jira-project-backup-restore 1.3.2

Backup and restore individual Jira Cloud projects via REST API

Jira Project Backup & Restore

Backup and restore individual Jira Cloud projects via REST API — issues, comments, worklogs, attachments, boards, and sprints. Fully resumable, with an interactive menu and CLI mode.

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Why?

Jira Cloud has no built-in per-project backup/restore. The only native option was the full-instance Backup Manager, which Atlassian deprecated in March 2026. This tool fills the gap using standard REST API v3 endpoints.

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Features

Feature	Description
Full project backup	Metadata, components, versions, roles, issues (all fields + changelog), worklogs, attachments, agile boards, sprints
5-phase restore	Issues (epics first, subtasks last), links, comments, worklogs, attachments
Multi-project	Backup dozens of projects in a single run
Skip existing	--skip-existing skips projects that already have a complete backup
Auto-cleanup	Incomplete/partial backup folders are automatically removed before each run
Resumable	Safely re-run after interruption — already-processed items are skipped
Memory efficient	Issues stream directly to disk — backup 18 000+ issues on a 1 GB host without OOM
Dry-run mode	Preview all restore actions without making any API calls
Rate-limit aware	Exponential backoff with 429 / Retry-After detection
CSV export	Export backup data to CSV files for reporting, auditing, and sharing
Backup inspection	Detailed breakdown of issue types, statuses, priorities, and assignees
Connection test	Pre-flight check: authentication, project access, and server info
Interactive menu	Guided workflow with organised sections and post-operation summaries
CLI mode	--backup / --restore / --export-csv flags for scripted or cron use

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Quick Start

1. Install

Via PyPI (recommended):

pip install jira-project-backup-restore

Or clone for development:

git clone https://github.com/davidmalko87/jira-project-backup-restore.git
cd jira-project-backup-restore
pip install -r requirements.txt

2. Configure

cp .env.example .env

Edit .env with your Jira Cloud credentials:

JIRA_URL=https://your-domain.atlassian.net
JIRA_EMAIL=[e-mail]
JIRA_API_TOKEN=your-api-token

Generate an API token at id.atlassian.com/manage-api-tokens

3. Run

Interactive menu:

python main.py

==================================================
  Jira Backup & Restore Tool v1.3.2
==================================================
  Instance : https://your-domain.atlassian.net
  Auth     : API Token
  Backups  : ./backups

  --- Backup & Restore ---
  1) Backup project(s)
  2) Restore project from backup

  --- Browse & Analyze ---
  3) List existing backups
  4) Validate backup integrity
  5) Upload attachments only
  6) Export backup to CSV
  7) Inspect backup details

  --- Settings & Tools ---
  8) Test Jira connection
  9) Show current configuration
  10) Cleanup incomplete backups
  0) Exit

CLI — backup:

python main.py --backup PROJ
python main.py --backup PROJ1,PROJ2
python main.py --backup PROJ1,PROJ2 --skip-existing

CLI — restore:

python main.py --restore backups/PROJ_20260322_143000 --target NEWPROJ
python main.py --restore backups/PROJ_20260322_143000 --target NEWPROJ --dry-run

CLI — export to CSV:

python main.py --export-csv backups/PROJ_20260322_143000
python main.py --export-csv backups/PROJ_20260322_143000 --output-dir /tmp/report

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What Gets Backed Up

File	Contents
project_meta.json	Project config — name, lead, category, permission scheme
components.json	All project components
versions.json	All fix versions
roles.json	Role-to-member mappings
issues.json	All issues — every field, changelog history
worklogs/worklogs.json	Time tracking entries per issue
attachments/<KEY>/	Binary attachment files, streamed to disk
boards.json	Agile board list
board_<id>_config.json	Board columns and swimlanes
board_<id>_sprints.json	Sprint history
manifest.json	File index — presence marks the backup as complete

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Restore Phases

Each phase can be toggled individually and is fully resumable via restore_progress.json:

Phase	What happens	Endpoint
1	Create issues — epics first, then regular, then subtasks	POST /rest/api/3/issue
2	Restore issue links (outward only, no duplicates)	POST /rest/api/3/issueLink
3	Add comments — original author and date prepended as text	POST /rest/api/3/issue/{key}/comment
4	Add worklogs — original author prepended as text	POST /rest/api/3/issue/{key}/worklog
5	Upload attachments — skips duplicates by filename	POST /rest/api/3/issue/{key}/attachments

Issue key mapping between source and target is saved in key_mapping.json inside the backup directory.

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Known Limitations

These are Jira Cloud REST API constraints — not tool limitations:

Data	Status	Notes
Timestamps (created/updated)	Not restorable	Cloud API blocks setting these fields
Changelog / history	Backup only	No write endpoint exists
Comment / worklog author	Text attribution	[Originally by Name on Date] prepended
Reporter / Assignee	Conditional	Restored only if the user's email exists in the target instance
Issue status	Resets to default	Workflow transitions not yet automated
Issue keys (e.g. KEY-123)	Reassigned	Cloud assigns new keys; old→new mapping is saved

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Project Structure

jira-project-backup-restore/
├── main.py                   # Entry point — interactive menu + CLI flags
├── .env.example              # Configuration template
├── requirements.txt          # Python dependencies
│
├── jira_tool/
│   ├── config.py             # .env loader and validation
│   ├── auth.py               # Session builder (API token / cookie auth)
│   ├── api_client.py         # HTTP client with retry and rate-limit handling
│   ├── backup.py             # BackupManager — orchestrates full project backup
│   ├── restore.py            # RestoreManager — 5-phase restore
│   ├── export.py             # CSV export and backup statistics
│   ├── attachments.py        # Standalone attachment uploader
│   ├── adf.py                # Atlassian Document Format helpers
│   ├── progress.py           # Resumability tracker
│   ├── utils.py              # Logging, JSON I/O, utilities
│   ├── cli.py                # Console-script entry point
│   └── menu.py               # Interactive CLI menu
│
└── backups/                  # Backup output directory (gitignored)
    └── PROJ_20260322_143000/
        ├── manifest.json     # Completion marker + file index
        ├── issues.json
        ├── attachments/
        └── ...

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Configuration Reference

All settings live in .env (copy from .env.example):

Variable	Required	Default	Description
JIRA_URL	Yes	—	Jira Cloud base URL (no trailing slash)
JIRA_EMAIL	Yes*	—	Account email for API token auth
JIRA_API_TOKEN	Yes*	—	API token — generate here
JIRA_COOKIE_HEADER	Alt*	—	Full Cookie: header value for SSO auth
JIRA_VERIFY_SSL	No	true	Set false to skip SSL verification
BACKUP_ROOT	No	./backups	Directory where backups are written
PAGE_SIZE	No	100	Issues per API page (max 100)
MAX_RETRIES	No	3	Retry count on transient failures
READ_TIMEOUT	No	30	HTTP read timeout in seconds
API_DELAY	No	0.2	Seconds to wait between API calls
INCLUDE_ATTACHMENTS	No	true	Download attachment binary files
INCLUDE_CHANGELOG	No	true	Include field change history in issues
INCLUDE_WORKLOGS	No	true	Include time tracking entries
LEGACY_KEY_JQL_TEMPLATE	No	—	JQL template for standalone attachment upload

* Either JIRA_EMAIL + JIRA_API_TOKEN or JIRA_COOKIE_HEADER is required.

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Requirements

• Python 3.10+
• requests >= 2.28
• python-dotenv >= 1.0

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Changelog

See CHANGELOG.md for the full version history.

Contributing

See CONTRIBUTING.md for the versioning policy and how to bump the version when making changes.

License

MIT