mcp-jira-scoped

The only MCP server for Jira that works with Atlassian's scoped API tokens.

Every other Jira MCP server uses classic (unscoped) API tokens with basic auth against yoursite.atlassian.net. Atlassian is deprecating those. This server uses scoped tokens with the modern api.atlassian.com gateway — the way Atlassian intends these tokens to be used.

What You Can Do

Once connected, you can ask your AI assistant things like:

• "What's the status of PROJ-1234?"
• "Search for all open bugs assigned to me in the BACKEND project"
• "Create a story in PROJ for the database migration, priority P2, under epic PROJ-100"
• "Move PROJ-1234 to In Progress"
• "Add a comment to PROJ-1234 saying the fix is deployed to staging"
• "Link PROJ-1234 as blocking PROJ-5678"
• "Find all issues with 'auth' in the summary updated this week"

Why This Server

| | mcp-jira-scoped | Other Jira MCP servers | |---|---|---| | Token type | Scoped (modern, ATATT prefix) | Classic (being deprecated) | | Auth gateway | api.atlassian.com | yoursite.atlassian.net | | Scope enforcement | Server-side, before every API call | None — relies on AI self-restraint | | Default mode | Read-only (write must be explicitly granted) | Full access | | Delete safety | Requires confirm: true parameter | No guard |

Quick Start

1. Create a Scoped API Token

1. Go to Atlassian API Tokens
2. Click "Create API token with scopes"
3. Grant the scopes you need:
   • read:jira-work — read issues, search, comments, projects
   • write:jira-work — create/update/delete issues, add comments
   • read:jira-user — look up users
   • read:me — read your own profile

2. Add to Your AI Client

Claude Desktop / Claude Code

Add to your .mcp.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "jira": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "mcp-jira-scoped"],
      "env": {
        "JIRA_INSTANCE": "yourcompany",
        "JIRA_USER_EMAIL": "[email protected]",
        "JIRA_API_TOKEN": "<your-scoped-token>",
        "JIRA_SCOPES": "read:jira-work,write:jira-work"
      }
    }
  }
}

Cursor

Add the same config to Cursor's MCP settings (Settings > MCP Servers).

VS Code (Copilot)

Add to .vscode/mcp.json:

{
  "servers": {
    "jira": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "mcp-jira-scoped"],
      "env": {
        "JIRA_INSTANCE": "yourcompany",
        "JIRA_USER_EMAIL": "[email protected]",
        "JIRA_API_TOKEN": "<your-scoped-token>",
        "JIRA_SCOPES": "read:jira-work,write:jira-work"
      }
    }
  }
}

Configuration

| Env Var | Required | Description | |---------|----------|-------------| | JIRA_INSTANCE | Yes | Instance name (e.g. mycompany for mycompany.atlassian.net) | | JIRA_API_TOKEN | Yes | Scoped API token (ATATT... prefix) | | JIRA_USER_EMAIL | Yes | Email associated with the token | | JIRA_SCOPES | No | Comma-separated scopes. Defaults to read:jira-work (read-only) | | JIRA_CLOUD_ID | No | Atlassian Cloud ID. Auto-fetched if not set. Find it at https://yoursite.atlassian.net/_edge/tenant_info |

Available Tools (14)

Read Tools (read:jira-work)

| Tool | Description | |------|-------------| | jira_get_issue | Get issue by key. Pass includeCustomFields: true to return all custom fields | | jira_search | Search issues via JQL with pagination | | jira_list_comments | List comments on an issue | | jira_list_projects | List accessible projects | | jira_get_project | Get project details by key | | jira_list_link_types | List available issue link types | | jira_list_fields | List all fields (system + custom) — discover customfield_* IDs | | jira_list_attachments | List attachments on an issue with filename, size, MIME type, and download URL | | jira_get_transitions | Get available transitions for an issue with required screen fields expanded |

Write Tools (write:jira-work)

| Tool | Description | |------|-------------| | jira_create_issue | Create an issue (task, bug, story, epic). Supports custom fields | | jira_update_issue | Update fields on an issue. Supports custom fields | | jira_add_comment | Add a comment (plain text auto-converted to ADF) | | jira_transition_issue | Move an issue to a new status. Accepts fields and comment for transition screens | | jira_delete_issue | Delete an issue (requires confirm: true safety guard) | | jira_link_issues | Link two issues (blocks, relates, split, clone, etc.) | | jira_add_attachment | Upload a local file as an attachment to an issue | | jira_delete_attachment | Delete an attachment by ID (requires confirm: true safety guard) |

User Tools (read:jira-user)

| Tool | Description | |------|-------------| | jira_get_user | Get user info by account ID | | jira_search_users | Search users by name or email |

Safety

1. Scope enforcement — tools are blocked server-side if their required scope isn't granted. The API call never happens.
2. Read-only default — if JIRA_SCOPES is not set, only read tools are even registered.
3. Delete confirmation — jira_delete_issue requires confirm: true.
4. No token logging — tokens are redacted from all error messages via sanitizeError.
5. No admin operations — no project creation/deletion, workflow changes, or webhook management. Ever.

Troubleshooting

"Client must be authenticated" (401)

You're probably using a scoped token against the old yoursite.atlassian.net URL. Scoped tokens (ATATT... prefix) only work via api.atlassian.com. This server handles this automatically — make sure you're using mcp-jira-scoped, not another Jira MCP server.

"Failed to parse Connect Session Auth Token" (403)

You're sending a scoped token as a Bearer token. Scoped tokens use Basic auth (email:token) via the api.atlassian.com gateway. Again, this server handles it — this error means you're using a different server.

Token scopes vs server scopes

There are two layers of scope enforcement:

1. Atlassian's scopes — set when you create the token. These control what Atlassian's API allows.
2. Server scopes (JIRA_SCOPES env var) — control what tools this MCP server makes available. These can only be more restrictive, never less.

If you get a 403 from Atlassian, check that your token has the required scope. If you get a scope enforcement error from the MCP server, check your JIRA_SCOPES env var.

Custom fields

Jira projects often have required custom fields (e.g. "Work Category", "Story Point Estimate"). Use the customFields parameter on jira_create_issue and jira_update_issue:

Create an issue in PROJ with summary "Fix login bug" and set customfield_10016 to 3

The AI will pass {"customFields": {"customfield_10016": 3}}. To find custom field IDs, check your Jira project's field configuration.

Cloud ID

The server auto-fetches your Cloud ID from https://yourinstance.atlassian.net/_edge/tenant_info. If this fails (e.g. corporate firewall), set JIRA_CLOUD_ID manually.

Roadmap

See Prioritised-TodoList.md for the full feature checklist — what's built, what's next, and where contributions are welcome. Key areas open for contribution:

• Issue tools — assign shortcut, create/transition metadata discovery
• Comments — edit and delete
• Watchers & Worklogs — full CRUD
• Boards & Sprints — Agile workflow support
• Attachments — list, download, upload

Development

git clone https://github.com/deepwired/mcp-jira.git
cd mcp-jira
npm install
npm run build
npm test

See CONTRIBUTING.md for details on adding tools and submitting PRs.

Note on Package Naming

The GitHub repo is mcp-jira but the npm package is mcp-jira-scoped. We plan to unify under mcp-jira in a future release. For now, use npx -y mcp-jira-scoped to run the server.

License

Apache 2.0 — see LICENSE.