Based on our documentation under the section "Jira Data Synchronization,," here's what I found:

"When you consolidate the Create and Edit Jira Software screens, if the Jira Align Owner field is populated but the Reporter field does not exist in Jira Software, the sync will fail. However, if the Reporter field does not exist in Jira Software and the Jira Align Owner field is not populated, the sync will be successful because the connector skips the mapping."

Doing some tests in Jira Cloud and DC, seems like what makes it possible for JA to create the Feature without having the Reporter field on Jira is the option "Settings > Jira Setup > Does creating stories in Jira allow both an assignee and reporter assignment?" set as NO, as while it is set as YES, JA will fail with the "Request, reporter: Field 'reporter' cannot be set".

Here are 2 interesting points:

• If the Option is set as YES, all Features fail to be created in Jira if the Reporter is not on the screen (so having the owner on JA doesn't matter)
• In both instances of Jira, even though the Reporter doesn't exist on the Screen, Jira does assign the person as the reporter, you just can't see it on the issue, but you can see it if you go search for it, like:

So yes, it is possible to not have the Reporter on Jira, but the doc is incorrect in its statement about how it behaves in these scenarios (also, the description of the option is incorrect).

We would like to ask a review of the statement, and a new document explaining the functionality. Thank you!