress notifications:

issue.update(notify=False, description='A quiet description change was made')

and when you’re done with an issue, you can send it to the great hard drive in the sky:

issue.delete()

Updating components:

existingComponents = []
for component in issue.fields.components:
    existingComponents.append({"name" : component.name})
issue.update(fields={"components": existingComponents})

2.1.4.1. Working with Rich Text#

You can use rich text in an issue’s description or comment. In order to use rich text, the body content needs to be formatted using the Atlassian Document Format (ADF):

jira = JIRA(basic_auth=("email", "API token"))
comment = {
    "type": "doc",
    "version": 1,
    "content": [
      {
        "type": "codeBlock",
        "content": [
          {
            "text": "Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Pellentesque eget venenatis elit. Duis eu justo eget augue iaculis fermentum. Sed semper quam laoreet nisi egestas at posuere augue semper.",
            "type": "text"
          }
        ]
      }
    ]
  }
jira.add_comment("AB-123", comment)

2.1.5. Fields#

Example for accessing the worklogs:

issue.fields.worklog.worklogs                                 # list of Worklog objects
issue.fields.worklog.worklogs[0].author
issue.fields.worklog.worklogs[0].comment
issue.fields.worklog.worklogs[0].created
issue.fields.worklog.worklogs[0].id
issue.fields.worklog.worklogs[0].self
issue.fields.worklog.worklogs[0].started
issue.fields.worklog.worklogs[0].timeSpent
issue.fields.worklog.worklogs[0].timeSpentSeconds
issue.fields.worklog.worklogs[0].updateAuthor                # dictionary
issue.fields.worklog.worklogs[0].updated


issue.fields.timetracking.remainingEstimate           # may be NULL or string ("0m", "2h"...)
issue.fields.timetracking.remainingEstimateSeconds    # may be NULL or integer
issue.fields.timetracking.timeSpent                   # may be NULL or string
issue.fields.timetracking.timeSpentSeconds            # may be NULL or integer

2.1.6. Searching#

Leverage the power of JQL to quickly find the issues you want:

# Search returns first 50 results, `maxResults` must be set to exceed this
issues_in_proj = jira.search_issues('project=PROJ')
all_proj_issues_but_mine = jira.search_issues('project=PROJ and assignee != currentUser()')

# my top 5 issues due by the end of the week, ordered by priority
oh_crap = jira.search_issues('assignee = currentUser() and due < endOfWeek() order by priority desc', maxResults=5)

# Summaries of my last 3 reported issues
for issue in jira.search_issues('reporter = currentUser() order by created desc', maxResults=3):
    print('{}: {}'.format(issue.key, issue.fields.summary))

2.1.7. Comments#

Comments, like issues, are objects. Access issue comments through the parent Issue object or the JIRA object’s dedicated method:

comments_a = issue.fields.comment.comments
comments_b = jira.comments(issue) # comments_b == comments_a

Obtain an individual comment if you know its ID:

comment = jira.comment('JRA-1330', '10234')

Obtain comment author name and comment creation timestamp if you know its ID:

author = jira.comment('JRA-1330', '10234').author.displayName
time = jira.comment('JRA-1330', '10234').created

Adding, editing and deleting comments is similarly straightforward:

comment = jira.add_comment('JRA-1330', 'new comment')    # no Issue object required
comment = jira.add_comment(issue, 'new comment', visibility={'type': 'role', 'value': 'Administrators'})  # for admins only

comment.update(body='updated comment body')
comment.update(body='updated comment body but no mail notification', notify=False)
comment.delete()

Get all images from a comment:

issue = jira.issue('JRA-1330')
regex_for_png = re.compile(r'\!(\S+?\.(jpg|png|bmp))\|?\S*?\!')
pngs_used_in_comment = regex_for_png.findall(issue.fields.comment.comments[0].body)
for attachment in issue.fields.attachment:
    if attachment.filename in pngs_used_in_comment:
        with open(attachment.filename, 'wb') as f:
            f.write(attachment.get())

2.1.8. Transitions#

Learn what transitions are available on an issue:

issue = jira.issue('PROJ-1')
transitions = jira.transitions(issue)
[(t['id'], t['name']) for t in transitions]    # [(u'5', u'Resolve Issue'), (u'2', u'Close Issue')]

Note

Only the transitions available to the currently authenticated user will be returned!

Then perform a transition on an issue:

# Resolve the issue and assign it to 'pm_user' in one step
jira.transition_issue(issue, '5', assignee={'name': 'pm_user'}, resolution={'id': '3'})

# The above line is equivalent to:
jira.transition_issue(issue, '5', fields={'assignee':{'name': 'pm_user'}, 'resolution':{'id': '3'}})

2.1.9. Projects#

Projects are objects, just like issues:

projects = jira.projects()

Also, just like issue objects, project objects are augmented with their fields:

jra = jira.project('JRA')
print(jra.name)                 # 'JIRA'
print(jra.lead.displayName)     # 'John Doe [ACME Inc.]'

It’s no trouble to get the components, versions or roles either (assuming you have permission):

components = jira.project_components(jra)
[c.name for c in components]                # 'Accessibility', 'Activity Stream', 'Administration', etc.

jira.project_roles(jra)                     # 'Administrators', 'Developers', etc.

versions = jira.project_versions(jra)
[v.name for v in reversed(versions)]        # '5.1.1', '5.1', '5.0.7', '5.0.6', etc.

2.1.10. Watchers#

Watchers are objects, represented by jira.resources.Watchers:

watcher = jira.watchers(issue)
print("Issue has {} watcher(s)".format(watcher.watchCount))
for watcher in watcher.watchers:
    print(watcher)
    # watcher is instance of jira.resources.User:
    print(watcher.emailAddress)

You can add users to watchers by their name:

jira.add_watcher(issue, 'username')
jira.add_watcher(issue, user_resource.name)

And of course you can remove users from watcher:

jira.remove_watcher(issue, 'username')
jira.remove_watcher(issue, user_resource.name)

2.1.11. Attachments#

Attachments let user add files to issues. First you’ll need an issue to which the attachment will be uploaded. Next, you’ll need the file itself that is going to be attachment. The file could be a file-like object or string, representing path on the local machine. You can also modify the final name of the attachment if you don’t like original. Here are some examples:

# upload file from `/some/path/attachment.txt`
jira.add_attachment(issue=issue, attachment='/some/path/attachment.txt')

# read and upload a file (note binary mode for opening, it's important):
with open('/some/path/attachment.txt', 'rb') as f:
    jira.add_attachment(issue=issue, attachment=f)

# attach file from memory (you can skip IO operations). In this case you MUST provide `filename`.
from io import StringIO
attachment = StringIO()
attachment.write(data)
jira.add_attachment(issue=issue, attachment=attachment, filename='content.txt')

If you would like to list all available attachment, you can do it with through attachment field:

for attachment in issue.fields.attachment:
    print("Name: '{filename}', size: {size}".format(
        filename=attachment.filename, size=attachment.size))
    # to read content use `get` method:
    print("Content: '{}'".format(attachment.get()))

You can delete attachment by id:

# Find issues with attachments:
query = jira.search_issues(jql_str="attachments is not EMPTY", json_result=True, fields="key, attachment")

# And remove attachments one by one
for i in query['issues']:
    for a in i['fields']['attachment']:
        print("For issue {0}, found attach: '{1}' [{2}].".format(i['key'], a['filename'], a['id']))
        jira.delete_attachment(a['id'])