Jira CLI

jr — Jira CLI for AI Agents

jr is a Jira Cloud CLI built for agents. Every command returns structured JSON on stdout, errors as JSON on stderr, and semantic exit codes — so you can parse, branch, and retry reliably.

Core principles

1. Minimize output. A raw issue GET returns ~10K tokens. Use --preset, --fields, or --jq — combined they cut that to ~50.
2. Discover at runtime. 600+ commands auto-generated from Jira's OpenAPI spec. Don't guess names — run jr schema.
3. Branch on exit codes. 0=ok, 2=auth, 3=not_found, 4=validation, 5=rate_limited, 6=conflict, 7=server_error.
4. Rich content requires ADF. Jira Cloud v3 does not parse markdown or wiki markup — only ADF JSON. See references/adf.md.

Setup

jr configure --base-url https://yoursite.atlassian.net --token YOUR_API_TOKEN --username your@email.com
jr configure --test        # verify credentials

Env vars: JR_BASE_URL, JR_AUTH_TOKEN, JR_AUTH_USER, JR_AUTH_TYPE, JR_CONFIG_PATH. Named profiles via --profile <name>.

Auth failure (exit 2)? Token is likely expired — regenerate at https://id.atlassian.com/manage-profile/security/api-tokens.

Full auth, profiles, env vars, policy, and audit docs: references/config.md.

Discovery

jr schema                   # resource → verbs (start here)
jr schema issue             # all operations for a resource
jr schema issue get         # full flags for one operation

Command names come straight from Jira's OpenAPI spec and can be verbose (e.g. search-and-reconsile-issues-using-jql). "reconsile" is not a typo — do not "fix" it to "reconcile".

Token efficiency

Three filters, use all three for max compression:

# --preset: named field set (agent, detail, triage, board)
jr issue get --issueIdOrKey PROJ-1 --preset agent

# --fields: server-side filter (Jira only returns these fields)
jr issue get --issueIdOrKey PROJ-1 --fields key,summary,status

# --jq: client-side shaping
jr issue get --issueIdOrKey PROJ-1 --jq '{key, summary: .fields.summary}'

# Combined — ~10K tokens → ~50
jr issue get --issueIdOrKey PROJ-1 --fields key,summary --jq '{key, summary: .fields.summary}'

Preset field sets:

Also: --cache 5m for read-heavy data, --no-paginate to skip auto-pagination, jr preset list for user-defined presets.

Common operations

# Get
jr issue get --issueIdOrKey PROJ-1 --preset agent

# Search with JQL (not the deprecated /search endpoint)
jr search search-and-reconsile-issues-using-jql \
  --jql "project = PROJ AND status = 'In Progress'" \
  --jq '[.issues[] | {key, summary: .fields.summary}]'

# Create from flags (no raw JSON)
jr workflow create --project PROJ --type Bug --summary "Login broken" --priority High --assign me

# Edit
jr issue edit --issueIdOrKey PROJ-1 --body '{"fields":{"summary":"Updated"}}'

# Delete
jr issue delete --issueIdOrKey PROJ-1

# Transition (by status name — IDs resolved automatically)
jr workflow transition --issue PROJ-1 --to "Done"

# Transition + assign in one call
jr workflow move --issue PROJ-1 --to "In Progress" --assign me

# Assign (also: email, display name, "none")
jr workflow assign --issue PROJ-1 --to me

# Plain-text comment (wrapped in a single ADF paragraph; markdown renders literally)
jr workflow comment --issue PROJ-1 --text "LGTM"

# Rich comment — requires ADF; see references/adf.md
jr issue add-comment --issueIdOrKey PROJ-1 --body @comment.adf.json

# Link issues (link-type name resolves automatically)
jr workflow link --from PROJ-1 --to PROJ-2 --type blocks

# Log work (human-friendly duration)
jr workflow log-work --issue PROJ-1 --time "2h 30m" --comment "Debugging"

# Sprint (by name)
jr workflow sprint --issue PROJ-1 --to "Sprint 5"

# Template apply (built-ins: bug-report, story, task, epic, subtask, spike)
jr template apply bug-report --project PROJ --var summary="Login broken" --var severity=High

# Changelog
jr diff --issue PROJ-1 --since 2h

# Watch (NDJSON stream — ALWAYS use --max-events in automated contexts)
jr watch --jql "project = PROJ AND updated > -5m" --interval 30s --max-events 20

# Raw API escape hatch (POST/PUT/PATCH require --body)
jr raw GET /rest/api/3/myself
jr raw POST /rest/api/3/search/jql --body '{"jql":"project=PROJ"}'

Watch for --to overloading:

Detailed flags and patterns: references/operations.md.

Error handling

Errors are JSON on stderr. Branch on exit_code:

Error JSON includes optional hint (recovery text) and retry_after (seconds):

{"error_type":"rate_limited","status":429,"retry_after":30,"hint":"Wait before retrying."}

Batch

For any sequence of 3+ ops, use jr batch — one process instead of N cold starts:

echo '[
  {"command": "issue get",          "args": {"issueIdOrKey": "PROJ-1"}, "jq": ".key"},
  {"command": "workflow transition","args": {"issue": "PROJ-2", "to": "Done"}},
  {"command": "template apply",     "args": {"name": "bug-report", "project": "PROJ", "summary": "Bug"}}
]' | jr batch

• Command strings are "resource verb" (e.g. "diff diff", "workflow transition").
• Args use flag names without --. template apply variables are flat keys, not --var.
• Process exit code = highest-severity op code. Check per-op exit_code fields for individual status.
• Default cap: 50 ops (--max-batch N).

Full command-name table and arg conventions: references/batch.md.

Global flags (most used)

Common mistakes

• Writing markdown in comments. Jira Cloud v3 renders it literally. Use workflow comment --text for plain text, or hand-author ADF (see references/adf.md).
• Omitting --max-events on jr watch. Agents can't send Ctrl-C. Without a cap, the stream runs forever.
• Not filtering responses. A single unfiltered issue get can burn 10K tokens. Always use --preset or --fields + --jq.
• "Fixing" reconsile. It matches the Jira API spec. Leaving it misspelled is correct.
• Retrying exit 3 or 4 errors. Not-found, gone, and validation errors won't become success on retry. Fix the request instead.
• Looking up transition / link-type / sprint IDs. jr resolves these from names automatically — pass "Done", "blocks", "Sprint 5", never the numeric ID.
• Running many single invocations. Each cold-starts the schema parser. Use jr batch for 3+ calls.

References

The project root's CLAUDE.md contains a contributor-oriented quick reference for jr that overlaps with this skill. If both are in context, treat this SKILL.md + its references as the authoritative guide.