How to Import Issues from Jira Server to Google Sheets in 2023

You love Jira, you use Jira, but still, you want more than Jira can provide. For example, to build a project roadmap or a custom dashboard. In this case, you can export issues to Google Sheets and play with your source data as needed. Is it possible to pull data from Jira Software Server? Sure! Check out how to do so using Coupler.io.

How do you export data from Jira Server to Google Sheets?

Note: To export data from Jira Server, you need to set up a CSV importer, not a Jira importer, which is used to pull Jira data to Google Sheets.

Exporting data from Jira Cloud is a breeze since Coupler.io provides a ready-to-use Jira integration. For Jira Server, you’ll need to set up a custom integration using the CSV importer. So, you need to sign in to Coupler.io, click “Add importer”, and name your integration whatever you want. 

After that, complete the three steps:

1. Set up Source
2. Set up Destination
3. Set up Schedule

1. Set up Source

• Select CSV as the source application. Click Continue.
• Insert the following CSV URL and click Continue.

https://{your-jira-instance}/sr/jira.issueviews:searchrequest-csv-all-fields/temp/SearchRequest.csv

{your-jira-instance} – replace with your Jira instance, for example mycompany.com/jira

• Pick GET as the HTTP method.
• Insert the following HTTP headers:

Content-Type: "text/csv;charset=UTF-8"
Authorization: Basic {encoded-string}

{encoded-string} – is a base64-encoded string of {your-username}:{your-password}

 For encoding, you can use a dedicated service, such as base64encode.net.

• You can also filter issues from your Jira Server using the URL query string, for example:

jqlQuery: project = TJP AND status = “In Progress” AND component = "bug fixing activity"

Where jqlQuery: is an attribute and the rest is an actual JQL query.

Click Proceed to Destination Settings.

2. Set up Destination

• Click Connect to select and log in to your Google account. Click Continue.
• Spreadsheet: select your Google Sheets doc to export data to.
• Sheet: select the sheet in the chosen spreadsheet. Click Continue.
• Cell address: optionally you can choose the first cell where to import your data range. Click Continue.
• Import mode: optionally you can choose the import mode (replace or append), as well as add a column specifying the date and time of the last data refresh. Click Continue.

Alternatively, you can export Jira to Excel by chaning the destination app and setting it up accordingly.

3. Set up Schedule 

(in the add-on version, this step is called Settings)

You can automate export of data from Jira Server to Google Sheets on a custom schedule. To do this, toggle on Automatic data refresh and configure the schedule.

When you’re ready, click Save and Run to import your data. After the import, you can click the Open button to check out the results in the spreadsheet.

Learn more about other data exporting options available with the CSV importer in the blog post, Import CSV into Google Sheets.

Why pull data from Jira Server?

Depending on the infrastructure, clients use either Jira Server or Jira Cloud. The Cloud option means that your Jira Software site will be hosted and set up in the cloud for you. With Jira Software Server and Data Center, you can customize your setup, and the site will be hosted on your dedicated hardware. In specific cases, clients may opt for both options. For example, Jira Cloud can serve as a test environment, while Server is used as a production one. 

Whichever option you choose, you may want to export raw data from it. Why? Google Sheets gives the power to visualize and process your data in many ways. Some do accounting and reporting in spreadsheets, others build custom dashboards and so on. Tech-savvy Jira users pull data using APIs. But who would want to mess with coding when there is a much simpler way to get data from Jira Server?

Use case: how you can use Jira Server integrated with Google Sheets

What can you do with all this raw data imported from Jira Server? Some product teams build interactive roadmaps based on it. We suggest you tailor a simple performance monitor, which will let you track productivity of certain issue holders. Here is how it may look:

Here you can see a breakdown by assignees and the values associated with each of them. So, you can track how many issues each assignee closed and how much time he or she spent on average. If you’d like to see the performance in detail, you can choose a certain team member and get a specified report as follows:

For your convenience, you can download this ready-to-use report template and adjust it for your specific project.

To wrap up: should you import data from Jira Cloud or Jira Server?

The answer is both! You can even pull project-level from Jira Cloud using the JSON Client importer. With Coupler.io you can set up multiple importers and schedule them to import data automatically. So, you won’t even need to run importers manually each time you want to update your source data. The add-on will do this based on the chosen schedule. This feature is crucial for real-time monitors and sales trackers. Enjoy your data in Google Sheets and discover more importers with Coupler.io. Good luck!