Jira CLI

Command-line tool for managing Jira issues via af jira.

Setup

Add the following environment variables to your project's .env file (preferred names first; legacy JIRA_* names are still accepted and fall back to these when unset):

ATLASSIAN_BASE_URL — Your Atlassian instance URL (e.g., https://company.atlassian.net)
ATLASSIAN_EMAIL — Your Atlassian account email
ATLASSIAN_API_TOKEN — API token from https://id.atlassian.com/manage-profile/security/api-tokens

Project Defaults

If the project instructions specify a default Jira project key (e.g., Jira project: PROJ), use it as the default for --project, list, types, and JQL queries. Explicit user input always overrides the default.

Quick Reference

Run af jira --help for all options.

Read Operations

af jira get <issue-key> — Get issue details (renders a "Custom Fields" section when any are set)
af jira list <project> [--limit N] [--show-field a,b,c] — List project issues; --show-field adds custom-field columns
af jira search "<jql>" [--show-field a,b,c] — Search with JQL
af jira projects — List projects
af jira types <project> — List issue types
af jira fields [--project <key> --type <name>] [--refresh] [--verbose] — List custom fields; with --project/--type marks required fields and shows allowed values
af jira transitions <issue-key> — List available transitions
af jira comment <issue-key> — List comments
af jira remote-link <issue-key> — List remote links
af jira versions <project> — List all versions in a project
af jira version <version-id> — Get version details

Write Operations

af jira create --project <key> --type <type> --summary "<text>" [--description "<text>"] [--priority <name>] [--labels a,b,c] [--parent <key>] [--estimate <time>] [--fix-version <v1,v2>] [--affected-version <v>] [--field name=value]... [--field-json '<json>']
af jira update <issue-key> [--summary "<text>"] [--description "<text>"] [--priority <name>] [--labels a,b,c] [--estimate <time>] [--remaining <time>] [--fix-version <v1,v2>] [--affected-version <v>] [--field name=value]... [--field-json '<json>']
af jira transition <issue-key> --to "<status>"
af jira assign <issue-key> --to <email> (use --to none to unassign)
af jira comment <issue-key> --add "<text>"
af jira attach <issue-key> <file> — Attach a file (images, PDFs, etc.)
af jira delete <issue-key>

Link Operations

af jira link <issue-key> --to <issue-key> [--type "<name>"] — Link two issues (default type: "Blocks")
af jira unlink <issue-key> --from <issue-key> — Remove a link
af jira remote-link <issue-key> --url "<url>" --title "<text>" — Add a remote link
af jira remote-link <issue-key> --remove <link-id> — Remove a remote link

Version Operations

af jira version-create --project <key> --name "<text>" [--description "<text>"] [--start-date YYYY-MM-DD] [--release-date YYYY-MM-DD] [--released]
af jira version-update <id> [--name "<text>"] [--description "<text>"] [--start-date YYYY-MM-DD] [--release-date YYYY-MM-DD] [--released] [--unreleased]
af jira version-delete <id> [--move-fix-issues-to <id>] [--move-affected-issues-to <id>]

Output Formats

Default: Markdown
JSON: Add --json flag

Common Workflows

View my assigned issues

af jira search "assignee = currentUser() AND status != Done ORDER BY priority DESC"

Start working on an issue

af jira get PROJ-123
af jira transition PROJ-123 --to "In Progress"
af jira comment PROJ-123 --add "Starting work"

Complete an issue

af jira comment PROJ-123 --add "Done"
af jira transition PROJ-123 --to "Done"

Create a bug with details

af jira create --project PROJ --type Bug --summary "Login fails on Safari" \
  --description "Users cannot log in using Safari 17. Error: 'Invalid session'" \
  --priority High --labels safari,auth,urgent

Create a task with time estimate and version

af jira create --project PROJ --type Task --summary "Implement auth" \
  --estimate "4h" --fix-version "v1.0.0"

Create a subtask

af jira create --project PROJ --type Sub-task --summary "Write unit tests" \
  --parent PROJ-123

Link issues

# Block another issue
af jira link PROJ-123 --to PROJ-456

# Use a specific link type
af jira link PROJ-123 --to PROJ-456 --type "Relates"

# Remove a link
af jira unlink PROJ-123 --from PROJ-456

Remote links

# List remote links
af jira remote-link PROJ-123

# Add a remote link (e.g., design doc, PR, external resource)
af jira remote-link PROJ-123 --url "https://example.com/doc" --title "Design Doc"

# Remove a remote link
af jira remote-link PROJ-123 --remove 10042

Manage versions

# List versions
af jira versions PROJ

# Create a version
af jira version-create --project PROJ --name "v1.0.0" --release-date 2024-06-01

# Mark a version as released
af jira version-update 12345 --released

Update time tracking

af jira update PROJ-123 --estimate "8h" --remaining "2h"

Custom fields

Custom fields are instance-specific (Story Points, Sprint, Severity, and any custom selectors configured by the Jira admin). Reference them by alias (from af.json), by display name (case-insensitive, must be unambiguous), or by raw customfield_<digits> id — in that precedence order.

# Discover fields — lists every custom field in the instance
af jira fields

# Project-and-type scope marks required fields with ✓ and lists allowed values
af jira fields --project PROJ --type Story

# Bust the cache (instance catalog is cached 24h, createmeta 1h)
af jira fields --refresh

# Create with required custom fields
af jira create --project PROJ --type Story --summary "Redesign login" \
  --field storyPoints=5 --field severity=High

# Update a custom field
af jira update PROJ-123 --field storyPoints=8

# Clear a custom field (empty value after `=`)
af jira update PROJ-123 --field severity=

# JSON escape hatch for complex shapes (cascading selects, raw overrides)
af jira create --project PROJ --type Story --summary "X" \
  --field-json '{"customfield_10050":{"value":"A","child":{"value":"A1"}}}'

# Show custom fields as extra columns when listing
af jira list PROJ --show-field storyPoints,severity

Encoding rules (applied per --field):

number → numeric; string/date/datetime → raw string
option → {value: "..."}; multi-select → array of those
user → resolves email/name to {accountId} via findUser; multi-user splits on commas
version → {name: "..."}; multi-version array
sprint → numeric sprint ID only
Epic Link → issue key string
Empty value after = → null (clears the field)
Unknown schema types pass through raw and warn to stderr — reach for --field-json if that doesn't encode correctly

Optional aliases live in af.json and make commands more ergonomic:

{
    "jira": {
        "customFields": {
            "storyPoints": { "id": "customfield_10016" },
            "sprint":      { "id": "customfield_10020", "type": "sprint" },
            "severity":    { "id": "customfield_10099" }
        }
    }
}

The CLI does not pre-validate required fields on create. Run af jira fields --project PROJ --type <type> first to see what Jira will require; otherwise the error message from Jira's 400 surfaces unchanged.

Attach files to an issue

# Attach a screenshot
af jira attach PROJ-123 ./screenshot.png

# Attach multiple files
for f in ./audit/*.png; do
  af jira attach PROJ-123 "$f"
done

Search examples

# My open issues
af jira search "assignee = currentUser() AND status != Done"

# Recent bugs in project
af jira search "project = PROJ AND type = Bug ORDER BY created DESC" --limit 10

# Unassigned issues
af jira search "project = PROJ AND assignee IS EMPTY"

# Issues updated this week
af jira search "project = PROJ AND updated >= -7d"

# High priority blockers
af jira search "priority = Highest AND status != Done"

Tips

Discover valid values first: Run af jira transitions <key> before transitioning, af jira types <project> before creating, af jira fields --project <key> --type <type> before creating an issue that requires custom fields
Use --json for scripting: Pipe output to jq for automation
Quote JQL queries: Always wrap JQL in double quotes to handle spaces
Time format: Use "2h", "1d", "30m" for estimates
Clearing flags: --fix-version "" clears versions; --field name= clears a custom field
Alias custom fields in af.json for nicer --field ergonomics; otherwise use the display name (case-insensitive, must be unambiguous) or the raw customfield_<digits> id

Error Handling

Errors print to stderr
With --json: {"error": "message"}
Exit codes: 0 success, 1 error

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