Is there a way to mass delete an unlimited number of work types in a Jira Service Project?

Question

I have a Jira Service Project where we "test" our work types and work items. I have about 80,000 work types that I need to delete all at once. I tried using bulk editing and it only allows up to 1,000 items being deleted at a time. Is there a way to get around this as an admin to account to delete them faster?

Josh · Answer

@Vie Nguyen I'd recommend extra caution with mass deletion via the API since the typical UI safeguards won't be there to warn you. This is especially important if AI designs your script.

I would highly recommend taking a full instance backup with attachments before attempting something destructive like this.

You could also raise an Atlassian Support ticket for some assistance.

Rebekka Heilmann (viadee) · Answer

Hi @Vie Nguyen and welcome to the Community,

I am assuming you want to delete the work items and not the types?

I don't know of any way to delete more than the 1000 work items via the UI. You can however utilize the API: https://developer.atlassian.com/cloud/jira/platform/rest/v2/api-group-issues/#api-rest-api-2-issue-issueidorkey-delete

I am not big on scripting myself, but am confident that any GPT can give you a script that deletes a set list of work items - the only thing you need to be aware of are API usage limits, so maybe prompt a pause in between requests and let the script run overnight.