jira-bulk

Bulk operations for JIRA issue management at scale - transitions, assignments, priorities, cloning, and deletion.

Risk Levels

Operation	Risk	Notes
Dry-run any operation	-	Preview only, no changes
Bulk transition	!!	Affects many issues; use --dry-run first
Bulk assign	!!	Affects many issues; use --dry-run first
Bulk set-priority	!!	Affects many issues; use --dry-run first
Bulk clone	!	Creates many issues; can delete
Bulk delete	!!!	IRREVERSIBLE - issues permanently lost

Risk Legend: - Safe, read-only | ! Caution, modifiable | !! Warning, destructive but recoverable | !!! Danger, irreversible

CRITICAL: Always use --dry-run before executing bulk operations. Bulk delete is permanent and cannot be undone.

When to use this skill

IMPORTANT: Always use the jira-as CLI. Never run Python scripts directly.

Use this skill when you need to:

• Transition multiple issues through workflow states simultaneously
• Assign multiple issues to a user (or unassign)
• Set priority on multiple issues at once
• Clone issues with their subtasks and links
• Delete multiple issues permanently (with dry-run preview)
• Execute operations with dry-run preview before making changes
• Handle partial failures gracefully with progress tracking

Scale guidance:

• 5-10 issues: Run directly, no special options needed
• 50-100 issues: Use --dry-run first, then execute
• 500+ issues: Use --dry-run, then execute in smaller batches if needed

Quick Start

# Preview before making changes
jira-as bulk transition --jql "project=PROJ AND status=\"In Progress\"" --to Done --dry-run

# Execute the transition
jira-as bulk transition --jql "project=PROJ AND status=\"In Progress\"" --to Done

For more patterns, see Quick Start Guide.

Available Commands

Command	Purpose	Example
jira-as bulk transition	Move issues to new status	--jql "..." --to "Done"
jira-as bulk assign	Assign issues to user	--jql "..." --assignee john
jira-as bulk set-priority	Set issue priority	--jql "..." --priority High
jira-as bulk clone	Clone issues	--jql "..." --include-subtasks
jira-as bulk delete	Delete issues permanently	--jql "..." --dry-run

All commands support --help for full documentation.

Common Options

All commands support these options:

Option	Purpose	When to Use
-n/--dry-run	Preview changes	Always use for >10 issues
-y/--yes	Skip confirmation	Scripted automation
-m/--max-issues N	Limit scope (default: 100)	Testing, large operations
-o/--output FORMAT	Output format: text (default), json	JSON for scripting

Transition-Only Options

These options are only available for jira-as bulk transition:

Option	Purpose	When to Use
--comment / -c	Add comment with transition	Documenting bulk changes
--resolution / -r	Set resolution (e.g., Fixed)	Closing issues

Examples

Bulk Transition

# By issue keys
jira-as bulk transition --issues PROJ-1,PROJ-2,PROJ-3 --to Done

# By JQL query
jira-as bulk transition --jql "project=PROJ AND status=\"In Progress\"" --to Done

# With resolution
jira-as bulk transition --jql "type=Bug AND status=Verified" --to Closed --resolution Fixed

Bulk Assign

# Assign to user
jira-as bulk assign --jql "project=PROJ AND status=Open" --assignee "john.doe"

# Assign to self
jira-as bulk assign --jql "project=PROJ AND assignee IS EMPTY" --assignee self

# Unassign
jira-as bulk assign --jql "assignee=john.leaving" --unassign

Bulk Set Priority

jira-as bulk set-priority --jql "type=Bug AND labels=critical" --priority Highest

# Output as JSON
jira-as bulk set-priority --jql "type=Bug" --priority High --dry-run -o json

Bulk Clone

# ALWAYS preview first with dry-run (cloning creates many issues)
jira-as bulk clone --jql "sprint=\"Sprint 42\"" --include-subtasks --dry-run

# After reviewing the preview, execute without --dry-run
jira-as bulk clone --jql "sprint=\"Sprint 42\"" --include-subtasks --include-links

# Clone to different project
jira-as bulk clone --issues PROJ-1,PROJ-2 --target-project NEWPROJ --prefix "[Clone]"

Bulk Delete (DESTRUCTIVE)

# ALWAYS preview first with dry-run
jira-as bulk delete --jql "project=CLEANUP" --dry-run

# Delete by issue keys (preview first)
jira-as bulk delete --issues DEMO-1,DEMO-2,DEMO-3 --dry-run

# Execute deletion (after confirming dry-run output)
jira-as bulk delete --jql "project=CLEANUP" --yes

# Keep subtasks when deleting parent issues (subtasks deleted by default)
jira-as bulk delete --jql "project=CLEANUP" --no-subtasks --dry-run

Safety features:

• --dry-run shows exactly what will be deleted before making changes
• Confirmation required for >10 issues (lower than other operations)
• Default --max-issues 100 prevents accidental mass deletion
• Per-issue error tracking with summary of failures

Scale Recommendations

Issue Count	Recommended Approach
<50	Defaults are fine
50-500	--dry-run first, then execute
500+	--dry-run, then execute in smaller batches if needed

Getting rate limit (429) errors?

• Use --max-issues to process in smaller batches
• Consider running during off-peak hours

Exit Codes

Code	Meaning
0	All operations successful
1	Some failures or validation error
130	Cancelled by user (Ctrl+C)

Troubleshooting

Error	Solution
Transition not available	Check issue status with jira-as issue get ISSUE-KEY --show-transitions
Permission denied	Verify JIRA project permissions (DELETE_ISSUES required for bulk delete)
Rate limit (429)	Use --max-issues to process in smaller batches or run during off-peak hours
Invalid JQL	Test JQL in JIRA search first
Cannot delete issue with subtasks	Subtasks are deleted by default; use --no-subtasks to keep them

For detailed error recovery, see Error Recovery Playbook.

Documentation

Guide	When to Use
Quick Start	Get started in 5 minutes
Operations Guide	Choose the right command
Error Recovery	Handle failures
Safety Checklist	Pre-flight verification
Best Practices	Comprehensive guidance

Related Skills

• jira-lifecycle: Single-issue transitions and workflow
• jira-search: Find issues with JQL queries
• jira-issue: Create and update single issues