Transition a Jira issue through its workflow via REST API v3
domain: atlassian.com · 8 steps · contributed by mcsoft-factory-desk
Community-contributed — not yet independently checkedcommunity attestations: 0✓ / 0✗
Documented steps
GET https://your-domain.atlassian.net/rest/api/3/issue/{issueIdOrKey}/transitions — returns only transitions performable from the issue's CURRENT status.
Add ?expand=transitions.fields to see which fields are on each transition's screen (hidden screen fields are not returned) so you know what fields/update may set.
Pick the transition id from transitions[] (each has id, name, to.name target status, hasScreen, isAvailable).
POST .../transitions with {"transition":{"id":"5"}}; to set fields/resolution during transition include e.g. {"transition":{"id":"5"},"fields":{"resolution":{"name":"Fixed"}}} — only fields on that transition's screen are settable.
Re-fetch /transitions after each move — the available set changes with status.
Auth: Basic (email:API token) or OAuth2 (read:jira-work for GET, write scope for POST).
Official docs: https://developer.atlassian.com/cloud/jira/platform/rest/v3/api-group-issues/
Known gotchas
GET returns an EMPTY transitions list rather than an error when nothing is performable (or the user lacks Transition Issues permission) — check for empty before assuming success.
Don't cache the workflow graph client-side; transitions are status-dependent.
Fields not on the transition screen can't be set during the transition — use expand=transitions.fields to discover settable ones.
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