jira

Jira Skill

Overview

This skill provides a Python CLI for common Jira REST API workflows:

• Search with JQL
• Get issue details
• Create and update issues with JSON payloads
• Transition issues by name or ID
• Add comments and list existing comments
• Discover issue types and required fields for creation

The skill supports Jira Cloud with email plus API token authentication and Jira Server or Data Center with a personal access token.

Use --fields on read commands by default to keep output concise. The script supports dot-notation such as fields.status.name and prints tab-separated output for lists.

Prerequisites

Set the required environment variables before running the script.

Authentication Variables

Authentication is selected automatically:

• If JIRA_PAT is set, the script uses bearer authentication for Jira Server or Data Center.
• Otherwise, the script expects JIRA_USER_EMAIL and JIRA_API_TOKEN for Jira Cloud.

Operational Variables

Audit Logging

When JIRA_AUDIT_LOG is set, the script writes a structured JSON Lines audit trail for every API request. Auditing is fail-closed and write-ahead:

• An attempt record is written before the request is sent. If the audit log cannot be written, the operation is aborted and nothing is sent to Jira.
• An outcome record (success or error, with HTTP status on failure) is written after the request completes.

Each record includes a UTC timestamp, the actor (from JIRA_AUDIT_ACTOR, otherwise JIRA_USER_EMAIL or jira-pat), the operation, HTTP method, and the request path. Credentials, authorization headers, and query strings are never written. Audit failures after the request emit a warning without altering the result.

Credential Rotation

The script reads credentials from the environment on every invocation, so an external rotator can swap JIRA_API_TOKEN or JIRA_PAT between calls without code changes. A 401 or 403 response indicates the token may be expired or revoked; rotate the credential through your Atlassian account or instance token settings. Full OAuth-style refresh flows are out of scope for this CLI.

Quick Start

Search for your current Jira issues and return a compact table:

python scripts/jira.py search 'assignee = currentUser() ORDER BY updated DESC' --fields key,fields.summary,fields.status.name

Inspect one issue with a compact field list:

python scripts/jira.py get PROJ-123 --fields key,fields.summary,fields.status.name,fields.assignee.displayName

Create an issue from JSON piped through stdin:

cat <<'EOF' | python scripts/jira.py

Parameters Reference

Script Reference

Search for Issues

Use bounded JQL for Jira Cloud queries. Include a project, assignee, sprint, or another filter instead of a bare ORDER BY query. See JQL Reference for the query patterns this skill expects.

Get One Issue

Create an Issue

Discover valid issue types first:

Inspect required fields for one issue type:

Create the issue:

Update an Issue

Transition an Issue

Use a transition display name or a numeric transition ID:

If a transition name is not found, the script returns the available transition names in the error output.

Comment on an Issue

List Comments

Troubleshooting