Some features in Jira and Confluence require application access. We did our best to ensure these work even with License Optimizer enabled. Please see below for more details. You’ll also find some details about what is considered user activity.

REST Calls

When calling any REST API for Jira or Confluence with a user managed by the License Optimiser, the call will only succeed with Basic Authentication. This is because we can’t derive the username from the request when using Bearer Authentication, which is the only allowed method for Atlassian’s Personal Access Tokens.

Alternatives

• Create a dedicated group that provides application access to these users permanently, essentially excluding them from being managed by License Optimizer

• Use Basic Authentication with an app that provides both secure tokens and allows that:

  • https://marketplace.atlassian.com/apps/1221586/api-token-authentication-for-jira-expand-connection-security?hosting=datacenter&tab=overview

  • https://marketplace.atlassian.com/apps/1221608/api-token-authentication-for-confluence-expand-user-security?hosting=datacenter&tab=overview

Automation Rules, Workflows & Co

Our app can’t intercept automation rules, workflows, or other scripts that might try to do something with a user that requires application access for that to succeed.
Thus, if feasible, you need to adjust these to add the user to the license group before the action. If you have named users as script executors who are being license-optimized with our app, you should replace them with users who are excluded from optimization.

Jira

There are currently no known limitations, but you might need to enable a dark feature to ensure notifications are being sent:

License Optimizer and Jira E-Mail Notifications

Please read a more detailed description of what you need to verify here: https://wiki.resolution.de/go/ud/jira-notifications

Remaining limitations

• E-mail handler integrations: users currently not licensed can't create issues by sending an e-mail

• Data sent via application links, i.e., posting commits from Bitbucket to Jira, is not being detected.

Activity in Jira

Jira Service Management

Even with an open browser tab but with no real user interaction in it, the Jira REST API is periodically called from that tab:

• The Service Management SLA (re)calculation endpoint

Thus, these users would not be removed from the group providing licensed access unless they close any open tabs with issues in Jira Service Management.

Confluence

Remaining Limitations

• Jira issue list macros embedded in Confluence pages

  • If the user in Confluence is currently not active in Jira, Confluence can't show the Jira issues and presents a link to see the issues in Jira instead

    • Because of technical platform limitations, there's no way to change that behaviour

    • You might have a chance to overcome this limitation with the following configuration

      • Jira is a user server in Confluence with its Crowd Permissions set to Read/Write

        • Modifying users, groups, and memberships in Confluence will apply the changes directly to your Crowd server (Jira).

      • License Optimizer in Confluence

      • In Jira, assign the confluence-licensed-users group (or whatever group you use as the License Group in the configuration) the JSM and/or Jira Software license.
        

        

        • Whenever users are active in Confluence, they’ll be in the confluence-licensed-users group.

        • The membership is also visible in Jira, and because of the app access the users have at that time, they won’t get an error in the macro in Confluence.
          

• Team Calendar notifications when watching a calendar and for reminders

  • We are currently evaluating if it’s feasible to make these work as well (written November 19th 2025)

• Recommended updates via email to users who currently don't have a Confluence license

  • We don't plan to work around this issue.

Activity in Confluence

Even with an open browser tab but with no real user interaction in it, the Confluence REST API is periodically called from that tab:

• The Quick Reload endpoint by the plugin with the same name lets a user know if new comments have been added to the page that they're on

• The Notifications and Tasks REST endpoint is used to inform about new notifications in Confluence

• The Atlassian Analytics API, if enabled

Thus, these users would not be removed from the group providing licensed access, but only if they close any open tabs with Confluence.

E-Mail Notifications and License Consumption

Many users can be added to the license group to overcome the limitation of email notifications mentioned above. You might have pages with many watchers who are currently not actively working.
License Optimizer will only add users up to the number of available licenses. Please note that this may result in some users not receiving notifications. If some spaces or pages are frequently updated and you have a large number of subscribers, this can also require more licenses. Keeping the inactivity period setting at the minimum allowed value will at least ensure that licenses are freed up again as soon as possible.