Pull JIRA Data into Google Sheets - API Integration Tutorial

How to connect JIRA to Google Sheets

JIRA is an issue tracking and project management software. In this tutorial, you will learn how to integrate JIRA with Google Sheets by connecting the Jira API to Google Sheets in 6 steps:

Install the Apipheny Add-on
Create a JIRA API App
Obtain a JIRA API Access Token
Choose your JIRA API Endpoint
Enter your Jira API request into Apipheny
Run the Jira API request in your Google Sheet

Step 1.) Install and open the Apipheny add-on for Google Sheets

Apipheny is a free API connector for Google Sheets. You can use Apipheny to connect your Google Sheets to API data sources, easily.

1.) Install Apipheny by opening the following link on desktop and then clicking the Install button in the Google Marketplace: https://apipheny.io/install

2.) After you’ve installed Apipheny, open a Google Sheet and then click on the Extensions dropdown in the menu at the top.

In the dropdown list you should see Apipheny. Click Apipheny then click Import API to open the Apipheny sidebar in your Google Sheet.

Tip: you can open a new Google Sheet by entering this URL in your browser: sheet.new

Step 2.) Create a JIRA API App

Sign in to your JIRA account. Then, on the JIRA developer site, click the user menu and select the Create App button:

Then, complete the Name field, checkmark the Atlassian’s developer terms checkbox and then click the Create button again:

Your JIRA API app has now been created:

Step 3.) Obtain a JIRA API Access Token

Go to https://id.atlassian.com/manage-profile/security/api-tokens and click the Create API token button:

Complete the Label field with an easy-to-remember name and then click the Create button:

Your token has now been generated.

Click the Copy button and paste your token in a safe location because you’ll need the token in the next steps.

Copy your JIRA API token to a safe location

Step 4.) Choose your JIRA API Endpoint URL

In this section, I’ll show you how to browse the Jira API documentation to find an API endpoint URL that retrieves the information you need from your JIRA account.

An endpoint is just a specific API URL that will tell JIRA exactly what data you want returned to your Google Sheet.

If you already know your JIRA API URL, or you want to use the same example URL as us, just skip to Step 5.

First, open the Jira API documentation page: https://developer.atlassian.com/cloud/jira/platform/rest/v3/

The menu on the left contains a list of categorized endpoints for the Jira API:

An example JIRA endpoint is the Avatars category, which includes the Get system avatars by type, the Get avatars, the Load avatar and the Delete avatar endpoints.

An example endpoint is the Get system avatars by type, that returns a list of system avatar details by owner type, where the owner types are issue type, project or user:

https://apiphenysite.atlassian.net/rest/api/3/avatar/{type}/system

The documentation for each endpoint contains the HTTP method used (eg. GET), a short description of the endpoint’s purpose, a list of required permissions, a description of the accepted parameters and example requests and responses:

All API calls to Jira should be made to the https://[appname].atlassian.net/rest/api/3 base domain.

Step 5.) Enter the Jira API URL into Apipheny

Now, to enter your JIRA API request in your Google Sheet, first go back to your Google Sheet and make sure that the Apipheny add-on is open on the “Import” tab.

With the Import Tab open, enter these details into the Apipheny add-on:

Method: At the top of the Apipheny add-on, select the HTTP method (GET or POST) required by your API endpoint. For this example, we are using the GET method.

API URL: In Step 4, we explained how you can find the JIRA API endpoint that you need. Now copy the complete URL into the Apipheny add-on, where it says API URL Path (JSON / CSV), followed by any GET parameters required for your query.

For this example, we are using the Get current user endpoint, that gets information about the current user. The corresponding URL that we’re using for this endpoint is:

https://apiphenysite.atlassian.net/rest/api/3/myself

In the Headers section, add two rows with the following keys and values:

Header 1
Key:
Authorization
Value:
Basic encoded_string

Header 2
Key:
Content-Type
Value:
application/json

In header 1, the encoded_string value is the string obtained by base64-encoding the string containing the email address and the token you generated previously, in Step 3, separated by a colon (“:”).

You can use the base64 terminal command on Linux-type systems, or use the search term “base64 encoder” on Google to find web-based implementations.

JIRA API Request entered into Apipheny with the API URL and 2 different headers

Step 6.) Run the Jira API Request in your Google Sheet

Lastly, click the Run button at the bottom of the Apipheny add-on and then your JIRA API data will be imported into your Google Sheet:

JIRA API data integrated into Google Sheets with Apipheny

And that’s how you can integrate JIRA with Google Sheets using Apipheny!

After making a successful request to the Jira API, try querying a different JIRA API endpoint, or try using one of the more advanced features in the Apipheny add-on.