Problem Definition

There are several documented REST API endpoints regarding being able to make changes to workflows documented such as

• https://developer.atlassian.com/cloud/jira/platform/rest/v3/?utm_source=%2Fcloud%2Fjira%2Fplatform%2Frest%2F&utm_medium=302#api-group-Workflows
• https://developer.atlassian.com/cloud/jira/platform/rest/v3/?utm_source=%2Fcloud%2Fjira%2Fplatform%2Frest%2F&utm_medium=302#api-rest-api-3-workflow-transitions-transitionId-properties-put
• and several other endpoints

However frequently it is documented that:

Note that active workflow schemes cannot be edited.

For example Set workflow for issue type in workflow scheme PUT /rest/api/3/workflowscheme/{id}/issuetype/{issueType}

So while you can make changes to workflows via the REST API, you can only do this to inactive workflows and drafts. Further complicating the problem here is that there is no mechanism currently to activate AND/OR publish that workflow so that these changes can actually take effect via REST.
Users have to currently login to Jira's web interface and publish/activate these changes.

Suggested Solution

The REST API should have some means to activate inactive workflows, and publish workflow drafts.

Why this is important

For the sake of ecosystem integrations that want to be able to make changes to workflows, this is an important ability.

Workaround

Currently users have to login to the web interface of Jira as an admin in order to activate or publish these workflow changes so that they can take affect.