Request for Read-Only Access to Configuration Metadata

Question

Dear Team,

I hope this message finds you well.

I would like to respectfully ask for your understanding and reconsideration regarding the current access restrictions on configuration metadata.

At the moment, even read-only access to the following configuration items is blocked and results in a 401 response:

* Workflow metadata

* Screen configuration

* Project role definitions

I fully understand and agree with the need to restrict update or modification capabilities for these sensitive configurations. That level of control is absolutely appropriate.

However, I am struggling to understand the rationale behind blocking read-only access as well.
Being able to view these settings is essential for analysis, troubleshooting, documentation, and ensuring alignment across projects—especially when no changes are being made.

Without visibility into the current configuration state, it becomes extremely difficult to:

* Diagnose issues accurately

* Validate setup consistency

* Provide reliable operational support

* Avoid unnecessary back-and-forth requests

I would like to emphasize that this request is not about expanding privileges, but simply about enabling transparency through safe, read-only access.

If there are specific security or governance concerns behind this restriction, I would sincerely appreciate your guidance so that we can find an acceptable and compliant alternative together.

Thank you very much for your time and consideration.
I truly appreciate your support and look forward to your advice.

Kind regards,
Steve

steve_yang · Answer

Hi,

Thanks for the reply. I think we’re still talking past each other, so let me restate my question as clearly as I can.

I’m not asking how to troubleshoot a REST API call, nor am I claiming an endpoint is “wrong” per documentation.

I’m also not asking for permission to modify anything.

My question is purely about permission design / product policy:

In Jira Data Center, configuration such as workflows, screens, and permission/role-related configuration is generally restricted to System Administrators. From an operational standpoint, it would be extremely helpful if a Project Administrator could be granted read-only visibility into those configurations (for their own project), without any ability to change them.

So the question is:

* Is there any supported way to grant Project Admins read-only access to view those configurations?

* If not, what is the rationale for not providing a “view-only” administrative permission (separate from “edit”)?

It seems like a safe capability that would reduce admin bottlenecks and improve support/troubleshooting without increasing change risk.

To avoid further confusion: when I said “blocked / 401”, I simply meant that as a Project Admin I cannot access/view that configuration information through the product/UI/API due to permission restrictions. The core question remains the same: why is view-only visibility not available as a permission boundary?

If the answer is simply “Jira does not support separating view vs edit for admin configuration”, that’s fine—I’d just like to understand the reasoning and whether there is any recommended workaround (e.g., delegated admin, audit exports, documentation approaches, etc.).

Thanks in advance.

Best regards,

Steve

steve_yang · Answer

Hi,

Thanks for the reply. I think we’re still talking past each other, so let me restate my question as clearly as I can.

I’m not asking how to troubleshoot a REST API call, nor am I claiming an endpoint is “wrong” per documentation.

I’m also not asking for permission to modify anything.

My question is purely about permission design / product policy:

In Jira Data Center, configuration such as workflows, screens, and permission/role-related configuration is generally restricted to System Administrators. From an operational standpoint, it would be extremely helpful if a Project Administrator could be granted read-only visibility into those configurations (for their own project), without any ability to change them.

So the question is:

* Is there any supported way to grant Project Admins read-only access to view those configurations?

* If not, what is the rationale for not providing a “view-only” administrative permission (separate from “edit”)?

It seems like a safe capability that would reduce admin bottlenecks and improve support/troubleshooting without increasing change risk.

To avoid further confusion: when I said “blocked / 401”, I simply meant that as a Project Admin I cannot access/view that configuration information through the product/UI/API due to permission restrictions. The core question remains the same: why is view-only visibility not available as a permission boundary?

If the answer is simply “Jira does not support separating view vs edit for admin configuration”, that’s fine—I’d just like to understand the reasoning and whether there is any recommended workaround (e.g., delegated admin, audit exports, documentation approaches, etc.).

Thanks in advance.

Best regards,

Steve

unknown · Answer

Sorry, but I have absolutely no idea what "access model" you are talking about.

Since you haven't provided any information whatsoever about HOW or WHERE or WITH WHAT you are 'accessing' what you are calling 'configuration data' related to workflows, screens and project roles, nor provided any links to any documentation that describes this 'access model' thing or HOW or WHERE or WITH WHAT you got Jira to produce a "401 response" or how or why you think you are being, "blocked", nor even at the very least provided any screen grabs that show WHERE and HOW any of this is happening, then I simply am not able to decrypt what you are talking about.

Perhaps you are using something like Google Translate or an AI to convert your question from your native language into English, hence the reason why it is so vague and non-specific and uses so many broadly abstract words. If that is the case, perhaps you might be best to post your question in your native language and maybe someone on the forum who can read it will be able to better understand what you are talking about.

Alternatively, use Google to search on the broad topics of how to read or modify any of the data inside Jira using the REST APIs, the Java APIs, or even directly accessing the internal database. There are literally thousands of articles, documents and discussions on these topics.

Anyhow, I can be of no further assistance to you. Good luck with whatever it is that you are trying to accomplish.