Is there any REST API available to list or track deleted issues in Jira? Are there alternative ways

Question

Hi team, I’m currently working on implementing an automated backup and restore solution for Jira Cloud, and I’m looking for a way to detect or track deleted issues in Jira.

I’ve searched the available REST APIs, but I couldn’t find any endpoint that directly returns a list of deleted issues. I’d like to know:

Is there any official Jira REST API (v2/v3 or any internal API) that returns deleted issues?

If there's no such API, what are the recommended alternative ways to track or detect deleted issues in Jira?

Any help, workarounds, or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in Advance.

Anske.vanLuijtelaar · Answer

In combination with the rate limiting on the new API endpoints, it is completely ridiculous that there is no such endpoint.

Deleted issue id's should be stored in the internal database at least for some time (for all I care, in a separate table if impact needs to be minimized), such that an endpoint can be created for tracking issues that were deleted in the last x days.

I handle deleted issues by calling the https://planon.atlassian.net/rest/api/3/search/jql endpoint, using jql to filter on issues created as of a certain date (reporting window of 5 years), and asking to return ids only. I then use these id's to remove the tickets from the table in our own data environment. However, this is now blocked by the rate limiting (I'm hesitant to implement exponential wait times in my script, as it is run within a lambda function with a large memory, has a max allowed runtime of 15 minutes and runtime is directly related to the cost of running!).

Is there a dedicated page/forum to suggest ideas for the API?

Natalia_Kovalchuk_SaaSJet_ · Answer

Hi @gopal guna ,

As I know, Jira doesn't provide a native REST API to track deleted issues. As deleted, issues are permanently removed from the system and aren't stored in a retrievable way via the standard API.

However, you can use third-party apps available on the Marketplace for this purpose. As an example, you can try the Issue History for Jira app provided by the SaaSJet team.

With this app, you can do the following:

Easily track changes across all fields and projects in Jira.

View and restore deleted issues if needed.

Access a complete issue history to understand what was changed, when, and by whom.

Use filters to narrow down the search by project, user, date, or issue key.

After the activation of "Keep deleted issues" feature in the app, you'll be able to easily monitor deleted issues.

And in just a few clicks, you'll be able to restore all the needed deleted issues.

I hope this information is useful to you.

Carlos Garcia Navarro · Answer

Hi @gopal guna ,

Welcome to the Community! When issues get deleted they are removed from the database and I don't think they can be tracked using an API. These other posts/articles refer to some solutions using backups and third party apps, in case these could work for you:

https://community.atlassian.com/forums/Jira-questions/How-ro-find-the-deleted-issues-using-API/qaq-p/2586367

https://community.atlassian.com/forums/App-Central-articles/How-to-Track-and-Restore-Your-Deleted-Issues-in-Jira/ba-p/1903911

You can also set up notifications to receive them when issues get deleted: https://community.atlassian.com/forums/Jira-questions/Is-it-possible-to-be-notified-when-issue-is-deleted/qaq-p/1146151