How to use variables in JQL POST Search

[James Lester Desipeda]

I'm trying to make a script to constantly query Jira (using cron) for tickets with its custom field (containing some time information about the ticket) defined as the current time. I have the lines below in my script but it seems like JQL doesn't accept variables:

starttime=$(date +"%H:%M")

(curl \
 -u username:password \
 -X POST \
 -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
 --data '{"jql":"project = ZZZ and cf[99999] = \"$starttime\"","startAt":0,"maxResults":5,"fields":["customfield_99999","key"]}' \
"https://jira.url.com/rest/api/2/search"
) | python -m json.tool > /home/tickets.txt

The query works if the custom field value is defined but when using a variable it doesn't. Is it because of my syntax or does JQL not support this kind of query? I read the documentation and as of now I haven't found anything regarding using variables.

Thanks!

[Alexey Matveev · Accepted solution]

Hello,

JQL does not support using variables. You need to replace this variable with a value in your python script.

[James Lester Desipeda]

Thank you for answering! Does this mean I cannot do the action I intend to do or do you think there may be another way to implement this? I need this script to automate a task and using a variable in the query was the solution I had in mind, not until now.

[James Lester Desipeda]

Something came to my mind. Maybe I can automate editing the script to always change the JQL statement. Hmmmm

[Alexey Matveev]

Yes, you can replace the variable in your python script and send a correct JQL statement.