acli

name	acli
description	Reference for using the acli (Atlassian CLI) to interact with JIRA issues. Covers searching with JQL, creating, viewing, editing, transitioning, assigning, commenting, linking, cloning, and bulk operations. Use when performing any JIRA issue operation via acli from the command line. Provides patterns for output parsing with jq, ADF-formatted descriptions and comments, custom field handling via REST fallback, and bulk JQL-targeted mutations.
allowed-tools	["Bash(acli jira workitem view *)","Bash(acli jira workitem search *)","Bash(acli jira workitem create *)","Bash(acli jira workitem create-bulk *)","Bash(acli jira workitem edit *)","Bash(acli jira workitem transition *)","Bash(acli jira workitem assign *)","Bash(acli jira workitem clone *)","Bash(acli jira workitem comment *)","Bash(acli jira workitem link *)","Bash(acli jira project *)","Bash(acli jira auth status)","Bash(curl -sS -u * https://*.atlassian.net/rest/api/3/*)","Bash(jq *)","Read"]

acli JIRA Operations

The acli CLI is the primary interface for JIRA issue operations. General syntax:

acli jira <resource> <action> [flags]

For the full flag reference of every command, read references/command-ref.md.

Authentication

Check auth status before any operation:

acli jira auth status

If not authenticated:

acli jira auth login --site <domain> --email <email> --token

Credential locations (checked in order):

• ~/.config/acli/jira_config.yaml — email
• ~/.config/acli/token.txt or ~/.acli-token — API token
• $JIRA_API_TOKEN / $JIRA_USER — environment variables

Viewing Issues

acli jira workitem view KEY-123
acli jira workitem view KEY-123 --json
acli jira workitem view KEY-123 --fields '*all' --json
acli jira workitem view KEY-123 --fields 'summary,status,assignee'

Parse JSON output with jq:

acli jira workitem view KEY-123 --json | jq '{
  key: .key,
  summary: .fields.summary,
  status: .fields.status.name,
  assignee: (.fields.assignee.displayName // "unassigned"),
  type: .fields.issuetype.name,
  priority: .fields.priority.name,
  labels: .fields.labels
}'

Searching with JQL

acli jira workitem search --jql "project = PROJ AND status = 'In Progress'" --json
acli jira workitem search --jql "assignee = currentUser()" --fields "key,summary,status" --csv
acli jira workitem search --jql "project = PROJ" --count
acli jira workitem search --jql "project = PROJ" --limit 50 --json
acli jira workitem search --jql "project = PROJ" --paginate

Common JQL patterns:

Query	JQL
My open issues	assignee = currentUser() AND status != Done
Recent bugs	project = PROJ AND type = Bug AND created >= -7d
Unassigned in project	project = PROJ AND assignee is EMPTY
By label	project = PROJ AND labels = "my-label"
By component	project = PROJ AND component = "my-component"
Text search	project = PROJ AND text ~ "search term"
By priority	project = PROJ AND priority in (Critical, Blocker)
Updated recently	project = PROJ AND updated >= -1d ORDER BY updated DESC

Parse search results:

acli jira workitem search --jql "..." --json | jq '[.[] | {key, summary: .fields.summary, status: .fields.status.name}]'

Creating Issues

Basic creation:

acli jira workitem create \
  --project "PROJ" --type "Bug" \
  --summary "Summary text" \
  --description "Description text" \
  --assignee "@me" \
  --label "label1,label2" \
  --json

For custom fields (components, priority, epic link), use --from-json:

acli jira workitem create --from-json issue.json --json

Build the JSON with jq:

jq -n '{
  projectKey: "PROJ",
  issueType: "Story",
  summary: "My story",
  description: "Description in plain text or ADF",
  assignee: "[e-mail]",
  label: ["label1"],
  additionalAttributes: {
    components: [{"name": "my-component"}],
    priority: {"name": "Major"},
    parent: {"key": "PROJ-100"}
  }
}' > /tmp/issue.json
acli jira workitem create --from-json /tmp/issue.json --json

Set fields that create cannot handle natively via REST after creation — see the Custom Fields section below.

Bulk Creation

From JSON:

acli jira workitem create-bulk --from-json issues.json --yes

From CSV (columns: summary, projectKey, issueType, description, label, parentIssueId, assignee):

acli jira workitem create-bulk --from-csv issues.csv --yes

Generate example JSON structure:

acli jira workitem create-bulk --generate-json

Editing Issues

Direct field edits:

acli jira workitem edit --key KEY-123 --summary "New summary" --yes
acli jira workitem edit --key KEY-123 --description "New description" --yes
acli jira workitem edit --key KEY-123 --assignee "[e-mail]" --yes
acli jira workitem edit --key KEY-123 --labels "new-label" --yes
acli jira workitem edit --key KEY-123 --type "Story" --yes

Bulk edit via JQL:

acli jira workitem edit --jql "project = PROJ AND labels = old-label" --labels "new-label" --yes

Remove labels:

acli jira workitem edit --key KEY-123 --remove-labels "unwanted-label" --yes

Transitioning Issues

acli jira workitem transition --key KEY-123 --status "In Progress" --yes

Bulk transition via JQL:

acli jira workitem transition --jql "project = PROJ AND status = New" --status "In Progress" --yes

If a transition fails, view the issue with --fields '*all' --json and inspect available transitions.

Assigning Issues

acli jira workitem assign --key KEY-123 --assignee "@me"
acli jira workitem assign --key KEY-123 --assignee "[e-mail]"
acli jira workitem assign --key KEY-123 --remove-assignee

Bulk assign via JQL:

acli jira workitem assign --jql "project = PROJ AND status = New" --assignee "@me" --yes

Comments

Create a comment:

acli jira workitem comment create --key KEY-123 --body "Comment text"

Create from file (supports ADF JSON):

acli jira workitem comment create --key KEY-123 --body-file comment.json

List comments:

acli jira workitem comment list --key KEY-123 --json

Update last comment:

acli jira workitem comment create --key KEY-123 --body "Updated text" --edit-last

ADF Format for Comments and Descriptions

JIRA Cloud uses Atlassian Document Format (ADF) for rich text. When providing structured content to --description, --body, or --description-file/--body-file, use ADF JSON:

{
  "type": "doc",
  "version": 1,
  "content": [
    {
      "type": "paragraph",
      "content": [
        {"type": "text", "text": "Plain text here"}
      ]
    },
    {
      "type": "heading",
      "attrs": {"level": 3},
      "content": [
        {"type": "text", "text": "Section Heading"}
      ]
    }
    
       
       
        
           
           
            
               
                  
            
          
        
      
    
    
       
        
       
           
      
    
  

Always prefer ADF JSON over wiki markup for descriptions and comments.

Linking Issues

List available link types:

acli jira workitem link type

Create a link:

acli jira workitem link create --out KEY-123 --in KEY-456 --type "Blocks"

• --out is the outward issue (e.g., "blocks" KEY-456)
• --in is the inward issue (e.g., "is blocked by" KEY-123)

List links on an issue:

acli jira workitem link list --key KEY-123

Bulk link from CSV:

acli jira workitem link create --from-csv links.csv --yes

Cloning Issues

acli jira workitem clone --key KEY-123 --to-project "OTHERPROJ" --yes

Clone and link:

CLONE_KEY=$(acli jira workitem clone --key KEY-123 --to-project PROJ --yes --json | jq -r '.key')
acli jira workitem link create --out "$CLONE_KEY" --in KEY-123 --type "Blocks" --yes

Custom Fields via REST Fallback

acli workitem edit does not support custom fields. Use the REST API with curl for fields like components, priority, fix versions, or any custom field:

Obtain EMAIL and TOKEN from the environment ($JIRA_USER, $JIRA_API_TOKEN) or by reading ~/.config/acli/jira_config.yaml and ~/.config/acli/token.txt with the Read tool.

DOMAIN="${JIRA_DOMAIN:-redhat.atlassian.net}"

curl -sS -u "$EMAIL:$TOKEN" -X PUT -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"fields":{"components":[{"name":"my-component"}],"priority":{"name":"Major"}}}' \
  "https://${DOMAIN}/rest/api/3/issue/KEY-123"

Build payloads dynamically with jq:

jq -n --arg ver "4.18" --arg field "customfield_10855" \
  '{fields: {($field): [{"name": $ver}]}}' | \
  curl -sS -u "$EMAIL:$TOKEN" -X PUT -H "Content-Type: application/json" -d @- \
  "https://${DOMAIN}/rest/api/3/issue/KEY-123"

Output Handling

Flag	Format	Best for
(none)	Human-readable table	Interactive use
--json	JSON	Parsing with jq, programmatic use
--csv	CSV	Spreadsheet export, bulk analysis
--fields	Select columns	Reducing noise in output
--count	Number only	Quick counts from search

Combine --json with jq for precise extraction:

acli jira workitem search --jql "..." --json | jq '[.[] | {key, summary: .fields.summary}]'

Project Listing

acli jira project list
acli jira project view PROJ

Gotchas

• Always use --json — table/text output has known formatting bugs; --json is reliable
• Always use --yes in non-interactive contexts — acli prompts for confirmation by default
• Intermittent failures — acli can fail with "unexpected error" and a trace id; retry the command
• --fields unreliable with custom fields — use '*all' and filter with jq instead
• key = PROJ-123 in JQL can fail — use workitem view for single-issue lookups
• --paginate overrides --limit — do not combine them
• OAuth may not work in headless environments — use API token auth instead

Customer Data

Never include customer names, company names, or identifying information in issue descriptions, comments, or summaries. Generalize customer-specific details.