jira-task-management

name	jira-task-management
description	Manage Jira issues on Red Hat Jira (redhat.atlassian.net) using jira-cli. Use this skill whenever the user mentions Jira tickets, issues, bugs, tasks, epics, sprints, or wants to create/update/search work items. Also use when the user references issue keys like MGMT-*, NVIDIA-*, RHEL-*, asks about task status, or wants to track work.

Jira Task Management

Manage issues on Red Hat Jira (redhat.atlassian.net) via jira-cli. The tool is pre-configured with bearer token auth for the MGMT project.

Key constraints: --comments requires a numeric argument (e.g., --comments 10) — using it alone errors. jira-cli has no --json flag — use --plain or --raw. --no-input is only valid for create/edit, not move/assign/comment. Never include ORDER BY in -q queries — jira-cli appends its own.

Setup

• Binary: jira (installed via go install github.com/ankitpokhrel/jira-cli/cmd/jira@latest)
• Config: ~/.config/.jira/.config.yml — initialized with jira init --installation cloud --server https://redhat.atlassian.net --auth-type bearer
• Auth: Bearer token in ~/.netrc (machine redhat.atlassian.net login <user> password <token>)
• Token generation: https://id.atlassian.com/manage-profile/security/api-tokens
• Default project: MGMT
• Jira URL pattern: https://redhat.atlassian.net/browse/<KEY>

Before Creating Issues

When the user asks to create a Task or Bug, two things are required before running the command:

1. Epic link — Every Task and Bug must be linked to an epic via -P <EPIC-KEY>. If the epic isn't obvious from the conversation (e.g., the user has been discussing a specific epic, or there's a CLAUDE.md reference), ask: "Which epic should I link this to?"

2. Label — Default to -l OSAC. Only use a different label if the user explicitly says so.

Do not set priority — it's not relevant for this project.

Command Reference

--plain is supported on read commands (view, list, epic list, sprint list) for clean output. --no-input is needed on create and edit only to skip interactive prompts — do not use --no-input with move, assign, comment, or link (they don't support it and will error). --plain is also not supported on create, edit, move, assign, or comment — use --raw on create if you need JSON output.

jira-cli does NOT support --json. Never use --json — it is not a valid flag on any command. Use --plain for readable output or --raw (on create only) for JSON.

View

jira issue view <KEY> --plain                    # View issue details
jira issue view <KEY> --plain --comments 100     # Include comments (count is REQUIRED)

Search

jira-cli always prepends project="MGMT" to -q/--jql queries. Use -q (not --jql) for all searches, and follow these rules:

• Within MGMT project: Use -q normally — the project is auto-prepended.
• Across all projects: Start the query with project IS NOT EMPTY AND ... — jira-cli detects the existing project clause and skips prepending.
• Specific other project: Start with project = OTHERKEY AND ....
• Never include ORDER BY in -q queries — jira-cli appends its own ORDER BY created DESC, causing a JQL syntax error from duplicate ORDER BY clauses.
• Use filter flags (-r, -t, -a, -s) instead of embedding them in JQL when possible — they're appended cleanly.

# Within MGMT (project auto-prepended)
jira issue list -q 'status = "In Progress"' --plain
jira issue list -q 'labels = OSAC AND updated >= -7d' --plain
jira issue list -q 'assignee = currentUser() AND status not in (Closed, Done)' --plain

# Across ALL projects
jira issue list -q 'project IS NOT EMPTY AND type = Epic AND text ~ "search term"' -r "$(jira me)" --plain

# Specific other project
jira issue list -q 'project = CNF AND type = Epic' --plain

# Text search (scoped to default project)
jira issue list "search text" --plain

# Pagination
jira issue list -q '...' --paginate 50 --plain

JQL tips: String values with spaces need double quotes inside single quotes — 'status = "In Progress"'. Field names with spaces need double quotes too — '"Epic Link" = MGMT-22619'.

Epics

jira epic list <EPIC-KEY> --plain                # List issues in epic
jira epic create -s "Title" -b "Description" -l OSAC    # Create epic
jira epic add <EPIC-KEY> <ISSUE-1> <ISSUE-2>     # Add issues to epic (max 50)
jira epic remove <ISSUE-KEY>                     # Remove from epic

# Filter epic contents with JQL
jira issue list --jql '"Epic Link" = <EPIC-KEY> AND status != Closed' --plain
jira issue list --jql '"Epic Link" = <EPIC-KEY> AND assignee is EMPTY' --plain

Create

# Task
jira issue create -tTask -s "Summary" -b "Description" \
  -P <EPIC-KEY> -a <assignee> -l OSAC --no-input

# Bug — use the structured description template
jira issue create -tBug -s "Bug title" \
  -b $'**Description of the problem:**\n\n<describe>\n\n**How reproducible:**\n\n<rate>\n\n**Steps to reproduce:**\n\n1. <step>\n\n**Expected result:**\n\n<expected>\n\n**Actual result:**\n\n<actual>' \
  -P <EPIC-KEY> -l OSAC --no-input

# Story
jira issue create -tStory -s "Title" -b "Description" \
  -P <EPIC-KEY> -l OSAC --no-input

# Sub-task (parent is the task, not epic)
jira issue create -tSub-task -s "Title" -P <PARENT-KEY> -l OSAC --no-input

# From file or stdin
jira issue create -tTask -s "Summary" --template /path/to/desc.md -l OSAC --no-input
echo "Description" | jira issue create -tTask -s "Summary" -l OSAC --no-input

# JSON output
jira issue create -tTask -s "Summary" -b "Body" -l OSAC --no-input --raw

Issue types: Bug, Task, Story, Epic, Sub-task, Spike, Risk

Edit

jira issue edit <KEY> -s "New summary" --no-input          # Summary
jira issue edit <KEY> -b "New description" --no-input      # Description
jira issue edit <KEY> -a "username" --no-input              # Assignee
jira issue edit <KEY> -P <EPIC-KEY> --no-input              # Re-parent to epic
jira issue edit <KEY> -l newlabel --no-input                # Add label
jira issue edit <KEY> --label -oldlabel --no-input          # Remove label (- prefix)
jira issue edit <KEY> -y Critical --no-input                # Priority
jira issue edit <KEY> --fix-version "v1.0" --no-input       # Fix version

# From stdin
echo "Updated desc" | jira issue edit <KEY> --no-input

Transition

jira issue move <KEY> "In Progress"
jira issue move <KEY> "Code Review"
jira issue move <KEY> "Done"
jira issue move <KEY> "To Do"

# With comment or reassignment
jira issue move <KEY> "In Progress" --comment "Starting work"
jira issue move <KEY> "In Progress" -a username

Common statuses: To Do, New, In Progress, Code Review, QE Review, Done, Closed

Assign

jira issue assign <KEY> username        # Assign to user
jira issue assign <KEY> $(jira me)      # Assign to self
jira issue assign <KEY> x              # Unassign

Comment

jira issue comment add <KEY> "Comment text"
jira issue comment add <KEY> $'Line 1\n\nLine 2'          # Multi-line
echo "Comment" | jira issue comment add <KEY>              # From stdin
jira issue comment add <KEY> --template /path/to/file.md   # From file

Link

jira issue link <KEY-1> <KEY-2> "Blocks"
jira issue link <KEY-1> <KEY-2> "Duplicate"
jira issue link <KEY-1> <KEY-2> "is blocked by"

Sprints

jira sprint list --plain
jira sprint add <SPRINT_ID> <KEY-1> <KEY-2>

Browser

jira open <KEY>     # Open issue in browser
jira open           # Open project page

Troubleshooting

• "No result found for given query in project MGMT": The query is scoped to the default MGMT project. To search across projects, start -q with project IS NOT EMPTY AND .... See the Search section above.
• "Expecting ',' but got 'ORDER'" JQL error: You included ORDER BY in a -q query. Remove it — jira-cli appends its own ORDER BY created DESC automatically.
• "unknown flag: --json": jira-cli has no --json flag. Use --plain for clean output or --raw (create only) for JSON.
• "flag needs an argument: --comments": --comments requires a numeric count (e.g., --comments 10). Never use --comments without a number.
• "unknown flag: --no-input" on move/assign/comment: --no-input is only valid for create and edit. Remove it — move, assign, comment, and link don't need it.
• Auth errors / HTML in response: Token may be expired. Regenerate at https://id.atlassian.com/manage-profile/security/api-tokens, update ~/.netrc.
• "API v3" errors: Config must use installation: Cloud. Re-run jira init --installation cloud.
• Interactive prompts hang: Always pass --no-input for create/edit operations.
• --debug flag: Shows the actual REST API calls — useful for diagnosing unexpected behavior.
• Current user: jira me returns the authenticated username.