jira

name	jira
description	Interact with Jira using the jcli command-line tool. Use this skill for any Jira tasks: finding and viewing projects, searching issues with JQL, creating/reading/updating/deleting issues, managing custom fields, viewing sprint boards, transitioning issue status, logging work, managing comments, and discovering field metadata and definitions.

Jira Skill (jcli)

This skill covers everything a Jira user needs via the jcli command-line tool — a Go-based CLI for the Jira REST API v2 that supports both Jira Cloud and Jira Server/Data Center.

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Prerequisites & Configuration

jcli resolves config from three sources (later overrides earlier):

1. Config file — ~/.config/jcli/config.properties (Java-style key=value)
2. Environment variables — JIRA_SERVER, JIRA_PROJECT, JIRA_API_TOKEN
3. CLI flags — --server, --project, --token

Minimal config file:

server=https://myorg.atlassian.net
token=my-personal-access-token
project=PROJ
output=table

For Jira Cloud, generate a token at https://id.atlassian.com/manage-profile/security/api-tokens. For Jira Server/Data Center, use a Personal Access Token from your profile settings.

Global flags available on every command:

Flag	Description
--server	Jira base URL
--token	Personal Access Token
--project	Default project key
-o, --output	table (default), json, or plain
--insecure	Skip TLS verification (self-hosted with self-signed certs)
-v, --verbose	Print HTTP request/response to stderr
--debug	Print equivalent curl command instead of executing
--timeout	HTTP timeout in seconds (default: 30)

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Output Formats

All commands support three formats:

Format	Description	Best for
table	ASCII table (default)	Human reading
json	Full API response, pretty-printed	Scripting, custom fields
plain	Tab-separated values	awk, cut, shell pipelines

Use --output json whenever you need custom fields or the full API response.

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Projects

List all projects

jcli project list
jcli project list --output json

Get project details

jcli project get PROJ
jcli project get PROJ --output json

Create a project

Project type keys: software, service_desk, business

jcli project create --key MYPROJ --name "My Project" --type software
jcli project create --key DEMO --name "Demo Project" --type business \
    --description "A demo project" --lead "<accountId>"

Update a project

jcli project update PROJ --name "New Name"
jcli project update PROJ --description "Updated description"

Delete a project

Irreversible — deletes the project and all its issues.

jcli project delete PROJ

Manage versions (releases)

jcli project version list PROJ
jcli project version create PROJ --name "v1.0" --release-date "2024-03-01"
jcli project version update --id 10010 --released
jcli project version delete --id 10010

Manage components

jcli project component list PROJ
jcli project component create PROJ --name "Backend" --description "Backend services"
jcli project component update --id 10020 --name "API Layer"
jcli project component delete --id 10020

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Issues

Get a single issue

jcli issue get PROJ-42
# Specific fields only
jcli issue get PROJ-42 --fields summary,status,assignee,priority
# Full JSON with all fields including custom fields
jcli issue get PROJ-42 --output json
# Include fields with empty/null values
jcli issue get PROJ-42 --all-fields --output json

To see custom field values, use --output json. Custom fields appear under keys like customfield_10014 (story points), customfield_10016 (sprint), etc. Use jcli meta fields to discover the IDs and names of all custom fields.

Search issues with JQL

# Basic search
jcli issue search --jql "project = PROJ AND status = 'In Progress'"

# Assigned to current user, ordered by priority
jcli issue search --jql "assignee = currentUser() ORDER BY priority DESC"

# Active sprint issues
jcli issue search --jql "sprint in openSprints() AND project = PROJ"

# High priority bugs not yet done
jcli issue search --jql "project = PROJ AND type = Bug AND priority = High AND status != Done"

# Recently updated issues
jcli issue search --jql "project = PROJ AND updated >= -7d ORDER BY updated DESC"

# Custom field filter (e.g. story points > 3)
jcli issue search --jql "project = PROJ AND cf[10014] > 3"

# Return specific fields
jcli issue search --jql "project = PROJ" --fields summary,status,assignee,priority

# Pagination
jcli issue search --jql "project = PROJ" --max-results 25 --page 2
jcli issue search --jql "project = PROJ" --all --output json   # fetch all pages

# Full JSON with custom fields
jcli issue search --jql "project = PROJ AND status = Open" --output json

Common JQL functions:

• currentUser() — the authenticated user
• openSprints() — currently active sprints
• closedSprints() — completed sprints
• membersOf("group-name") — members of a group
• -7d, -30d — relative date expressions

Create an issue

The convenience flags cover the most common fields. Use --fields for anything else (including custom fields). --fields values override the convenience flags when both name the same field.

# Basic task
jcli issue create --summary "Fix login page"

# Bug with priority
jcli issue create --summary "Login page broken" --type Bug --priority High

# Story with description and labels
jcli issue create --summary "New API endpoint" --type Story --project MYPROJ \
    --description "Implement /api/v2/users endpoint" --labels backend,api

# Sub-task under a parent (Server/DC only)
jcli issue create --summary "Write unit tests" --type Sub-task --parent PROJ-10

# Link a Story to an Epic (Server/DC: use customfield_10200; Cloud: use --parent)
jcli issue create --summary "My story" --type Story \
    --fields '{"customfield_10200": "EPIC-1"}'

# Full convenience flags
jcli issue create \
    --summary "Implement feature X" \
    --type Story \
    --priority Medium \
    --description "Detailed description here" \
    --project PROJ \
    --assignee "5f0d3aef12345678" \
    --labels backend,api \
    --components "10001,10002" \
    --fix-versions "10010" \
    --due-date "2024-03-15"

# Set custom fields alongside convenience flags
jcli issue create --summary "Voice outage" --type Bug --priority High \
    --fields '{"customfield_31004":{"id":"50628"},"customfield_23824":{"id":"36274"}}'

# Attach an entity property
jcli issue create --summary "Deploy task" \
    --properties '[{"key":"pipeline.id","value":"build-42"}]'

# Record change history context
jcli issue create --summary "Auto-created issue" \
    --history '{"activityDescription":"Created by CI","actor":{"id":"ci-bot","type":"automation"}}'

--fields value format by field type:

Field type	Example
Text	{"summary": "New title"}
Named object (priority, issuetype)	{"priority": {"name": "High"}}
ID object (assignee, components)	{"assignee": {"accountId": "abc123"}}
Select custom field	{"customfield_31004": {"id": "50628"}}
Multi-select custom field	{"customfield_10030": [{"id": "10100"}]}
Number custom field	{"customfield_10014": 5}
Date	{"duedate": "2024-06-01"}

Use jcli meta fields to list all field IDs. Use jcli meta field-allowed-values <fieldId> --issue <KEY> for select option IDs.

--properties sets entity properties (key/value pairs, not shown in UI): [{"key": "myapp.context", "value": {"buildNumber": 42}}]

--history records context in the change history. Common fields:

Field	Description
activityDescription	Human-readable description of the change activity
actor	Who made the change: {"id":"...","displayName":"CI","type":"automation"}
cause	What triggered the change: {"id":"deploy-123","type":"deployment"}
generator	System that made the change: {"id":"jcli","type":"cli"}
extraData	Map of additional key-value pairs: {"environment":"production"}
type	String type tag for the history entry, e.g. "madeAutomatically"
description	Long-form description stored in the history entry
descriptionKey	i18n key for a localised description string
emailDescription	Description included in notification emails

Issue type names (use jcli meta issue-types to see all available): Bug, Story, Task, Sub-task, Epic

Epic Link vs --parent: --parent is for sub-tasks only (Jira Server/DC). To link a Story to an Epic on Jira Server/Data Center, use customfield_10200 via --fields. On Jira Cloud, use --parent with the epic key instead. Check your deployment type with jcli meta server-info.

Update an issue

Only the flags you provide are sent; other fields are left unchanged. --fields values override the convenience flags when both name the same field.

jcli issue update PROJ-42 --summary "Updated title"
jcli issue update PROJ-42 --priority High --assignee "5f0d3aef12345678"
jcli issue update PROJ-42 --description "New description text"
jcli issue update PROJ-42 --due-date "2024-04-01"
jcli issue update PROJ-42 --labels "backend,reviewed"

# Set a custom field
jcli issue update PROJ-42 --fields '{"customfield_31004":{"id":"50628"}}'

# Mix convenience flags and --fields
jcli issue update PROJ-42 --priority High \
    --fields '{"customfield_23824":{"id":"36274"}}'

# Attach an entity property
jcli issue update PROJ-42 --properties '[{"key":"pipeline.id","value":"build-99"}]'

# Record change history context
jcli issue update PROJ-42 --summary "Auto-resolved" \
    --history '{"activityDescription":"Resolved by CI","actor":{"id":"ci-bot","type":"automation"}}'

See --fields, --properties, and --history descriptions under "Create an issue" above -- the format and available fields are identical for both commands.

The convenience flags available on issue update are: --summary, --description, --priority, --assignee, --due-date, --labels. All other fields (including any custom fields) must be set via --fields.

Delete an issue

Irreversible.

jcli issue delete PROJ-42
jcli issue delete PROJ-42 --delete-subtasks   # also removes child sub-tasks

Transition issue status (workflow)

# First, see available transitions for the issue
jcli issue transition list PROJ-42

# Apply a transition by its ID
jcli issue transition apply PROJ-42 --id 31

# Apply with a resolution
jcli issue transition apply PROJ-42 --id 5 --resolution "Fixed"

Assign / unassign

# Assign — get account IDs with: jcli user search --query "name"
jcli issue assign PROJ-42 --account-id "5f0d3aef12345678"

# Unassign
jcli issue assign PROJ-42 --account-id ""

Comments

jcli issue comment list PROJ-42
jcli issue comment add PROJ-42 --body "Looking into this now."
jcli issue comment update PROJ-42 --comment-id 10001 --body "Fixed in commit abc123"
jcli issue comment delete PROJ-42 --comment-id 10001

Work logs (time tracking)

Time notation: 2h, 30m, 1d, 2h 30m

jcli issue worklog list PROJ-42
jcli issue worklog add PROJ-42 --time-spent "2h" \
    --started "2024-01-15T09:00:00.000+0000" \
    --comment "Bug investigation and fix"
jcli issue worklog delete PROJ-42 --worklog-id 10050

Links between issues

# See available link types
jcli issue link types

# Create a link
jcli issue link create --type "blocks" --inward PROJ-42 --outward PROJ-50
jcli issue link create --type "relates to" --inward PROJ-1 --outward PROJ-2

# Delete a link
jcli issue link delete --link-id 10000

Attachments

jcli issue attach add PROJ-42 --file /path/to/screenshot.png
jcli issue attach delete --attachment-id 10100

Votes

jcli issue vote get PROJ-42
jcli issue vote add PROJ-42
jcli issue vote remove PROJ-42

Watchers

jcli issue watch list PROJ-42
jcli issue watch add PROJ-42 --account-id "5f0d3aef12345678"
jcli issue watch remove PROJ-42 --account-id "5f0d3aef12345678"

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Boards & Sprints

Board and sprint commands use the Jira Agile REST API (/rest/agile/1.0).

List boards

jcli board list
jcli board list --project PROJ
jcli board list --max-results 100 --output json

List sprints on a board

Sprint states: active, future, closed

jcli board sprint list --board-id 1
jcli board sprint list --board-id 1 --state active
jcli board sprint list --board-id 1 --state future
jcli board sprint list --board-id 1 --state closed

See issues in a sprint

jcli board sprint issues --id 5
jcli board sprint issues --id 5 --output json

Create a sprint

jcli board sprint create --board-id 1 --name "Sprint 5"
jcli board sprint create --board-id 1 --name "Sprint 6" \
    --start "2024-02-01T00:00:00.000Z" \
    --end   "2024-02-14T00:00:00.000Z" \
    --goal  "Complete the authentication module"

Update a sprint (name, dates, goal, state)

Valid state transitions: future → active, active → closed

jcli board sprint update --id 5 --name "Sprint 5 (extended)"
jcli board sprint update --id 5 --goal "Ship v2 API"
jcli board sprint update --id 5 --state active     # start the sprint
jcli board sprint update --id 5 --state closed     # close the sprint

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Users

# Get the currently authenticated user (useful to find your own accountId)
jcli user myself
jcli user myself --output json

# Look up a user by account ID
jcli user get --account-id "5f0d3aef12345678"

# Search users by name or email
jcli user search --query "john"
jcli user search --query "smith" --max-results 20 --output json

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Metadata & Field Definitions

These commands help discover valid values before creating or filtering issues.

Issue types

jcli meta issue-types

Returns: ID, NAME, DESCRIPTION, SUBTASK — use NAME for --type in issue create.

Priorities

jcli meta priorities

Returns: ID, NAME — use NAME for --priority.

Workflow statuses

jcli meta statuses

Returns all statuses across all workflows: ID, NAME, CATEGORY.

Fields (system and custom)

jcli meta fields
jcli meta fields --output json

Returns every field definition: ID, NAME, TYPE, CUSTOM, NAVIGABLE.

• System fields have IDs like summary, status, assignee, priority.
• Custom fields have IDs like customfield_10014. Find the name-to-ID mapping here, then use the ID in --fields or JQL cf[<numeric-id>] filters.

To discover what custom fields an issue actually has populated:

jcli issue get PROJ-42 --output json

Field search (paginated, with extra metadata) — Cloud only

Not available on Jira Server / Data Center (returns HTTP 404). Use meta fields instead.

jcli meta field-search
jcli meta field-search --type custom
jcli meta field-search --query "sprint" --output json
jcli meta field-search --id customfield_10014 --expand screensCount,contextsCount
jcli meta field-search --order-by name --max-results 100

Returns richer information than meta fields: description, searcher key, screens count, contexts count. Supports --type system|custom, --query, --id, --order-by, --expand, --project-ids, and pagination via --start-at/--max-results.

Field contexts — Cloud only

Not available on Jira Server / Data Center (returns HTTP 404).

List the contexts a custom field is configured in (determines which projects/issue types it applies to):

jcli meta field-contexts customfield_10014
jcli meta field-contexts customfield_10014 --global          # global contexts only
jcli meta field-contexts customfield_10014 --any-issue-type  # contexts for all issue types
jcli meta field-contexts customfield_10014 --output json

Flags: --global, --any-issue-type, --context-id (repeatable), --start-at, --max-results.

Field options (allowed values) — Cloud only

Not available on Jira Server / Data Center. Use meta field-allowed-values instead.

List the selectable options for a custom select/radio/checkbox field:

jcli meta field-options customfield_10014
jcli meta field-options customfield_10014 --context-id 10025  # scope to a context
jcli meta field-options customfield_10014 --only-options      # exclude cascading sub-options
jcli meta field-options customfield_10014 --output json

Flags: --context-id, --only-options, --start-at, --max-results.

Field allowed values (Server + Cloud)

List the allowed values for a specific field using issue edit metadata. Works on both Jira Cloud and Jira Server / Data Center. Requires an existing issue key.

jcli meta field-allowed-values assignee --issue PROJ-123
jcli meta field-allowed-values customfield_10014 --issue PROJ-123 --output json

Resolutions

List all resolution values. Use NAME for --resolution in jcli issue transition apply.

jcli meta resolutions
jcli meta resolutions --output json

Server info

Display build and version information for the connected Jira instance, including deploymentType (Cloud vs Server):

jcli meta server-info
jcli meta server-info --output json

Project statuses

List workflow statuses available within a specific project, grouped by issue type. More precise than jcli meta statuses which lists all instance-level statuses.

jcli meta project-statuses PROJ
jcli meta project-statuses PROJ --issue-type Bug   # filter to one issue type
jcli meta project-statuses PROJ --output json

Issue link types

List all link type definitions. Use NAME for --type in jcli issue link create.

jcli meta link-types
jcli meta link-types --output json

Instance configuration

Show global feature flags and time-tracking settings for the Jira instance:

jcli meta configuration
jcli meta configuration --output json

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Common Workflows

Daily standup — see your current work

jcli issue search \
    --jql "assignee = currentUser() AND status != Done ORDER BY priority DESC"

Find everything in the active sprint for a project

# Step 1: find the board
jcli board list --project PROJ

# Step 2: find the active sprint (note the sprint ID)
jcli board sprint list --board-id <id> --state active

# Step 3: see all issues in that sprint
jcli board sprint issues --id <sprint-id>

# Alternative: use JQL directly
jcli issue search --jql "project = PROJ AND sprint in openSprints()"

Triage: find unassigned open bugs

jcli issue search \
    --jql "project = PROJ AND type = Bug AND assignee is EMPTY AND status = Open \
           ORDER BY priority ASC, created ASC"

Move an issue through the workflow

# List available transitions
jcli issue transition list PROJ-42

# Apply the desired transition
jcli issue transition apply PROJ-42 --id <transition-id>

Export all open issues to JSON (e.g. for reporting)

jcli issue search \
    --jql "project = PROJ AND status != Done" \
    --all \
    --output json > open-issues.json

Log time on multiple issues from a script

while IFS=, read -r key hours; do
  jcli issue worklog add "$key" --time-spent "${hours}h" \
      --started "$(date -u +%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%S.000+0000)"
done < timelog.csv

Inspect custom fields on a project's issues

# 1. Find all field definitions and their IDs
jcli meta fields --output json | jq '.[] | select(.custom == true) | {id, name}'

# 2. Retrieve an issue with all custom field values
jcli issue get PROJ-42 --all-fields --output json | jq '.fields | with_entries(select(.key | startswith("customfield")))'

# 3. Search using a custom field (use numeric part of the ID in cf[])
jcli issue search --jql "project = PROJ AND cf[10014] > 5"

Get your account ID (needed for assignee flags)

jcli user myself --output json | jq -r '.accountId'

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Tips

• Always check --help: every command documents its API endpoint, all flags, and usage examples — e.g. jcli issue create --help.
• Use --debug to see the equivalent curl command before executing, useful for verifying what will be sent to the API.
• Use --output json whenever you need custom fields, since the table format only shows a curated subset of fields.
• Use plain output for shell pipelines: jcli project list --output plain | cut -f1 extracts just the project keys.
• JQL is the most powerful search tool. Combine project, type, status, assignee, sprint, priority, labels, fixVersion, cf[] and date functions for precise results.