| name | jira-issue-updater |
| description | Update existing Jira Cloud issues via the Atlassian MCP: transition statuses, add comments, edit fields (priority, labels, fix version, summary), and link issues. Use when the user asks to move an issue to a different status, add a comment to a ticket, change a field on an existing issue, or link two issues together. |
Jira Issue Updater
Use the Atlassian (Jira) MCP tools already configured in your MCP client. This skill does not call the REST API directly.
Prerequisites
- Atlassian MCP is connected and authenticated.
- The authenticated user has edit permissions on the target issues.
Workflow
Step 0. Load config defaults
Check whether config/jira-defaults.local.json exists in the skill directory.
- If present, read it and treat its values as session defaults:
site โ default Atlassian site
projectKey โ informational default (issue keys in update operations are always explicit)
- If absent, ask the user for the site if needed.
The user can override any default in their prompt.
Step 1. Collect inputs
From the user (or config), obtain:
- Site โ use
site from config if set
- Issue key โ explicit (e.g.
PROJ-42)
- Operation โ transition / comment / edit / link
Step 2. Resolve cloudId
Call getAccessibleAtlassianResources to get the cloudId for the target site. Reuse it for all subsequent calls in this session.
Step 3. Execute the operation
Route based on the user's request. See references/update-operations.md for full MCP tool parameters and confirmation block templates.
Transition status
- Call
getTransitionsForJiraIssue to fetch available transitions.
- Match the user's target status (case-insensitive). If no match, show available transitions and ask the user to pick.
- Call
transitionJiraIssue directly.
- Return the new status.
Add comment
- Parse issue key and comment text.
- Call
addCommentToJiraIssue with contentFormat: "markdown" directly.
- Return the issue link on success.
Edit fields
- Parse the field(s) to update (priority, labels, fix version, summary, description, etc.).
- If updating the description of a Bug issue, apply templates/bug-description.md to format the description. Collect any missing required sections (Steps to Reproduce, Expected Results, Actual Results) before proceeding.
- Call
editJiraIssue directly.
Link issues
- Parse the two issue keys and the link type (e.g. "blocks", "duplicates", "relates to").
- Call
getIssueLinkTypes to confirm available link types and pick the correct one.
- Call
createIssueLink directly.
Guardrails
- Never invent transition IDs; always fetch them with
getTransitionsForJiraIssue first.
- If
cloudId resolution returns multiple sites and no site is configured, present them and ask.