Jira

ACLI - Atlassian CLI for Jira

This skill enables efficient Jira ticket management using Atlassian's official acli command-line tool.

Read-only requests authorize inspection. Create, edit, assign, transition, link, comment, archive, and delete only within the user's requested operation and scope. For bulk writes, first inspect the exact matching keys; do not expand the JQL scope during mutation. Prefer --description-file, --body-file, or structured JSON for multiline content.

The examples were checked against ACLI 1.3.36-stable. Check the installed command's --help before applying a version-sensitive flag. Replace placeholders with actual values; link types must match the site's outward description.

Prerequisites

Verify acli is installed and authenticated:

which acli && acli jira auth status

Core Commands

Create Tickets

Basic:

acli jira workitem create \
  --project "<PROJECT_KEY>" \
  --type "<Task|Bug|Story|Epic>" \
  --summary "<title>"

With details:

acli jira workitem create \
  --project "<PROJECT_KEY>" \
  --type "<type>" \
  --summary "<title>" \
  --description "<description>" \
  --assignee "<email|@me|default>" \
  --label "<label1,label2>" \
  --parent "<PARENT-KEY>"  # Optional: for sub-tasks

Interactive (opens editor):

acli jira workitem create --project "<PROJECT_KEY>" --type "<type>" --editor

From file (first line = summary, rest = description):

acli jira workitem create --from-file "<path>" --project "<PROJECT_KEY>" --type "<type>"

From JSON (for rich formatting + custom fields):

acli jira workitem create --from-json "<path.json>"

View Tickets

acli jira workitem view <KEY-123>                    # Basic
acli jira workitem view <KEY-123> --json             # JSON output
acli jira workitem view <KEY-123> --fields "*all"    # All fields
acli jira workitem view <KEY-123> --web              # Open browser

Search Tickets (JQL)

acli jira workitem search --jql "<query>" --limit 20
acli jira workitem search --jql "<query>" --paginate    # All results
acli jira workitem search --jql "<query>" --json        # JSON output
acli jira workitem search --jql "<query>" --csv         # CSV output
acli jira workitem search --jql "<query>" --count       # Count only

Common JQL patterns:

• project = PRE - By project
• assignee = currentUser() - My tickets
• status = "In Progress" - By status
• labels = urgent - By label
• created >= -7d - Recent tickets
• project = PRE AND status != Done ORDER BY priority DESC - Combined

Edit Tickets

acli jira workitem edit --key <KEY-123> --summary "<new title>"
acli jira workitem edit --key <KEY-123> --description "<new desc>"
acli jira workitem edit --key "<KEY-1,KEY-2>" --labels "<labels>"  # Bulk

Transitions

acli jira workitem transition --key <KEY-123> --status "In Progress"
acli jira workitem transition --key <KEY-123> --status "Done"
acli jira workitem transition --jql "<query>" --status "<status>"  # Bulk

Assignments

acli jira workitem assign --key <KEY-123> --assignee "<email>"
acli jira workitem assign --key <KEY-123> --assignee "@me"
acli jira workitem assign --key <KEY-123> --assignee "default"

Comments

acli jira workitem comment create --key <KEY-123> --body "<text>"
acli jira workitem comment list --key <KEY-123>
acli jira workitem comment update --key <KEY-123> --id <id> --body "<text>"
acli jira workitem comment delete --key <KEY-123> --id <id>

Other Operations

acli jira workitem clone --key <KEY-123>
acli jira workitem link create --out "<KEY-123>" --in "<KEY-456>" --type "Blocks"
acli jira workitem archive --key <KEY-123>
acli jira workitem delete --key <KEY-123>

Projects

acli jira project list --limit 50
acli jira project view <PROJECT_KEY>

JSON Template for Rich Tickets

For tickets requiring rich formatting (headings, lists, code blocks), use ADF (Atlassian Document Format). Reference references/adf-template.json for the full structure.

Generate a template:

acli jira workitem create --generate-json > ticket-template.json

Workflow Patterns

Create well-structured bug report

1. Gather: summary, steps to reproduce, expected vs actual behavior
2. Use --editor or --from-json for rich formatting
3. Add labels: bug, severity, component

Bulk operations

1. First search with --jql to verify scope
2. Use comma-separated keys or --jql flag on edit/transition commands

Quick ticket from terminal

acli jira workitem create -p PRE -t Task -s "Quick task" -a @me