Natural language interaction with Jira for managing issues, sprints, and workflows using jira CLI or Atlassian MCP. Use when the user mentions Jira tickets, issue keys, sprints, backlogs, or asks to create or modify Jira issues.
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Natural language interaction with Jira for managing issues, sprints, and workflows using jira CLI or Atlassian MCP. Use when the user mentions Jira tickets, issue keys, sprints, backlogs, or asks to create or modify Jira issues.
Jira Skill
This README is used as a Cursor project skill under lazy-code-skill/jira in this repository.
Natural language interaction with Jira for managing issues, sprints, and workflows. This skill enables Claude to view, create, update, and transition Jira tickets using conversational commands.
Purpose
The Jira skill bridges the gap between natural language requests and Jira operations. Instead of remembering specific CLI commands or API calls, you can simply tell Claude what you want to do with your Jira tickets, and the skill handles the technical details.
Key benefits:
Conversational interface: Ask questions like "What are my open tickets?" or "Move PROJ-123 to Done"
Dual backend support: Works with either the jira CLI or Atlassian MCP
Safety-first approach: Always fetches current state before modifications and requires approval for changes
Context-aware: Detects issue keys (e.g., PROJ-123) in conversation and offers relevant actions
When to Use
This skill activates when you:
Mention Jira issue keys (e.g., "Show me PROJ-123", "What's the status of ABC-456?")
Ask about tickets ("List my open tickets", "What's assigned to me?")
Want to create issues ("Create a bug ticket for the login issue")
Need to update tickets ("Move this to In Progress", "Assign PROJ-123 to me")
Check sprint status ("What's in the current sprint?", "Show sprint backlog")
Manage workflow ("Close this ticket", "Add a comment to PROJ-123")
Trigger phrases include:
"create a jira ticket"
"show me PROJ-123"
"list my tickets"
"move ticket to done"
"what's in the current sprint"
Any mention of "jira", "issue", "ticket", "sprint", or "backlog"
How It Works
1. Backend Detection
When activated, the skill first determines which backend is available:
CLI backend: Checks if the jira command is installed
MCP backend: Looks for Atlassian MCP tools (mcp__atlassian__*)
No backend: Guides you to install one of the above
2. Operation Execution
Once a backend is detected:
Read operations (viewing, listing): Execute immediately and display results
Write operations (create, update, transition):
Fetch current issue state first
Show proposed changes
Request user approval
Execute the operation
Verify the result
3. Safety Checks
Before any modification, the skill:
Fetches current issue state (never assumes status or assignee)
Checks who else might be affected (watchers, linked issues)
Verifies the operation is reversible or warns if not
View issues: See full details including description, status, assignee, and comments
List issues: Filter by assignee, status, type, priority, labels, or custom JQL
Create issues: Create tickets with full field support including multi-line descriptions
Update issues: Modify summary, description, priority, labels, and custom fields
Assign issues: Assign to yourself, others, or unassign
Workflow Operations
Transition issues: Move tickets through workflow states (To Do, In Progress, Done)
Add comments: Document progress or decisions on tickets
Link issues: Create relationships between tickets (blocks, relates to, duplicates)
Sprint Management
List sprints: View active, future, or closed sprints
Sprint issues: See what's in the current sprint
Add to sprint: Move issues into a sprint
Search and Query
Natural language search: Find issues matching text queries
JQL support: Use full Jira Query Language for complex searches
Filter combinations: Combine assignee, status, type, and date filters
Usage Examples
Viewing Issues
"Show me PROJ-123"
"What's the status of ABC-456?"
"Display the details of that bug ticket"
Listing Issues
"List my open tickets"
"What issues are in progress?"
"Show me high priority bugs"
"Find all tickets updated this week"
"What's assigned to john@example.com?"
Creating Issues
"Create a bug ticket for the login timeout issue"
"Make a new task for updating the documentation"
"Create a story for implementing the export feature with acceptance criteria"
Updating Issues
"Move PROJ-123 to In Progress"
"Assign this ticket to me"
"Mark the bug as done"
"Add a comment saying the fix is deployed"
"Change the priority to high"
Sprint Operations
"What's in the current sprint?"
"Show me the active sprint"
"List sprint backlog items"
Advanced JQL Queries
"Find all bugs created this week"
"Show unassigned high-priority issues"
"List tickets I updated recently"
"Find issues blocked by PROJ-100"
Prerequisites
You need one of the following backends configured:
Option 1: jira CLI (Recommended)
The jira CLI provides fast, local access to Jira.
Installation:
# macOS
brew install ankitpokhrel/jira-cli/jira-cli
# Linux# Download from https://github.com/ankitpokhrel/jira-cli/releases
Setup:
jira init
Follow the prompts to configure your Jira server URL and authentication.
Option 2: Atlassian MCP
The Atlassian MCP provides Jira access through Model Context Protocol.
Configure the Atlassian MCP in your Claude settings with your Atlassian credentials. This enables access to mcp__atlassian__* tools.
Output
Issue View
When viewing an issue, you'll see:
Issue key and summary
Status, priority, and type
Assignee and reporter
Description
Recent comments
Linked issues
Issue Lists
Lists display in a table format showing:
Issue key
Summary
Status
Assignee
Priority
Operation Results
After modifications, the skill:
Confirms the action was successful
Shows the updated state
Reports any errors with resolution guidance
Best Practices
Before Creating Issues
Check if a similar issue already exists
Understand the project's required fields
Use clear, descriptive summaries
Include acceptance criteria for stories
Before Transitioning
Let the skill fetch available transitions (they vary by project)
Some workflows require intermediate states
Add comments explaining why you're making the transition
For Assignments
With MCP, always use account IDs (not display names)
Verify the user exists in the project
Consider notifying the assignee separately
For Bulk Operations
Request explicit approval before bulk changes
Each change notifies watchers
Consider timing to avoid notification storms
General Tips
Always let the skill fetch current state before modifications
Preserve original information when editing descriptions
Use the "open in browser" feature for complex editing
Check linked issues before making major changes
Safety Guidelines
The skill follows strict safety protocols:
Always:
Shows commands/tool calls before executing
Requests approval before modifications
Preserves original content when editing
Verifies updates after applying
Surfaces authentication issues clearly
Never:
Transitions without fetching current status first
Assigns using display names with MCP (only account IDs work)
Edits descriptions without showing the original
Uses --no-input without all required fields
Assumes transition names are universal across projects
Bulk-modifies without explicit approval
Troubleshooting
Authentication Issues
CLI:
# Reinitialize
jira init
# Verify connection
jira me
Or configure Atlassian MCP in your Claude settings
Reference Files
For advanced usage, the skill includes detailed reference documentation:
references/commands.md: Complete CLI command reference with examples
references/mcp.md: Full MCP tool reference with JQL query guide
These are loaded on-demand when handling complex operations like:
Multi-line descriptions
Complex JQL queries
Transition workflows
Issue linking
In this repository, references/commands.md and references/mcp.md are minimal placeholders that point to the upstream Jira skill references in softaworks/agent-toolkit. Consult those upstream files for the canonical, detailed reference.
