JIRA MCP Server

An MCP (Model Context Protocol) server that provides Claude with tools to interact with JIRA for sprint management, issue tracking, and attachment handling.

Installation

Option 1: Install from npm

npm install -g @suppleaardvark/jira-mcp-server

Option 2: Build from source

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

Setup

1. Get JIRA API Credentials

1. Log into your Atlassian account at https://id.atlassian.com
2. Go to Security → API tokens → Create API token
3. Give it a name (e.g., "Claude MCP") and copy the token

2. Configure Environment Variables

Required:

export JIRA_BASE_URL="https://your-domain.atlassian.net"
export JIRA_EMAIL="your-email@example.com"
export JIRA_API_TOKEN="your-api-token"

Optional:

# Restrict which tools are available (comma-separated scopes)
export JIRA_SCOPES="boards:read,sprints:read,issues:read"

# Restrict access to specific boards (pipe-separated, by ID or name)
export JIRA_ALLOWED_BOARDS="123|My Project Board"

# Restrict access to specific projects (pipe-separated)
export JIRA_ALLOWED_PROJECTS="PROJ|DEV"

# Restrict access to specific issue types (pipe-separated)
export JIRA_ALLOWED_ISSUE_TYPES="Bug|Task|Story"

See Permission Scopes and Resource Allowlists for details.

3. Configure MCP Client

Add to your MCP client configuration (e.g., Claude Desktop claude_desktop_config.json):

If installed from npm:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "jira": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
         "-y",
         "@suppleaardvark/jira-mcp-server"
      ],
      "env": {
        "JIRA_BASE_URL": "https://your-domain.atlassian.net",
        "JIRA_EMAIL": "your-email@example.com",
        "JIRA_API_TOKEN": "your-api-token"
      }
    }
  }
}

If built from source:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "jira": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/path/to/jira-mcp-server/dist/index.js"],
      "env": {
        "JIRA_BASE_URL": "https://your-domain.atlassian.net",
        "JIRA_EMAIL": "your-email@example.com",
        "JIRA_API_TOKEN": "your-api-token"
      }
    }
  }
}

With restricted scopes (read-only example):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "jira": {
      "command": "jira-mcp-server",
      "env": {
        "JIRA_BASE_URL": "https://your-domain.atlassian.net",
        "JIRA_EMAIL": "your-email@example.com",
        "JIRA_API_TOKEN": "your-api-token",
        "JIRA_SCOPES": "boards:read,sprints:read,issues:read,comments:read,attachments:read"
      }
    }
  }
}

Available Tools

Sprint Tools

jira_list_boards

List all accessible JIRA boards.

Parameters: None

Returns: Board IDs, names, types (scrum/kanban), and project keys.

jira_get_active_sprint

Get the currently active sprint for a board.

Parameters:

• boardId (number, required) - The board ID

Returns: Sprint ID, name, state, dates, and goal.

jira_list_sprints

List sprints for a board or project, sorted by most recent first. Supports pagination.

Parameters:

• boardId (number, optional) - The board ID. Either boardId or projectKey is required.
• projectKey (string, optional) - Project key to get sprints from all boards in the project. Either boardId or projectKey is required.
• state (string, optional) - Filter by state: active, future, or closed. If not specified, returns all sprints.
• startAt (number, optional) - Index of first sprint to return for pagination (default: 0)
• maxResults (number, optional) - Maximum sprints to return (default: 50)

Returns: Array of sprints with ID, name, state, dates, goal, and boardId. Also includes pagination info (total, startAt, maxResults, hasMore).

Example - Get recent closed sprints for a project:

{
  "projectKey": "PROJ",
  "state": "closed",
  "maxResults": 10
}

Example - Paginate through sprints:

{
  "boardId": 123,
  "startAt": 10,
  "maxResults": 10
}

jira_get_sprint_issues

Get all issues in a sprint.

Parameters:

• sprintId (number, required) - The sprint ID
• maxResults (number, optional) - Maximum issues to return (default: 50)
• fields (string[], optional) - Fields to include. Default: ["key", "summary", "status", "statusCategory", "assignee", "priority"]. Use "customFields" to include custom fields.

Returns: Issues with requested fields.

jira_get_my_sprint_issues

Get issues assigned to the current user in a sprint.

Parameters:

• sprintId (number, required) - The sprint ID
• maxResults (number, optional) - Maximum issues to return (default: 200)
• fields (string[], optional) - Fields to include. Default: ["key", "summary", "status", "statusCategory", "assignee", "priority"]. Use "customFields" to include custom fields.

Returns: Issues assigned to you, sorted by status then priority.

Issue Tools

jira_get_issue

Get detailed information about an issue.

Parameters:

• issueKey (string, required) - The issue key (e.g., "PROJ-123")
• fields (string[], optional) - Fields to include. Default: all fields. Options: key, summary, description, type, status, statusCategory, priority, assignee, reporter, created, updated, labels, components, attachmentCount, commentCount, parent, customFields.

Returns: Issue details with requested fields. Custom fields are returned with human-readable names.

jira_search_issues

Search for issues using JQL.

Parameters:

• jql (string, required) - JQL query string
• maxResults (number, optional) - Maximum results (default: 50)
• fields (string[], optional) - Fields to include. Default: ["key", "summary", "status", "statusCategory", "assignee", "type", "parent"]. Use "customFields" to include custom fields.

Returns: Issues with requested fields. Also includes hasMore flag indicating if additional results exist beyond maxResults.

Important: Queries must be bounded with a project filter or other restriction (e.g., assignee, sprint). Unbounded queries like status = "Open" are rejected by JIRA's API.

Example JQL queries:

• project = PROJ AND status = "In Progress"
• assignee = currentUser() AND sprint in openSprints()
• project = PROJ AND labels = bug AND created >= -7d

jira_get_backlog_stats

Get aggregated statistics for issues matching a JQL query without fetching all issue details.

Parameters:

• jql (string, required) - JQL query string (e.g., "project = PROJ")
• boardId (number, optional) - Filter by board ID (adds project filter based on board's project)
• excludeResolved (boolean, optional) - Exclude resolved issues (adds "resolution IS EMPTY")
• issueTypes (string[], optional) - Filter by issue types (e.g., ["Bug", "Story"])
• assignees (string[], optional) - Filter by assignees (use "unassigned" for unassigned issues)
• sprint (number, optional) - Filter by sprint ID
• groupBy (string[], optional) - Fields to group by. Options: status, type, priority, assignee, reporter, labels, components, resolution, project. If specified, replaces default aggregations.
• pivot (object, optional) - Custom pivot table configuration:
  • rowField (string, required) - Field for pivot rows
  • columnField (string, required) - Field for pivot columns
  • action (string, optional) - Aggregation: count (default), sum, avg, cardinality
  • valueField (string, optional) - Field ID for sum/avg (e.g., customfield_10024 for story points)
• fieldFilters (object[], optional) - Additional field-based filters applied via JQL

Returns: Counts grouped by status, type, priority, assignee, and a byTypeAndStatus pivot table. When pivot is specified, includes custom pivot results with row/column totals. Analyzes up to 4000 issues.

Example - Story points by assignee:

{
  "jql": "project = ED",
  "sprint": 616,
  "pivot": {
    "rowField": "assignee",
    "columnField": "status",
    "action": "sum",
    "valueField": "customfield_10024"
  }
}

jira_get_sprint_report

Generate a sprint report for retrospectives. Returns issue counts and story points grouped by status categories, bug metrics, and label-specific tracking.

Parameters:

• sprintId (number, required) - The current sprint ID
• projectKey (string, required) - Project key (e.g., "PROJ")
• storyPointsField (string, required) - Custom field ID for story points (use jira_get_field_schema to find this)
• previousSprintId (number, optional) - Previous sprint ID for comparison
• labelsOfInterest (string[], optional) - Labels to track separately (e.g., ["NZ", "TopTen"])
• statusGroups (object, optional) - Custom status groupings. Keys are group names, values are arrays of status names.
• includeTriage (boolean, optional) - Include triage metrics (issues created after sprint started). Default: false.
• includeInflow (boolean, optional) - Include inflow metrics (issues pulled from backlog after sprint started). Requires changelog lookups. Default: false.

Returns:

• statusGroups - Issue counts and story points for each status group (To Do, Blocked, In Progress, Design Review, To Test, Done)
• triage - (if includeTriage) Issues created after the sprint started (new items added mid-sprint)
• inflow - (if includeInflow) Pre-existing issues pulled from backlog after the sprint started
• bugs.backlogTotal - Total bugs not in any sprint
• bugs.fixedInSprint - Bugs in Done/Ready to Test status
• bugs.notFixedInSprint - Bugs in other statuses
• labels - For each label of interest: complete vs not complete counts

Example:

{
  "sprintId": 616,
  "previousSprintId": 615,
  "projectKey": "ED",
  "storyPointsField": "customfield_10024",
  "labelsOfInterest": ["NZ", "TopTen"]
}

jira_get_issue_comments

Get comments on an issue.

Parameters:

• issueKey (string, required) - The issue key
• maxResults (number, optional) - Maximum comments (default: 20)

Returns: Comments with author, body, and creation date.

jira_create_issue

Create a new JIRA issue.

Parameters:

• projectKey (string, required) - Project key (e.g., "PROJ")
• summary (string, required) - Issue title
• issueType (string, required) - Type (e.g., "Task", "Bug", "Story", "Epic", "Sub-task")
• description (string, optional) - Issue description
• priority (string, optional) - Priority name (e.g., "High", "Medium", "Low")
• labels (string[], optional) - Labels to add
• assignee (string, optional) - Atlassian account ID
• parent (string, optional) - Parent issue key (for subtasks or epic linking)
• components (string[], optional) - Component names

Returns: Created issue key, ID, and URL.

jira_update_issue

Update fields on an existing issue.

Parameters:

• issueKey (string, required) - The issue key
• summary (string, optional) - New summary
• description (string, optional) - New description
• assignee (string, optional) - Atlassian account ID (null to unassign)
• priority (string, optional) - Priority name
• labels (string[], optional) - Labels to set
• customFields (object, optional) - Custom fields to update. Keys are field IDs (e.g., "customfield_10001") and values depend on field type.

jira_get_transitions

Get available status transitions for an issue.

Parameters:

• issueKey (string, required) - The issue key

Returns: Available transitions with IDs, names, and target statuses.

jira_transition_issue

Move an issue to a new status.

Parameters:

• issueKey (string, required) - The issue key
• transitionId (string, required) - Transition ID (from jira_get_transitions)
• comment (string, optional) - Comment to add with the transition

jira_add_comment

Add a comment to an issue.

Parameters:

• issueKey (string, required) - The issue key
• body (string, required) - Comment text

jira_get_issue_history

Get the changelog/history of an issue showing all field changes.

Parameters:

• issueKey (string, required) - The issue key
• maxResults (number, optional) - Maximum history entries (default: 100)

Returns: History entries with author, timestamp, and field changes (from/to values).

jira_get_field_schema

Get available JIRA fields with their IDs, names, and types. Useful for discovering custom field IDs (e.g., finding the ID for "Story Points" to use in stats aggregations).

Parameters:

• projectKey (string, optional) - If provided, only return fields configured for this project. This shows which fields are actually in use, not just all fields in JIRA.
• customOnly (boolean, optional) - If true, only return custom fields
• searchTerm (string, optional) - Filter fields by name or ID (case-insensitive)

Returns: Field metadata including ID, name, whether it's custom, and schema type.

Example - Find story points field for a project:

{
  "projectKey": "ED",
  "searchTerm": "story"
}

jira_list_field_values

List discrete values for a JIRA field. Useful for discovering valid values before creating/updating issues.

Parameters:

• field (string, required) - The field to list values for. Options: labels, priorities, statuses, issueTypes, resolutions, components
• projectKey (string, optional) - Project key (required for components field)
• searchTerm (string, optional) - Filter values by name (case-insensitive partial match)
• maxResults (number, optional) - Maximum values to return (default: 1000 for labels)

Returns: Array of field values with id (where applicable), name, optional description, and field-specific extra data (e.g., status categories, icon URLs).

Example - List all labels:

{
  "field": "labels"
}

Example - List components for a project:

{
  "field": "components",
  "projectKey": "PROJ"
}

Example - Search statuses:

{
  "field": "statuses",
  "searchTerm": "progress"
}

jira_debug_search

Debug tool for exploring raw JIRA data. Returns raw field data and field name mappings.

Parameters:

• jql (string, required) - JQL query string
• maxResults (number, optional) - Maximum issues to return (default: 1)
• fields (string[], optional) - Specific JIRA field IDs to return

Returns: Raw issue data with field values and a mapping of field IDs to names.

Attachment Tools

jira_list_attachments

List all attachments on an issue.

Parameters:

• issueKey (string, required) - The issue key

Returns: Attachment IDs, filenames, sizes, MIME types, and authors.

jira_download_attachment

Download an attachment to a local file.

Parameters:

• attachmentId (string, required) - Attachment ID (from jira_list_attachments)
• outputPath (string, required) - Local file path to save the attachment

jira_upload_attachment

Upload a file as an attachment to an issue.

Parameters:

• issueKey (string, required) - The issue key (e.g., "PROJ-123")
• filePath (string, required) - Local file path to upload

Returns: Uploaded attachment details including ID, filename, size, and MIME type.

Permission Scopes

Use the JIRA_SCOPES environment variable to restrict which tools are available. This is useful for limiting access in shared environments or enforcing least-privilege access.

Tools outside the configured scopes are completely hidden from the agent—they won't appear in the tool list and the agent won't know they exist.

Default behavior: If JIRA_SCOPES is not set or empty, all tools are enabled except opt-in scopes like debug.

Available Scopes

Scope	Tools
boards:read	jira_list_boards
sprints:read	jira_get_active_sprint, jira_list_sprints, jira_get_sprint_issues, jira_get_my_sprint_issues, jira_get_sprint_report
issues:read	jira_get_issue, jira_search_issues, jira_get_transitions, jira_get_issue_history, jira_get_backlog_stats, jira_get_field_schema, jira_list_field_values
issues:write	jira_create_issue, jira_update_issue, jira_transition_issue
comments:read	jira_get_issue_comments
comments:write	jira_add_comment
attachments:read	jira_list_attachments, jira_download_attachment
attachments:write	jira_upload_attachment
debug	jira_debug_search (opt-in, not included by default)

Examples

Read-only access:

JIRA_SCOPES="boards:read,sprints:read,issues:read,comments:read,attachments:read"

Issues only (read and write):

JIRA_SCOPES="issues:read,issues:write"

Full access (explicit):

JIRA_SCOPES="boards:read,sprints:read,issues:read,issues:write,comments:read,comments:write,attachments:read,attachments:write"

Invalid scope names are logged as warnings and ignored.

Resource Allowlists

In addition to tool-level scopes, you can restrict access to specific boards, projects, and issue types using allowlists. Resources outside the allowlist are hidden from the agent.

Board Allowlist

Use JIRA_ALLOWED_BOARDS to restrict which boards (and their sprints) the agent can access.

# By board ID
JIRA_ALLOWED_BOARDS="123|456"

# By board name (case-insensitive)
JIRA_ALLOWED_BOARDS="Project Alpha|Project Beta"

# Mix of IDs and names
JIRA_ALLOWED_BOARDS="123|Project Beta"

Behavior:

• jira_list_boards returns only allowed boards
• jira_get_active_sprint fails for non-allowed boards
• jira_get_sprint_issues and jira_get_my_sprint_issues fail for sprints on non-allowed boards
• If not set, all boards are accessible

Issue Type Allowlist

Use JIRA_ALLOWED_ISSUE_TYPES to restrict which issue types the agent can access.

# Allow only bugs and tasks
JIRA_ALLOWED_ISSUE_TYPES="Bug|Task"

# Allow common work items (case-insensitive)
JIRA_ALLOWED_ISSUE_TYPES="bug|task|story|sub-task"

Behavior:

• jira_get_issue fails for issues of non-allowed types
• jira_search_issues filters out issues of non-allowed types
• jira_create_issue fails when trying to create non-allowed types
• All issue operations (update, transition, comment, attachments) fail for non-allowed types
• If not set, all issue types are accessible

Project Allowlist

Use JIRA_ALLOWED_PROJECTS to restrict which projects the agent can access. This filters issues by project key.

# Allow only specific projects
JIRA_ALLOWED_PROJECTS="PROJ|DEV"

# Single project (case-insensitive)
JIRA_ALLOWED_PROJECTS="proj"

Behavior:

• jira_get_issue fails for issues from non-allowed projects
• jira_search_issues filters out issues from non-allowed projects
• jira_create_issue fails when trying to create issues in non-allowed projects
• All issue operations (update, transition, comment, attachments) fail for non-allowed projects
• If not set, all projects are accessible

Combined Example

Restrict agent to only view bugs and tasks in a specific project:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "jira": {
      "command": "jira-mcp-server",
      "env": {
        "JIRA_BASE_URL": "https://your-domain.atlassian.net",
        "JIRA_EMAIL": "your-email@example.com",
        "JIRA_API_TOKEN": "your-api-token",
        "JIRA_SCOPES": "boards:read,sprints:read,issues:read",
        "JIRA_ALLOWED_BOARDS": "Project Alpha",
        "JIRA_ALLOWED_PROJECTS": "PROJ",
        "JIRA_ALLOWED_ISSUE_TYPES": "Bug|Task"
      }
    }
  }
}

Example Usage

User: What's in my current sprint?

Claude: [Uses jira_list_boards to find boards]
Claude: [Uses jira_get_active_sprint with boardId]
Claude: [Uses jira_get_sprint_issues with sprintId]

Here are the issues in your current sprint:
- PROJ-101: Implement login page (In Progress, assigned to Alice)
- PROJ-102: Fix checkout bug (To Do, unassigned)
...

User: Create a bug for the login timeout issue

Claude: [Uses jira_create_issue]

Created PROJ-103: Login timeout after 5 minutes of inactivity

API Permissions

The API token needs read access to:

• Boards and sprints (Agile API)
• Issues and comments
• Attachments

For write operations, ensure the token's associated account has permission to:

• Create/edit issues in the target projects
• Add comments
• Transition issues

Troubleshooting

"Missing JIRA configuration" error

• Ensure all three environment variables are set: JIRA_BASE_URL, JIRA_EMAIL, JIRA_API_TOKEN

"401 Unauthorized" errors

• Verify your API token is correct and hasn't expired
• Confirm your email matches the Atlassian account

"404 Not Found" for boards/sprints

• Board/sprint APIs require the project to use Scrum or Kanban boards
• Classic projects without boards won't have sprint data

"403 Forbidden" on create/update

• Check that your account has the necessary project permissions