I am trying to create a new issue using java and the API. The get issueTypes method in the API’s response contains 18 different objects for the same type of issue but the ID is differing. When I use any of the IDs, it fails and says that the issue type doesn’t exist in the account.
Welcome to the Atlassian developer community, @ChristopherMcCarroll.
You might already know 90% of what is explained in this blog post on creating an issue with the REST API but I link as reference for all:
A minimum issue payload will have a project, an issue type, and a summary. The problem you face is that issue types with the same name can be used in many projects. From the Jira perspective, these are different issue types, potentially with different custom fields and/or workflow configurations. The best way to narrow the set of things a client needs to create an issue within the context of a project (and potentially an issue type, once you have it) is get create issue metadata using GET /rest/api/3/issue/createmeta?projectKeys=proj1. Be sure to read the docs for other variations, like if you have a project id instead of key.