How to change the requester of an issue via the API?

Question

I'm having trouble changing the requester which I created via the JIRA REST API.

I've found out you can add the field 'raiseOnBehalfOf' which needs the id of the account before creating the issue. The issue is that the user might not yet exist thus I cannot retrieve the ID.

How can I create or modify an issue's requester to a requester which might not yet exist in JIRA itself? I would have the email address of the requester.

Derek Fields _RightStar_ · Accepted Answer

The Reporter must already exist in Jira. This is true whether you create the user via the GUI or REST API. You need to create the user first (can be a "customer") and then create the ticket on their behalf.

We are doing exactly that in our environment. We are creating an outboard email handler that will check the email inbox and create the ticket. In order for it to work, we first need to determine whether the sender is already a user in Jira. If the user is found, then we can create the ticket on behalf of that user. Otherwise, we need to create that user in Jira first and assign that user as a customer in the service desk. Then we can create the issue.