Jira CLI

Interactive command-line tool for Atlassian Jira that minimizes reliance on the web interface while maintaining essential functionality for daily Jira operations.

Overview

JiraCLI (jira-cli) is a command line tool for managing Jira issues, epics, and sprints. Supports both Jira Cloud and on-premise installations with multiple authentication methods.

For AI use, always add --plain flag to get plain text output suitable for parsing.

When to Use This Skill

Use this skill when:

• Managing Jira issues from the command line
• Creating, editing, or viewing Jira tickets
• Working with epics and sprints
• Automating Jira workflows
• Users mention "jira", "ticket", "issue", "epic", or "sprint"
• Writing scripts for Jira automation

Essential Commands

# List recent issues (always use --plain for AI)
jira issue list --plain

# View issue details
jira issue view ISSUE-1 --plain

# Create an issue
jira issue create -tBug -s"Bug title" -yHigh -b"Description"

# Assign issue to yourself
jira issue assign ISSUE-1 $(jira me)

# Move issue to "In Progress"
jira issue move ISSUE-1 "In Progress"

# Add comment
jira issue comment add ISSUE-1 --comment "My comment"

# Add worklog
jira issue worklog add ISSUE-1 "2h" --comment "Implementation work"

How to Use This Skill

For detailed command reference and examples, load the appropriate reference file:

1. Comprehensive Commands Reference

Load: references/commands.md

Use this file when you need:

• Detailed command syntax and options
• All available flags and parameters
• Issue management operations (list, create, edit, assign, move, view, link, clone, delete)
• Epic management (list, create, add/remove issues)
• Sprint management (list, add issues)
• Release management
• Output format options
• Non-interactive command patterns

2. Common Workflow Examples

Load: references/workflows.md

Use this file when you need:

• Daily standup preparation workflows
• Sprint planning commands
• Code review workflow integration
• Bug triage procedures
• Team collaboration patterns
• Best practices for different scenarios

3. Scripting and Automation

Load: references/scripting.md

Use this file when you need:

• Bash automation scripts
• Data extraction and reporting
• Integration with CI/CD pipelines
• Metrics and analytics examples
• Bulk operations

Quick Reference

Powerful List Filters

# Combine flags for precise queries (always add --plain)
jira issue list --plain -a$(jira me) -yHigh -s"To Do" --created -7d -lbackend

# Use tilde (~) as NOT operator
jira issue list --plain -s~Done --created-before -24w

# Filter by multiple criteria
jira issue list --plain -yHigh,Critical -s"In Progress" -lbug

# List issues I'm watching
jira issue list --plain -w

# List issues assigned to no one created this week
jira issue list --plain -ax --created week

# List issues created within an hour
jira issue list --plain --created -1h

# List issues from history (recently viewed)
jira issue list --plain --history

Sprint Management

# List current active sprint issues
jira sprint list --plain --current

# List current sprint issues assigned to me
jira sprint list --plain --current -a$(jira me)

# List previous sprint issues
jira sprint list --plain --prev

# List next planned sprint issues
jira sprint list --plain --next

# List future and active sprints
jira sprint list --plain --state future,active

# List issues in a specific sprint (use sprint ID)
jira sprint list --plain SPRINT_ID

# Add issues to a sprint
jira sprint add SPRINT_ID ISSUE-1 ISSUE-2

Epic Management

# List epics in table view
jira epic list --plain --table

# List issues in an epic
jira epic list --plain KEY-1

# List unassigned high priority issues in an epic
jira epic list --plain KEY-1 -ax -yHigh

# Add issues to an epic (up to 50 at once)
jira epic add EPIC-KEY ISSUE-1 ISSUE-2

# Remove issues from an epic
jira epic remove ISSUE-1 ISSUE-2

Useful Scripts

# Get ticket count per sprint
sprints=$(jira sprint list --table --plain --columns id,name --no-headers)
echo "${sprints}" | while read -r id name; do
  count=$(jira sprint list "${id}" --plain --no-headers 2>/dev/null | wc -l)
  printf "%s: %d\n" "${name}" "${count}"
done

# List tickets created today
jira issue list --plain --created -1d

# List high priority bugs assigned to me
jira issue list --plain -a$(jira me) -tBug -yHigh

# Get issues by date range
jira issue list --plain --created week
jira issue list --plain --created month
jira issue list --plain --created -7d
jira issue list --plain --updated -30m

Resources

• GitHub: https://github.com/ankitpokhrel/jira-cli
• Installation Guide: https://github.com/ankitpokhrel/jira-cli/wiki/Installation
• FAQs: https://github.com/ankitpokhrel/jira-cli/discussions/categories/faqs