Community resources
Community resources
Join our Early Access Program: service accounts for Atlassian Data Center
We're excited to announce an Early Access Program (EAP) for service accounts in Data Center! If you want to modernize your automation, integrations, and security practices, this is your opportunity to influence how non-human access is managed in Data Center.
Sign up for the EAP here: https://earlyaccessprogram.atlassian.net/servicedesk/customer/portal/924/create/10716
What are service accounts?
Service accounts are special, non-human identities designed for automations, integrations, scripts, and apps that need to interact with your Atlassian Data Center instance. Unlike regular user accounts, service accounts:
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Aren't tied to a real person
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Do not consume a user license
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Can't be used to log in interactively
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Are managed directly within the product by administrators
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Can be associated with OAuth2 credentials, scopes, and resource restrictions
This means you can securely grant access to your instance for scripts, automations and integrations – without using shared admin credentials.
How will the EAP work?
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Sign up: The private EAP is now open for sign-ups! By joining, you will gain access to comprehensive documentation and essential resources required for testing service accounts in your Jira DC or Confluence DC staging environment.
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Test & feedback: Try out service accounts in your own test environment, validate your key use cases, and provide feedback through our JSM portal or Slack channel.
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Interviews: Five EAP participants will be invited for usability interviews to help us refine the experience.
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Continuous support: Our team will be available to answer questions, collect feedback, and help troubleshoot any issues.
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Exit survey: At the end of the program, we’ll ask for your feedback to help us decide on next steps and improvements.
Who should join?
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Admins and technical leads responsible for automation, integrations, or security in Atlassian Data Center products.
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Organizations looking to modernize their automation and integration practices.
Features available in Service accounts
Service Accounts in Atlassian Data Center are designed to give administrators robust, secure, and flexible control over non-human access. Here’s what you can do with service accounts:
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Centralized management:
Create, view, edit, and delete service accounts directly from your product’s administration panel. All service accounts are managed locally within the product. -
OAuth 2.0 credentials:
Each service account is provisioned with a unique OAuth 2.0 Client ID and Client Secret. These credentials allow secure, standards-based authentication for REST API access, replacing legacy methods like basic auth and personal access tokens. -
Granular scopes and resource restrictions:
When creating a service account, you can define exactly what actions (scopes) it can perform and which resources (such as projects or spaces) it can access. This ensures the principle of least privilege and helps you tightly control automation and integration permissions. -
Credential rotation and expiry:
Administrators can rotate OAuth credentials at any time and set expiry periods for added security. If a credential is compromised or no longer needed, it can be revoked instantly. -
Auditability and usage tracking:
All actions performed by service accounts are tracked, providing visibility into automated operations. The administration UI shows when each service account was last used, helping you monitor activity and detect anomalies. -
No user license consumption:
Service accounts do not consume user licenses, so you can create as many as you need for your automations and integrations without impacting your license count. -
Separation from human users:
Service accounts can't be used for interactive logins and are not associated with any individual’s credentials or email. This separation reduces risk and simplifies compliance. -
Easy deactivation and cleanup:
If an integration or automation is retired, you can quickly delete the associated service account, instantly revoking all access. -
Consistent experience across products:
Service accounts are being rolled out across Jira, Confluence, Crowd, Bitbucket, and Bamboo Data Center, providing a unified approach to managing non-human access across your Atlassian ecosystem.
Key benefits
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Security: Eliminate risky practices like sharing admin credentials. Service accounts are purpose-built for automation and integration, with granular permissions and no interactive login.
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Compliance: Service accounts are auditable and can be managed, rotated, and revoked by admins, helping you meet internal and external compliance requirements.
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Modern integrations: Move away from legacy authentication (like basic auth) and adopt OAuth2.0 for secure, standards-based API access.
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No extra cost: In Data Center, service accounts do not consume user licenses and are included as part of your existing infrastructure.
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Future-proof: Service accounts are the foundation for upcoming features and integrations, including seamless cloud connectivity and advanced automation.
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Cloud availability: Service Accounts functionality is also available in Atlassian Cloud, providing a consistent experience across both Data Center and Cloud environments.
Ready to get involved?
Help us build a more secure and flexible Atlassian Data Center - join the service accounts EAP.
if you have questions or want to express early interest, please comment below.
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Mateusz Miodek
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