Update Issue Security levels on existing work items in Jira Cloud

Summary

Learn how to apply security levels to existing work items and automate security settings for new ones.

Solution

Update security levels on existing work items

There are a few ways to proceed, depending on how many items you want to update.

Update work items one by one

1. Navigate to your work item

2. Select the padlock icon in the work item view

3. Choose the relevant security level

Update work items in bulk

Method 1: Using Jira UI (suitable for smaller updates)

1. Search for the relevant work items via JQL.

2. Select ... (More options) > Bulk change work items.

3. Choose Edit work items and update the Security level to the appropriate value.

Please refer to the article Edit multiple work items for more details.

Method 2: Using Jira's REST API (recommended for large volumes)

1. Use the Search API to retrieve issue IDs in manageable batches (up to 1,000 issues).

2. Use the Edit Issue API to update the Security level for each issue programmatically.

3. Ensure you have the 'Set Issue Security' permission and retrieve the numerical ID of your desired Security level before proceeding.

To learn how to configure this, refer to the relevant API documentation and scripting examples. Automation scripts can be used to streamline this process efficiently.

Set issue security at work item creation

The most straightforward option is to use an Automation rule to set the Security level whenever work items are created. An example rule might look like the following:

1. Trigger: Work item created

2. (Optional) Work item fields condition:

   • If needed, set this to a value that will filter for work items that need the chosen security level

3. Action: Edit work item

   • Set the Security level field to your chosen value

For Jira Service Management projects

You can add security levels to service requests in a similar manner to other work items. For more details, please refer to: Add a security level to request types.