Importing/Updating issues using the External System Import (CSV) allows updating the Time spent directly without a work log entry

Issue Summary

Importing/Updating issues using the External System Import (CSV) allows updating the Time spent directly without a work log entry

Steps to Reproduce

1. Create a CSV file with data to create/update an issue, including Time Spent.
2. Use the External System Import to create/update an issue, mapping the Time Spent from the file.

Expected Results

1. The issue created/updated reflects the Time spent from the import operation.
2. An entry is added to the work log tab that allows viewing who made the change in the Time spent field, and also to be able to edit/delete this work log/time spent.
3. An entry is added to the History tab to allow knowing who changed the value (valid only for Issue update).

Actual Results

1. The issue created/updated reflects the Time spent from the import operation. For update operation, the Time spent will simply "set" the Time spent to the value indicated in the file, which will disjoint the Time spent from the work logs.
2. There is no entry added to the work log tab so it is not possible to know who placed this time spent in the issue, and most importantly, it is not possible to edit or remove this time spent, which makes this time spent a "ghost" time which cannot be removed, meaning that the sum of worklogs will no longer amount to the total of time spent, causing confusion and discrepancies in reports.
3. There is no entry added to the History tab so it is not possible to see who or even when the Time spent was updated (valid only for Issue update).

Notes:

• Through UI, it is not possible to indicate Time spent during issue creation.
• If a user wants to interact with the Time Spent through REST API, this has to be done through the Work log endpoints, meaning that there is always a work log added which results in the update of the Time spent.
• It is understandable that the CSV import would allow doing this as it is meant to help with migrations, at the same time, it seems logical the CSV import should do something similar to the REST API to keep the consistency between work logs and total Time spent.
• The documentation page Import data from a CSV file indicates that you can import worklogs which sound like a safe option, and perhaps it should simply not be possible to indicate the time spent directly through CSV imports, as it is also not possible in Jira UI or through REST API.

Workaround

• To avoid this scenario: do not map "Time spent" during the CSV import process, use a worklog entry instead. This is indicated in the section "Importing worklog entries" of our documentation page Import data from a CSV file, and you can look at this community discussion where there are examples about it: How to Import worklogs into Jira using CSV
• If the issue has already happened and it is necessary to edit/remove time spent: use the CSV import once again to "fix" the time spent so it matches the work logs.