jira-cli

Work with Jira Server tickets and release boards from your terminal. See your open issues, retrieve a complete project release from its Jira version link, search with JQL, add comments and screenshots, or move a ticket through its workflow. Short commands cover everyday tasks; JSON output works with scripts and AI agents.

The focus is self-hosted Jira Server 7.x and REST API v2. It calls Jira directly from a short-lived process, so an agent can use the same mine, show, and comment commands you use, without running an MCP server. Writes start as dry runs: you can inspect the proposed action before choosing to send it.

This is an independent project, not an official Atlassian tool.

Install and connect

Requires Node.js 18.17 or newer and a Jira Server account.

npm install -g @khanglvm/jira-cli

Set JIRA_USERNAME and JIRA_PASSWORD in your local environment, then replace the example URL with your Jira address:

jira-cli profile add work \
  --base-url https://jira.example.com \
  --username "$JIRA_USERNAME" \
  --password "$JIRA_PASSWORD" \
  --default

Credentials go into your OS keychain by default. Keep them out of source files and chat messages. Use jira-cli profile list to see configured accounts.

Start with your tickets

jira-cli mine --max-results 10
jira-cli show PROJ-123
jira-cli release https://jira.example.com/projects/PROJ/versions/12345
jira-cli search --reported --order-by "priority DESC"

Replace PROJ-123 with a real issue key. Changes are dry runs by default, so you can preview a comment before posting it:

jira-cli comment PROJ-123 --body "Investigating the login issue."
jira-cli comment PROJ-123 --body "Investigating the login issue." --perform-action

Add --inline-image screenshot.png to include a screenshot in a comment. Profiles let you switch between Jira workspaces with jira-cli profile use work.

For AI agents

Paste this into your coding assistant:

Use jira-cli for my Jira task. If missing, install it with
`npm install -g @khanglvm/jira-cli`. Check `jira-cli profile list` for setup.
Run `jira-cli easy` for examples. Use release for Jira project-version links and
mine, search, or show for tickets.
Preview changes first; pass --perform-action only for changes I have asked for.
Use `jira-cli tools list` when you need the JSON tool contracts.

You can also install the bundled skill:

npx skills add khanglvm/jira-cli --skill jira-cli -y

More help

• Usage guide: JQL, attachments, assignment, workflow transitions, and all tools.
• jira-cli --help lists commands; add --help to any command for its options.
• Changelog · MIT license

The older jira-agent command is an alias for jira-cli.