jira-start-work

name	jira-start-work
description	Start work on a Jira ticket by finding To Do tickets, creating a git branch, and transitioning to In Development. Use when user asks to "start work", "pick up a ticket", "begin a task", or "start a Jira ticket".

Jira Start Work Workflow

Requires: Atlassian MCP server configured and Git CLI available.

Purpose

Automates the process of starting work on a Jira ticket by:

1. Finding "To Do" tickets assigned to the current user
2. Creating a properly named git branch
3. Transitioning the ticket to "In Development" status

Process

Step 1: Get Atlassian Context

[!IMPORTANT] Retry Logic: If any Atlassian call fails with an "Unauthorized" error, retry the call at least once more (minimum 2 attempts total). Authentication tokens may temporarily expire.

Actions:

• Call the Atlassian resource listing tool to get accessible sites.
• If multiple sites are returned, select the one with URL matching metrc-tech.atlassian.net.
• Call the user info tool to get the current user identity.

Step 2: Find To Do Tickets (Primary)

Query for tickets assigned to the current user in "To Do" status:

assignee = currentUser() AND status = "To Do" ORDER BY priority DESC, created ASC

Fields to request:

• key, summary, status, issuetype, priority, created

Step 3: Fallback to In Development (If No To Do)

If the "To Do" query returns zero results, query for tickets assigned to the current user in "In Development":

assignee = currentUser() AND status = "In Development" ORDER BY priority DESC, created ASC

Step 4: Handle Ticket Selection

Scenario	Action
No tickets found	Ask user which ticket they want to work on
Multiple tickets	List tickets as KEY - Summary and ask user to choose
Single ticket	Proceed with that ticket automatically

Step 5: Determine Branch Prefix

Issue Type	Branch Prefix
Bug	fix/
Story, Task, or other	feature/

Step 6: Create Branch Name

Format: {prefix}/{TICKET}-{title-with-dashes}

Example transformations:

• "MCA-372" + "400 Bad Request Errors" → fix/MCA-372-400-bad-request-errors
• "PERF-1126" + "Update WebApiD8" → feature/PERF-1126-update-webapid8

Rules:

1. Keep the ticket key uppercase
2. Convert title to lowercase
3. Replace non-alphanumeric with single hyphens
4. Trim leading/trailing hyphens and collapse repeats
5. Truncate if excessively long

Step 7: Git Operations

Follow the cross-platform steps in references/git.md.

Short version (default base branch is development):

git status
git fetch --prune origin
git switch development
git pull --ff-only origin development
git switch -c "{branch-name}"

If origin/development does not exist, ask the user for the base branch and substitute it.

Step 8: Transition Ticket to In Development

Actions:

• Fetch available transitions for the selected issue.
• If the issue is in To Do, select the transition labeled Start Development (case-insensitive) and execute it.
• If the issue is already In Development, skip the transition.
• If the label is not found, list the available transitions and ask the user which to use.

Workflow labels (from the current board):

• Start Development -> In Development
• Review Code -> In Review
• Review Failed -> In Development
• A Failed, Back to Development -> In Development
• QA Signoff -> QA Acceptance
• PM Signoff -> PM Acceptance
• Ready to Merge Code -> Ready to Merge
• Code Complete/Cancelled -> Done
• Cancelled bug -> Cancelled

Step 9: Confirm Success

Report to user:

• ✅ Branch created: {branch-name}
• ✅ Ticket status: In Development
• 🔗 Jira link: https://metrc-tech.atlassian.net/browse/{TICKET}

Step 10: Offer to Push Branch to Remote

After successful branch creation and ticket transition, ask the user if they want to push the newly created branch to remote:

Would you like me to push the branch {branch-name} to remote?

If user confirms, run:

git push -u origin {branch-name}

This sets up tracking so future git push commands work without specifying the remote.

Troubleshooting

Error	Solution
No tickets in To Do	If none in "In Development", ask user for specific ticket key
Branch already exists	Checkout existing branch or create with suffix
Transition not available	Check current ticket status first
Git conflicts	Stash changes before switching branches

References

• Jira MCP API Reference - Complete MCP tool documentation
• Git Start Work Reference - Cross-platform git steps and best practices
• Jira Queries and Operations - JQL patterns and Jira call examples