How to export Jira issue data with ProForma Lite form content? (Better PDF Exporter for Jira?)

[Trudy Claspill]

Hello community friends,

We have an environment of Jira 9.12.22 / JSD 5.12.22. We have added ProForma Lite to it. We are looking for a solution to export both Jira issue fields and the content of an attached ProForma Lite form in a single export format.

There has been a suggestion that Better PDF Exporter for Jira DC could potentially do it, but the suggester may have been thinking of the Groovy scripting component of Better PDF Exporter leveraging the ProForma REST API, but that REST API is not available in ProForma Lite.

[Aron Gombas _Midori_ · Accepted solution]

@Trudy Claspill I am a developer working the Better PDF Exporter app.

First, a few notes.

Jira Cloud

If you were on Cloud, then Jira Service Management forms can be exported with other work item details to PDF! (This integration is available. Proforma was acquired by Atlassian, and it is now part of the JSM package.) It would result in a PDF document like this:

Jira Data Center

On Data Center, you could absolutely implement the integration with writing a Groovy script. Unfortunately, if the REST API is not available, then this option will not work.

But, still on Data Center, there is another option!

Because the Groovy script runs on the same JVM as the hosting Jira and the Proforma app, you could try to access the Proforma components directly and use those as a sort of "internal API". See this documentation section that illustrates this approach with the Jenkins app.

If you can find a Java component that:

1. is available through the plugin system / OSGi using this approach
2. returns the form fields/values

...then you should be able to do it with reasonable efforts!

In fact, a part of the integrations on DC is implemented with this approach.

[Akriti Sagar]

Hi Trudy,

Thanks for the detailed question!

You're absolutely right—ProForma Lite does not expose the same REST API endpoints that are available in the full version of ProForma (now part of Jira Forms by Atlassian). Because of that limitation, many integration options—including those used by Better PDF Exporter with custom Groovy scripts—won’t work with the Lite version.

That said, here are a few alternative approaches to consider:

1. Manual Workaround
If you're dealing with a small volume of forms, a possible short-term solution is:

Export Jira issue data using Better PDF Exporter, or even a CSV export from a Jira filter.

Download the ProForma form attachments manually from the issue.

Combine both (manually or via PDF editing tools), if a single file is essential.

2. Upgrade to Full ProForma (now Forms)
If exporting form content is a key part of your process, upgrading to the full version of ProForma (or transitioning to Jira Cloud if that's in your roadmap, where Forms are natively integrated) would give you access to the API endpoints needed for custom exports or full Better PDF Exporter integration.

3. Explore Other Apps or Marketplace Options
Some alternative PDF or reporting apps might offer partial support for attachments or embedded content, depending on how the forms are stored. You might want to trial:

Xporter

eazyBI (for reporting needs)

Arsenale Dataplane (for more advanced server reporting)

But again, the form content from ProForma Lite might still be out of reach without native API access.