Inconsistent: Create Issue API fails but Update Issue API succeeds for fields not present on screen.

Nagaraja (MicroGenesis TechSoft)

Hi Atlassian Team,

We’re observing an inconsistency in Jira behavior when interacting with fields that are not present on the issue screen (for example, the “Description” field).

Steps to reproduce:

1. Edit the issue screen configuration and remove the Description field from the Create, Edit, and View screens.

2. Try to create an issue using REST API with a payload containing a “description” field: 

               {
                   "fields": {
                   "project": { "key": "ABC" },
                   "summary": "Test issue",
                   "issuetype": { "name": "Task" },
                   "description":{"type": "doc", "version": 1, "content": [{"type": "paragraph",                                                    "content": [{"type": "text", "text": "This description is added via                                                 API"}]}]}                   

                     }
               }

          Result: Error message returned:
     Field 'description' cannot be set. It is not on the appropriate           screen, or unknown.

3. Now try to update an existing issue via REST API with the same field, even though it’s still not on the Edit/View screens:

      {
          "update": {
                 "description": {"type": "doc", "version": 1, "content": [{"type": "paragraph",                                                    "content": [{"type": "text", "text": "Updated description via API"}]}]} 
           }
        }

Result: Update is successful.

• The field value is updated internally (verified via history and API response).

• The field value does not display in the UI (since it’s not on the screen).

Expected behavior:

Both Create and Update operations should behave consistently — either both should restrict updates to fields not on the screen, or both should allow updates (and hide them in the UI until the field is re-added to the screen).

Actual behavior:

• Create API call fails with an error.

• Update API call succeeds and updates the field behind the scenes.

Please confirm if this is expected behavior or a bug.

Ignacio Vera

This is expected behavior according to Atlassian’s documentation:

The Create Issue endpoint
explicitly states that only fields present on the Create screen can be set.

The Edit Issue endpoint
allows updates to fields determined by the “Get edit issue metadata” endpoint and even includes parameters (overrideScreenSecurity, overrideEditableFlag) that let Connect or Forge apps bypass those checks.