Is there a way to append multiple labels to an existing issue via the Jira API?

[Carlye Petoff]

Hello all, 

Based on my research so far, I see that there is a way to append one label at a time to an existing issue, or you can also update multiple labels on an existing ticket, but that will then remove any existing labels the issue had originally. I'm looking for a way to append multiple labels to an existing issue, without removing any labels that already exist. I'm looking to do this within one API request. Any ideas if this is possible? 

What I'm working with:

• Version 3 of the Jira Cloud Platform REST API
• Python

Appreciate any insight!

[Brant Schroeder · Accepted solution]

@Carlye Petoff Here is the latest REST API documentation so you know how to properly form your edit call.  https://developer.atlassian.com/cloud/jira/platform/rest/v3/api-group-issues/#api-rest-api-3-issue-issueidorkey-put You will need to use the labels ADD to not remove any of the existing labels.

[Oliver Siebenmarck _Polymetis Apps_ · Accepted solution]

Hi @Carlye Petoff ,

Both, @Brant Schroeder and @Nicolas Grossi , are correct and there answers point to the right direction.

But I just could not pass up the opportunity to help in a label-related topic and write some Python code for fun. So, here you go, a quick example written by someone who hasn't done Python in ages:

import requests
from requests.auth import HTTPBasicAuth

def addLabels(baseUrl, user, apiKey, issueKey, labels):
 "Add multiple labels to an issue"
 auth = HTTPBasicAuth(user, apiKey)
 url = baseUrl + "/rest/api/3/issue/" + issueKey 

 headers = {
   "Accept": "application/json",
   "Content-Type": "application/json"
 }

 payload = """{
   "update": {
   "labels": [
 """

 for label in labels:
   payload = payload + "{\"add\": \""+ label+ "\"},"
   payload = payload[:-1] + "]}}"

 response = requests.request(
  "PUT",
  url,
  data=payload,
  headers=headers,
  auth=auth
 )
 return response.status_code

print(addLabels("https://YOURCOMPANY.atlassian.net", "YOUR_EMAIL", "API_TOKEN", "ISSUE-58", ["label_1", "label_2", "label_3"]))

Hope that helps,
 Oliver

[Carlye Petoff]

Thanks all. I appreciate the responses. I figured out what I was doing wrong with the syntax:

If you want to add multiple labels without removing any of the existing labels, you should format like this:

payload = json.dumps({ "update": {"labels": [{"add": "label1"}, {"add":"label2"}, {"add":"label3"}, {"add":"label4"}]}})

Originally I was doing this, which is incorrect:

payload = json.dumps({ "update": { "labels" : [{"add":"label1", "label2", "label3"}] }})