Jira CLI Skill

You are a Jira specialist using the jira CLI tool. This skill provides comprehensive guidance for working with Jira through a custom CLI.

Core Commands

Authentication

# Check authentication status
jira auth check

# Login to Jira
jira auth login

Issue Management

# View issue details
jira issue get ISSUE-123

# Create new issue
jira issue create --project PROJ --type Bug --summary "Issue summary" --description "Description"

# Update issue
jira issue update ISSUE-123 --summary "New summary"

# Add comment to issue
jira comment add ISSUE-123 "Comment text"

# List comments on issue
jira comment list ISSUE-123

Issue Transitions

# List available transitions for an issue
jira transition list ISSUE-123

# Transition issue to new status
jira transition ISSUE-123 "In Progress"

Searching with JQL

# Search issues with JQL
jira search "project = PROJ AND status = Open"

# Search with output format
jira search "assignee = currentUser()" --format json

# Search with field selection
jira search "project = PROJ" --fields summary,status,assignee

Project Operations

# List all projects
jira project list

# Get project details
jira project get PROJ

Watching and Assigning

# Watch an issue
jira watch add ISSUE-123

# Stop watching an issue
jira watch remove ISSUE-123

# Assign issue
jira assign ISSUE-123 username

# Assign to self
jira assign ISSUE-123 me

Common Workflows

Viewing Your Work

# View issues assigned to you
jira search "assignee = currentUser() AND status != Done"

# View issues you're watching
jira search "watcher = currentUser()"

# View recent activity
jira search "updatedDate >= -7d AND assignee = currentUser()"

Creating and Updating Issues

# Create a bug
jira issue create --project PROJ --type Bug \
  --summary "Login button not working" \
  --description "Steps to reproduce..."

# Update priority
jira issue update ISSUE-123 --priority High

# Add labels
jira issue update ISSUE-123 --labels bug,frontend

# Link issues
jira link add ISSUE-123 ISSUE-456 "blocks"

Moving Issues Through Workflow

# Start work on issue
jira transition ISSUE-123 "In Progress"

# Mark as done
jira transition ISSUE-123 "Done"

# Reopen issue
jira transition ISSUE-123 "Reopen"

JQL Reference

Common JQL Patterns

# Issues in specific project
jira search "project = MYPROJ"

# Open issues assigned to you
jira search "assignee = currentUser() AND status in (Open, 'In Progress')"

# High priority bugs
jira search "type = Bug AND priority = High"

# Recently updated issues
jira search "updated >= -1w"

# Issues created this sprint
jira search "sprint in openSprints() AND created >= startOfWeek()"

# Issues with specific label
jira search "labels = urgent"

# Issues in epic
jira search "'Epic Link' = EPIC-123"

JQL Field Reference

• project – Project key or name
• status – Issue status (Open, In Progress, Done, etc.)
• assignee – Assigned user (use currentUser() for yourself)
• reporter – Issue reporter
• priority – Priority level (Highest, High, Medium, Low, Lowest)
• type – Issue type (Bug, Story, Task, Epic, etc.)
• labels – Issue labels
• created – Creation date
• updated – Last update date
• resolution – Resolution status

JQL Functions

• currentUser() – Current logged-in user
• startOfDay(), startOfWeek(), startOfMonth() – Date functions
• now() – Current timestamp
• openSprints() – Currently active sprints
• closedSprints() – Completed sprints

Output Formats

# JSON output (for scripting)
jira search "project = PROJ" --format json

# Table output (human-readable, default)
jira search "project = PROJ" --format table

# CSV output
jira search "project = PROJ" --format csv

Best Practices

1. Always authenticate first: Run jira auth check before operations
2. Use JQL for complex queries: More powerful than simple filters
3. Specify output format: Use --format json for scripting
4. Include field selection: Use --fields to limit returned data
5. Test transitions: Use jira transition list before transitioning
6. Be specific with JQL: Use quotes for multi-word values

Common Use Cases

Daily Standup Prep

# What you worked on yesterday
jira search "assignee = currentUser() AND updated >= -1d"

# What you're working on today
jira search "assignee = currentUser() AND status = 'In Progress'"

Bug Triage

# Unassigned bugs
jira search "type = Bug AND assignee is EMPTY AND status = Open"

# Critical bugs in project
jira search "project = PROJ AND type = Bug AND priority in (Highest, High)"

Sprint Planning

# Issues in backlog
jira search "project = PROJ AND status = 'To Do' AND sprint is EMPTY"

# Issues in current sprint
jira search "project = PROJ AND sprint in openSprints()"

# Completed this sprint
jira search "project = PROJ AND sprint in openSprints() AND status = Done"

Error Handling

If you encounter authentication errors:

jira auth login

If JQL syntax errors occur:

• Check for proper quoting of multi-word values
• Verify field names are correct
• Use AND, OR, NOT operators (uppercase)

Quick Reference

# View issue
jira issue get ISSUE-123

# Search
jira search "JQL query here"

# Create
jira issue create --project PROJ --type TYPE --summary "text"

# Update
jira issue update ISSUE-123 --field value

# Transition
jira transition ISSUE-123 "Status Name"

# Comment
jira comment add ISSUE-123 "Comment text"

# Assign
jira assign ISSUE-123 username