oAuth Dancing With Jira And Apps Script

oAuth is a framework that allows applications and services to request and provide access to one another without requiring they exchange a user’s username and password(basic authentication). It is a more secure mechanism for authorizing API access because user credentials don’t need to be passed in the API call in clear text. A simple way to think of it is like providing a service access alarm code to your house. It is not the master code you use, you can set an expiration date, and you can cancel access at any time.

I had been trying to implement oAuth authentication within the Apps Scripts of my various Jira tools that call the Jira REST API for a while with little success. The process didn’t seem that difficult, but there was no place I was able to find that documented the entire process start to finish for an Apps Scripts implementation. Disparate sources all over the Web covered portions of the process, but they varied in detail and at times had conflicting information that just added to my confusion and frustration.

Through a lot of digging, and trial and error, I was finally able to piece together everything that needs to be done and successfully implemented oAuth authentication with the Jira REST API. I thought I would share what I had learned so others wanting to do the same don’t experience the same frustration for what should be a…