Managing Work Logs for Others via the API
Why the API logs work under the caller, and how to log for others.
Jira records every work log under the account that authenticates the request. There is no way to set a different author from the API: Jira ignores the author and updateAuthor values in the request body by design. So a script running under one account logs everything under that one person, no matter whose work it is.
To attribute a work log to a specific teammate through the API, send that person's request authenticated as them, using their own Jira API token. This means one token per user: each teammate generates a token from their Atlassian account (see Setting Up Jira REST API Token), and your integration signs each create call with the token of the user the work belongs to.
Managing a separate token for every teammate is extra overhead. If you mainly need to fill in or correct your team's hours, logging through the app is usually simpler: in the Log Work dialog a user with permission to manage others' work logs can pick the User the entry belongs to, and JetTime records it under that person natively. See Logging Work for Others.
Already sent a batch under one person's token? Hand those work logs to their real authors at once: change User in the bulk editor.
JetTime's locks don't apply to the Jira REST API. Your integration can still create, edit or delete a work log in a submitted, approved or closed period, or on or before a Lock Date. See What Gets Locked.
Next Steps
For more information, see Logging Work via the API, Retrieving Work Logs via the API, and JetTime Work Log Metadata.