Add Restricted Comments on Jira service desk

[Ilaria]

My jira configuration for comment visibility is already on Groups & Project Roles, but now I need to restrict some comments in JIRA SERVICE DESK to a certain group. The problem is that the "lock" icon is only present in jira software and not in jira service desk. Is it a bug or was it never designed?

I really need this in order to restrict visibility for "internal comments" in jira service desk.

Thank you for you help

[Petter Gonçalves · Accepted solution]

Hello @Ilaria

Indeed, JIRA Service Desk does not have the functionality to restrict comments per project roles or groups, but only "internal comments" or "answer the customer".

We have a feature request to add this functionality for Jira SD:

- Adding Comments - more comment visibility options instead of just being restricted to 2 options

Feel free to vote and watch the suggestion to increase its priority and also receive notifications about any updates.

if you are using Jira Server, you can work around this lack by disabling the "internal" comments and use the project-role restriction:

Go to Administration >> Add-ons >> Manage Add-ons
Change the add-ons list to restrict from "User-Installed" to Application Components via the drop-down list.
Find the JIRA Service Desk add-on from the list. Expand it.
Find the module called "service-desk-comment-field". Disable this.

If you are using JIRA Cloud, check the feature request for possible workarounds using plugins.

Let me know if you have any questions.

[Dave Mathijs]

@Petter Gonçalves Does that mean that when a person:

1. has a Jira Software license
2. is a user in a Jira Software project
3. is a customer in a Jira Service Management project

he can see all issues in the JSM project as well as the internal comments?

This is a security issue, right?

[Petter Gonçalves]

Hello @Dave Mathijs

Please, allow me to clarify a few concepts about Jira, so we can better confirm we are on the same page here:

In Jira applications, a single user can not be considered both internal user (Software licensed) and JSM customer on the same site for two different projects. Once you add a valid Software license to a JSM customer, that user will not be considered a customer anymore, but a collaborator limited to a few functionalities  in JSM projects (including the visualization of Internal comments):

What is a collaborator? 

To give you a bigger picture of the scenario, Jira Software and JSM are not two different applications, but just specific functionalities that run over the same "Jira Core" application:

• Jira Software License: Provides you with full access to Jira software functionalities and Collaborator access to JSM.
• JSM license: Provides you with Agent/Full access to JSM functionalities, but only core access to Jira Software.

Basically, providing a license to one of the applications above will automatically provide the user with all the basic functionalities that both applications have in common unless you restrict the user using project permissions. Also, this is not a security issue, but an intended design in Jira applications.

That being said, if you would like your JSM agents to be able to hide internal comments from your Collaborators, the following workaround might work for you while we still work to implement more granular options of restriction in JSM:

1. Create a separate software project and restrict it from your collaborators
2. Clone all the JSM tickets you have to this new project you created
3. Use those linked issues (Using the clone link) to add the internal comments, which will be inaccessible by your collaborators.

Let us know if this information clarifies your questions.

[Dave Mathijs]

Hello @Petter Gonçalves

thank you for the clear explanation and confirmation!

[Petter Gonçalves]

You are welcome, @Dave Mathijs

Feel free to let us know if you have any other questions. :)