Jira Ticket Manager

Create, search, view, and edit Jira tickets non-interactively using the jira-cli tool.

Writing Good Ticket Summaries & Descriptions

Focus on the problem being solved, not the technical implementation.

Tickets should clearly communicate what problem the user or business faces and what outcome is desired. Technical details (specific technologies, implementation approaches) belong in subtasks or comments — not in the ticket summary or description.

Summary Guidelines

DO: Describe the user-facing problem or desired outcome
DON'T: Mention specific technologies, libraries, or implementation approaches

Bad (Tech-focused)	Good (Problem-focused)
"Implement Redis caching for project queries"	"Reduce slow load times on project list page"
"Add JWT-based authentication to API"	"Users need secure login for the platform"
"Migrate database from PostgreSQL to DynamoDB"	"Improve scalability for growing user base"
"Refactor proposal service to use async/await"	"Proposal page freezes when loading large datasets"
"Add WebSocket support for notifications"	"Users miss important updates because notifications are delayed"

Description Guidelines

Structure descriptions around the problem and acceptance criteria:

Problem: What is the current pain point?
Impact: Who is affected and how?
Desired Outcome: What does success look like for the user?

Avoid prescribing specific technical solutions in the description. Let the engineering team decide the best approach.

Prerequisites

Before using this skill, ensure:

jira-cli is installed: brew install jira-cli or download from releases
Authentication is configured: User has run jira init and set up API token
User has access to the target Jira project

Available Components

Select the most appropriate component based on the ticket content:

API: REST API endpoints, API design, external integrations
Projects: Project-related features, project management functionality
Proposals: Proposal features, proposal workflows
Backends: Backend services, database, server-side logic, caching, performance
Regression: Bug fixes, regression issues, quality assurance
AI: AI/ML features, intelligent automation, ChatGPT integrations

Selection Examples:

"Project list page loads too slowly" → Backends
"Users need AI-powered assistance for drafting proposals" → AI
"External partners need access to project data" → API
"Users cannot log in on Safari" → Regression
"Proposal approval process is manual and error-prone" → Proposals
"No visibility into project progress and health" → Projects

Quick Start

To create a Jira ticket, use the jira-cli command with the following pattern:

jira issue create \
  -t<TYPE> \
  -s"<SUMMARY>" \
  -b"<DESCRIPTION>" \
  -C <COMPONENT> \
  --no-input

Example:

jira issue create \
  -tStory \
  -s"Project list page takes too long to load for users with many projects" \
  -b"Users with 50+ projects experience 10s+ load times on the project list page, causing frustration and drop-off. The page should load within 2 seconds regardless of project count." \
  -C Backends \
  --no-input

Supported Work Types

Epic - For large initiatives or themes
Story - For user stories and features
Bug - For defects and issues
A/B Test - For A/B testing tasks (if configured in your Jira instance)

Creating Tickets

Basic Ticket Creation

For standard ticket creation without a parent epic:

jira issue create \
  -tStory \
  -s"Users need a secure way to access the platform" \
  -b"Currently there is no authentication mechanism, so anyone with the URL can access the platform. Users need to be able to log in securely to protect their data." \
  -C API \
  --no-input

Ticket with Parent Epic

To link a story/bug to an epic, use the -P flag:

jira issue create \
  -tStory \
  -s"Team leads lack visibility into project health and progress" \
  -b"Team leads have no centralized view of project status, making it hard to identify at-risk projects. They need a dashboard showing key metrics and recent activity at a glance." \
  -P PROJ-123 \
  -C Projects \
  --no-input

Epic Creation

jira issue create \
  -tEpic \
  -s"Enable AI-powered assistance across the platform" \
  -b"Users frequently perform repetitive tasks that could be automated. AI-powered features would reduce manual effort and help users make better decisions faster." \
  -C AI \
  --no-input

Bug Creation

jira issue create \
  -tBug \
  -s"Users on Safari cannot log in to the platform" \
  -b"Safari users see 'Invalid credentials' when attempting to log in, even with correct credentials. This blocks all Safari users from accessing the platform." \
  -C Regression \
  --no-input

Setting Status to Backlog

Important: Jira typically creates issues in the default initial status (usually "To Do" or "Open"). To move a newly created ticket to "Backlog" status:

Two-Step Process

# Step 1: Create the ticket and capture the issue key
ISSUE_KEY=$(jira issue create -tStory -s"Summary" -b"Description" \
  -C Backends --no-input | grep -oE '[A-Z]+-[0-9]+' | head -1)

# Step 2: Move to Backlog status
jira issue move "$ISSUE_KEY" "Backlog"

Alternative: Configure Default Status

Ask the Jira administrator to set "Backlog" as the default initial status for the project, eliminating the need for the move step.

Getting the Ticket URL

After creating a ticket, jira-cli outputs the issue key (e.g., PROJ-123). To get the full URL:

Method 1: Open in Browser

jira open PROJ-123

Method 2: View Issue Details

jira issue view PROJ-123

The output includes the issue URL.

Method 3: Construct URL Manually

If you know your Jira domain:

https://your-domain.atlassian.net/browse/PROJ-123

Method 4: Copy from CLI

When viewing issues in the interactive list:

Press ENTER to open in browser
Press c to copy URL to clipboard

Listing & Searching Tickets

Use jira issue list to find tickets. Always pass --plain for non-interactive, parseable output (the default mode opens an interactive TUI).

My Open Tickets (most common)

jira issue list -a$(jira me) -s~Done -s~Closed --plain

The ~ prefix means "not equal". This shows your tickets that aren't Done/Closed.

When the user asks "what am I working on", "show my tickets", or "what's on my plate", this is the default query.

Filter by Status

# Everything in progress
jira issue list -s"In Progress" --plain

# Everything in the backlog
jira issue list -sBacklog --plain

Filter by Type

jira issue list -tBug --plain
jira issue list -tStory --plain
jira issue list -tEpic --plain

Filter by Component

jira issue list -CBackends --plain
jira issue list -CAI --plain

Combine Filters

Filters AND together. Example — "my open bugs in Backends":

jira issue list -a$(jira me) -tBug -CBackends -s~Done --plain

Created/Updated Recently

# Created in the last 7 days
jira issue list --created -7d --plain

# Updated in the last 24 hours
jira issue list --updated -1d --plain

Advanced: Raw JQL

For anything the flags don't cover, pass raw JQL with -q:

jira issue list -q "assignee = currentUser() AND priority = High AND status != Done ORDER BY updated DESC" --plain

View a Specific Ticket

When the user references a key directly (e.g. "show me PROJ-123", "what's the status of PROJ-456"):

jira issue view PROJ-123

The output includes summary, description, status, assignee, comments, and the issue URL. To open in the browser instead:

jira open PROJ-123

Editing Tickets

Use jira issue edit to update an existing ticket. The field flags mirror those used by jira issue create. Always pass --no-input for non-interactive edits.

Update Summary

jira issue edit PROJ-123 -s"Clearer, problem-focused summary" --no-input

Update Description

Always read the existing description before editing. Never blindly overwrite — decide which mode fits:

Mode	When to use
Add	The existing description is good but incomplete — append new sections, acceptance criteria, or context
Polish	The structure is right but the wording is unclear, inconsistent, or too technical — refine in place
Revamp	The description is fundamentally wrong, empty, or so outdated it misleads — full rewrite

Step 1 — Read the current description

jira issue view PROJ-123

Inspect the output. Is the description accurate? Missing information? Just rough?

Step 2 — Choose your mode and edit accordingly

Add (preserve existing, append new content):

# Build new_description by prepending existing text + new sections
jira issue edit PROJ-123 \
  -b"<EXISTING CONTENT>

## Additional Context
<NEW SECTIONS ONLY>" \
  --no-input

Polish (keep structure, improve wording):

jira issue edit PROJ-123 \
  -b"<REFINED VERSION OF EXISTING CONTENT>" \
  --no-input

Revamp (full rewrite — only when existing content is fundamentally wrong or empty):

jira issue edit PROJ-123 \
  -b"<COMPLETELY NEW DESCRIPTION>" \
  --no-input

When rewriting or polishing, follow the same problem-focused guidelines from the Writing Good Ticket Summaries & Descriptions section above — don't bake implementation details into the ticket.

Reassign

# Assign to a specific user
jira issue edit PROJ-123 -a"username" --no-input

# Assign to yourself
jira issue edit PROJ-123 -a$(jira me) --no-input

# Unassign (the literal "x" clears the assignee)
jira issue edit PROJ-123 -ax --no-input

Set Priority

jira issue edit PROJ-123 -yHigh --no-input

Common values: Highest, High, Medium, Low, Lowest (verify in your Jira instance).

Add Labels

jira issue edit PROJ-123 -l"frontend" -l"urgent" --no-input

Link to a Parent Epic

jira issue edit PROJ-123 -PPROJ-456 --no-input

Update Multiple Fields at Once

jira issue edit PROJ-123 \
  -s"Updated summary" \
  -yHigh \
  -l"urgent" \
  --no-input

Edit vs. Transition

jira issue edit updates fields. To change status (To Do → In Progress → Done), use jira issue move:

jira issue move PROJ-123 "In Progress"

Helper Script

For complex workflows, you can create a helper script if needed:

#!/bin/bash
# create_jira_ticket.sh
TYPE=$1
SUMMARY=$2
DESCRIPTION=$3
COMPONENT=$4

jira issue create \
  -t"$TYPE" \
  -s"$SUMMARY" \
  -b"$DESCRIPTION" \
  -C "$COMPONENT" \
  --no-input

Usage:

./create_jira_ticket.sh Story "Add authentication" "Implement JWT auth" API

Complete Workflow Example

Create a ticket with all required fields and get the URL:

# Step 1: Create the ticket (select appropriate component based on the task)
OUTPUT=$(jira issue create \
  -tStory \
  -s"Team leads need a way to monitor project health at a glance" \
  -b"There is no centralized view for tracking project progress. Team leads must check each project individually, which is time-consuming and makes it easy to miss at-risk projects." \
  -C Projects \
  --no-input)

# Step 2: Extract the issue key
ISSUE_KEY=$(echo "$OUTPUT" | grep -oE '[A-Z]+-[0-9]+' | head -1)

# Step 3: Move to Backlog
jira issue move "$ISSUE_KEY" "Backlog"

# Step 4: Get and display the URL
echo "Ticket created: https://your-domain.atlassian.net/browse/$ISSUE_KEY"

# Or open directly in browser
jira open "$ISSUE_KEY"

Component Selection Reference

For detailed guidance on selecting the appropriate component, see references/component_selection.md.

Troubleshooting

Authentication Errors

If you get authentication errors, reconfigure jira-cli:

jira init

Component Not Found

If a component is not recognized:

List available components: jira component list
Verify the component name matches exactly (case-sensitive)
Valid components: API, Projects, Proposals, Backends, Regression, AI

Invalid Issue Type

If "A/B Test" is not recognized, verify it's configured in your Jira project:

Check available types: Run jira issue create and observe the type options
Use a standard type (Epic/Story/Bug) if A/B Test is not available

Examples by Use Case

User requests: "Create a bug ticket for the login issue"

jira issue create \
  -tBug \
  -s"Safari users cannot log in — login button is unresponsive" \
  -b"Multiple users have reported that the login button does not respond on Safari, preventing them from accessing the platform entirely." \
  -C Regression \
  --no-input

User requests: "Create an epic for AI integration"

jira issue create \
  -tEpic \
  -s"Help users work faster with AI-powered assistance" \
  -b"Users spend significant time on repetitive tasks like drafting proposals and analyzing project data. AI-powered features could automate these workflows and surface actionable insights." \
  -C AI \
  --no-input

User requests: "Create a story under epic PROJ-456 for project analytics API"

jira issue create \
  -tStory \
  -s"External partners need programmatic access to project analytics" \
  -b"Partners currently request analytics reports manually via email, which is slow and error-prone. They need a self-service way to retrieve project analytics data on demand." \
  -P PROJ-456 \
  -C API \
  --no-input

User requests: "What am I working on?" / "Show my open tickets"

jira issue list -a$(jira me) -s~Done -s~Closed --plain

User requests: "Show me my open bugs in Backends"

jira issue list -a$(jira me) -tBug -CBackends -s~Done --plain

User requests: "Show me PROJ-123" / "What's the status of PROJ-123?"

jira issue view PROJ-123

User requests: "Reassign PROJ-123 to me and bump priority to High"

jira issue edit PROJ-123 -a$(jira me) -yHigh --no-input

User requests: "Update the description on PROJ-123"

# Step 1: Read the existing description first
jira issue view PROJ-123

# Step 2: Based on what you see, choose add / polish / revamp (see Editing Tickets section)
# Example — polishing vague existing content:
jira issue edit PROJ-123 \
  -b"Users with 50+ projects experience 10s+ load times on the project list page.
Target: page should load in under 2 seconds regardless of project count." \
  --no-input

User requests: "Link PROJ-123 to epic PROJ-456"

jira issue edit PROJ-123 -PPROJ-456 --no-input

jira-ticket-manager