Docs & Usage Guide

MCP Jira Server fo Claude Code

A comprehensive Model Context Protocol (MCP) server for Jira integration with Claude Code. This server provides complete Jira functionality including issue management, sprint operations, comments, attachments, and batch processing.

⚠️ Security Note: Never commit your API tokens! All credentials should be in .env files or environment variables.

🚀 Features

📋 Issue Management (12 tools)

create-issue - Create issues with full field support including custom fields and dates
update-issue - Update existing issues with smart field handling
get-issue - Retrieve detailed issue information
search-issues - Advanced search using JQL or simplified filters with date support
transition-issue - Move issues through workflow states
link-issues - Create relationships between issues (with smart type matching)
get-link-types - List available issue link types
get-fields - Show available fields for project/issue type
diagnose-fields - Troubleshoot field configuration and find custom field IDs
create-epic-with-subtasks - Create epic with multiple subtasks in one operation
create-task-for-epic - Create task linked to epic (optimized for localized Jira)

💬 Comments & History (3 tools)

get-comments - Read issue comments with author and timestamp information
get-history - View detailed change history with field modifications
add-comment - Add comments with Atlassian Document Format support
batch-comment - Add same comment to multiple issues simultaneously

📎 Attachments (2 tools)

get-attachments - List attachments with metadata (size, type, upload date)
upload-attachment - Upload files using base64 encoding

🏃 Sprint & Agile Management (4 tools)

get-boards - List available Jira boards for agile projects
get-sprints - View sprints for a board with status indicators
move-issue-to-sprint - Move issues between sprints and backlog
create-sprint - Create new sprints with optional start/end dates

Resources

jira://projects - List all accessible projects
jira://project/{key} - Get specific project details
jira://issue/{key} - Get specific issue details
jira://myself - Current user information
jira://search?jql={query} - Search results

Prompts

standup-report - Generate daily standup reports
sprint-planning - Assist with sprint planning activities
bug-triage - Help prioritize and triage bugs
release-notes - Generate release notes from completed issues
epic-status - Comprehensive epic progress reports

Installation

Clone the repository:

git clone https://github.com/tom28881/JIRA_MCP.git
cd JIRA_MCP

Install dependencies:

npm install

Build the project:

npm run build

Create a .env file from the example:

cp .env.example .env

Configure your Jira credentials in .env:

JIRA_HOST=https://your-company.atlassian.net
[email protected]
JIRA_API_TOKEN=your-api-token
JIRA_DEFAULT_PROJECT=PROJ

Getting a Jira API Token

Log in to Atlassian account settings
Click "Create API token"
Give it a name (e.g., "MCP Server")
Copy the token and add it to your .env file

Claude Code Configuration

To use this MCP server with Claude Code, you need to configure it in your MCP settings.

Option 1: Using Environment Variables

Set up the server with environment variables:

# Export environment variables
export JIRA_HOST="https://your-company.atlassian.net"
export JIRA_EMAIL="[email protected]"
export JIRA_API_TOKEN="your-api-token"
export JIRA_DEFAULT_PROJECT="PROJ"

# Run Claude Code with the MCP server
claude --mcp "node /absolute/path/to/mcp-jira-server/dist/index.js"

Option 2: Using .env File

Create a .env file in the server directory and run:

cd /path/to/mcp-jira-server
claude --mcp "node dist/index.js"
# or use the convenient run script:
claude --mcp "./run.sh"

Option 3: Add to Claude Code Settings

Add the server to your Claude Code settings file (~/.claude/settings.json):

{
  "mcpServers": [
    {
      "name": "jira",
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/absolute/path/to/mcp-jira-server/dist/index.js"],
      "env": {
        "JIRA_HOST": "https://your-company.atlassian.net",
        "JIRA_EMAIL": "[email protected]",
        "JIRA_API_TOKEN": "your-api-token",
        "JIRA_DEFAULT_PROJECT": "PROJ"
      }
    }
  ]
}

Usage Examples

Creating Issues

Create a new bug in project PROJ with high priority about login issues

Create a story "Implement user authentication" with 5 story points and assign it to [email protected]

Setting Dates and Time Estimates

Create task "Database backup" with dueDate "next week" and originalEstimate "4h"

Update PROJ-123 with startDate "tomorrow" and dueDate "+14d"

Create issue "Quarterly review" with dueDate "31.3.2025" and originalEstimate "2 days"

Creating Epics with Subtasks

Create an epic "Database Migration" in project PROJ with subtasks "Backup current data" and "Migrate schema"

Creating Subtasks

Create a subtask "Review code" for parent issue PROJ-123

Czech Jira Support

Create issue type "Úkol" in project PROJ

Create task for epic PPC-48 with summary "Database backup"

Searching Issues

Find all open bugs assigned to me

Search for issues in project PROJ with label "urgent" that are not done

Date-based Searching

Search issues due before "next week" in project PROJ

Find issues created after "2024-12-01" and updated after "yesterday"

Search for overdue issues: dueBefore "today" and status != "Done"

Managing Issues

Update PROJ-123 to add story points 8

Transition PROJ-456 to "In Progress"

Link PROJ-123 to PROJ-456 as "blocks"

Note: Epic-Story relationships use the epicLink field, not regular issue links:

Update PROJ-456 with epicLink "PROJ-100"  # Links story to epic

Using Prompts

Generate a standup report for [email protected]

Help me plan the sprint for project PROJ

Create release notes for version 2.0 in project PROJ

Advanced Configuration

Custom Fields

The server can work with any Jira configuration:

Option 1: Auto-Detection (Recommended)

Leave custom field IDs unset in .env and the server will automatically detect them based on field names.

Option 2: Manual Configuration

If auto-detection doesn't work, configure custom field IDs in your .env:

JIRA_FIELD_STORY_POINTS=customfield_10001
JIRA_FIELD_ACCEPTANCE_CRITERIA=customfield_10002
JIRA_FIELD_EPIC_LINK=customfield_10003

Finding Field IDs

Use the diagnose-fields tool to find the correct field IDs for your Jira instance:

diagnose-fields project:"PROJ" issueType:"Story"

Auto-create Test Tickets

Enable automatic test ticket creation for stories:

AUTO_CREATE_TEST_TICKETS=true

Development

Running in Development Mode

npm run dev

Type Checking

npm run typecheck

Linting

npm run lint

Features

🌍 Localization Support

Automatic support for localized Jira instances (Czech, English, etc.)
Issue type names can be in any language (e.g., "Task", "Úkol", "Aufgabe")
Priority names support localization (e.g., "High", "Vysoká", "Hoch")
Special support for Czech Jira configurations
Works with any Jira language setting

📅 Date and Time Management

Flexible date input formats:
- ISO: "2024-12-31"
- European: "31.12.2024" or "31/12/2024"
- Relative: "today", "tomorrow", "next week", "+7d", "+2w", "+1m"
- Czech: "dnes", "zítra", "příští týden"
Time tracking support:
- Estimates: "2h", "1d 4h", "3 days", "2 hodiny"
- Automatic format conversion
Date-based searching and filtering

🔄 Automatic Retry

The server automatically retries failed requests with exponential backoff (up to 3 attempts).

📦 Robust Error Handling

Empty response handling for Jira transitions
Detailed error messages with context
Graceful degradation for missing features

📝 Comprehensive Logging

Enable debug logging to see detailed information:

DEBUG=* claude --mcp "./run.sh"
# or specific to jira-mcp:
DEBUG=jira-mcp claude --mcp "./run.sh"

🔒 Connection Testing

The server tests the connection on startup and provides clear error messages if authentication fails.

📄 Atlassian Document Format

Automatically converts plain text and markdown to Jira's ADF format for rich text fields.

Troubleshooting

Working with Different Jira Configurations

This MCP server is designed to work with any Jira instance regardless of:

Language settings (English, Czech, German, etc.)
Custom field configurations
Project-specific settings

Best Practices:

Use get-fields to see available issue types in your language
Use diagnose-fields to find custom field IDs
Create issues using the exact issue type names from your Jira

Common Issues

Authentication Failed
- Verify your API token is correct
- Ensure your email matches your Atlassian account
- Check that your Jira instance URL includes https://
Project Not Found
- Verify you have access to the project
- Check the project key is correct (case-sensitive)
Custom Fields Not Working
- Use diagnose-fields tool to find the correct field IDs for your project
- Use get-fields tool to see all available fields
- Custom field IDs typically start with customfield_
- Some fields may not be available for certain issue types (e.g., labels on Epics)
- Epic Link field ID varies between Jira instances
Link Type Not Found
- Use get-link-types tool to see available link types
- Link types are case-sensitive in Jira API
- The server will try to match case-insensitively
- Epic-Story relationships use epicLink field, not regular issue links
Epic-Story Linking Issues
- Run diagnose-fields for project and "Story" issue type
- Update JIRA_FIELD_EPIC_LINK in .env with the correct field ID
- Restart the MCP server after updating .env

Debug Mode

Set the DEBUG environment variable for verbose logging:

DEBUG=* claude --mcp "./run.sh"
# or
DEBUG=jira-mcp claude --mcp "./run.sh"

View Logs

Logs are output to stderr and include:

Connection status
API requests and responses
Error details with context
Performance metrics

Contributing

See CONTRIBUTING.md for development guidelines.

License

MIT License - see LICENSE file for details

Support

For issues and feature requests, please use the GitHub issue tracker.

Mcp Jira Server