Adding labels to JIRA tickets via SOAP API

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1

Hey everyone,

I’m trying to figure out how to add labels to JIRA tickets using the SOAP API. I’ve been looking through the WSDL but can’t find anything about labels. Even when I fetch a ticket that I know has labels, the API response doesn’t show them.

Is there a special trick to setting or getting labels through the API? Or is this feature not supported?

Any help or pointers would be great. Thanks!

2

I’ve been in your shoes, Ethan. The SOAP API can be frustrating when it comes to labels. In my experience, switching to the REST API is the way to go. It’s more modern and handles labels natively.

For reading labels, you can use a GET request to /rest/api/2/issue/{issueKey}. To add or remove labels, send a PUT request to the same endpoint with a JSON payload.

Here’s a quick example in Python using the requests library:

import requests

url = 'https://your-jira-instance.com/rest/api/2/issue/{issueKey}'
auth = ('your_username', 'your_password')
payload = {
    'update': {
        'labels': [{'add': 'new_label'}]
    }
}

response = requests.put(url, json=payload, auth=auth)

This approach has saved me countless hours of headaches. Give it a try and let us know how it goes!

3

I’ve encountered this issue before when working with the JIRA SOAP API. Unfortunately, label management isn’t directly supported through SOAP. The API doesn’t expose labels as a first-class property of issues.

However, there’s a workaround you can use. Labels in JIRA are actually stored as a custom field. You can access and modify them by manipulating this custom field through the API. First, you’ll need to find the ID of the labels custom field in your JIRA instance. Then, you can use the updateIssue or editIssue methods to modify the field value.

It’s not the most elegant solution, but it gets the job done. Just be aware that this approach might break if JIRA changes how they handle labels internally in future versions.

4

yo ethan, i feel ur pain. SOAP API’s a bit lacking for labels. try using the REST API instead - it’s way better for this stuff. You can GET /rest/api/2/issue/{issueKey} to see labels, and use PUT to update em. way easier than messin with custom fields n stuff. good luck!