jirac

Use jirac as the Jira execution surface. The CLI is a single Rust binary that supports Jira Cloud and Jira Data Center, multi-profile auth, runtime custom-field discovery, attachment upload, sprint lifecycle, and an interactive TUI with full mouse support.

Requirements#

• Require the jirac binary from the official jira-commands release source.
• Require Jira authentication to be configured before use, typically via jirac auth login in the target environment.
• Treat Jira credentials, local config ( ~/.config/jira/config.toml), and attachment file paths as sensitive.
• For MCP-based agent setups, additionally require the jirac-mcp binary (separate package).

Pre-flight#

1. Run jirac --version to confirm the binary is installed.
2. Run jirac auth status to confirm credentials are configured and reachable. If not, prompt the user to run jirac auth login (or jirac auth login --profile NAME for separate accounts).
3. For multi-profile setups, run jirac auth profiles and jirac auth use <name> to switch the active profile before issuing operations.

Workflow#

1. Prefer direct jirac commands over raw Jira REST API ( jirac api) calls when the CLI already supports the action.
2. Use jirac issue fields -p PROJ --issue-type Type when required fields, allowed values, or custom fields are unclear.
3. Use jirac issue transition <KEY> without a transition argument to get an interactive picker when the target status is unknown.
4. Use jirac issue standup for a concise personal update from assigned work, and jirac issue sprint-summary -p PROJ for a project sprint rollup.
5. Use jirac issue sprints -p PROJ to see sprint lifecycle states before creating, starting, completing, updating, or deleting a sprint.
6. Use jirac issue notifications to scan Jira @mentions from issue descriptions and comments.
7. Use jirac issue render --input file.md to preview how Markdown will convert to Jira ADF before sending it as description or comment.
8. Use jirac tui -p PROJ for any interactive bulk browse / triage / quick-edit workflow — supports mouse (click rows, tabs, picker options; scroll wheel; drag splitter; click [?] / [🔔]).
9. Confirm intent before destructive or high-impact operations: delete, archive, bulk-update, bulk-transition, bulk-comment, bulk-create, change-type, move, sprint-delete, and attachment uploads.
10. Keep Jira project keys, issue keys, status names, and transition names exact. Use quotes for any name with spaces.

Common commands#

bash

# Auth and profiles
jirac auth login                              # interactive, current shell profile
jirac auth login --profile work-cloud         # named profile
jirac auth status
jirac auth profiles
jirac auth use work-cloud

# List, search, summaries
jirac issue list                              # your assigned issues
jirac issue list -p PROJ
jirac issue list --jql 'project = PROJ AND status = "In Progress"'
jirac issue standup                           # daily standup rollup
jirac issue sprint-summary -p PROJ            # current sprint
jirac issue sprint-summary -p PROJ --sprint 'Sprint 24'
jirac issue notifications                     # @mentions scan
jirac issue view PROJ-123
jirac issue view PROJ-123 --versions          # include fix-version block
jirac issue fields -p PROJ --issue-type Bug
jirac issue jql --run                         # interactive JQL builder

# Sprint lifecycle
jirac issue sprints -p PROJ
jirac issue sprint-create -p PROJ --name 'Sprint 25' --goal 'Ship auth v2'
jirac issue sprint-start <SPRINT_ID>
jirac issue sprint-complete <SPRINT_ID>
jirac issue sprint-update <SPRINT_ID> --name 'Sprint 25 (extended)' --goal 'New goal'
jirac issue sprint-delete <SPRINT_ID> --force # destructive

# Versions
jirac issue versions -p PROJ                  # browse + backlog preview
jirac issue versions -p PROJ --version 'v1.2.0'

# Create
jirac issue create -p PROJ                                                          # interactive
jirac issue create -p PROJ -t Bug -s 'login crash' --assignee me
jirac issue create -p PROJ -t Story -s 'auth flow' --sprint 'Sprint 24' --field story_points=5
jirac issue create -p PROJ -t Sub-task -s 'sub-task' --parent PROJ-100

# Update
jirac issue update PROJ-123 --summary 'New title'
jirac issue update PROJ-123 --priority High --assignee me
jirac issue update PROJ-123 --labels backend,api --fix-versions v2.0
jirac issue update PROJ-123 --field story_points=8

# Transition (positional, not --to)
jirac issue transition PROJ-123                # interactive picker
jirac issue transition PROJ-123 'Done'
jirac issue transition PROJ-123 'In Progress'

# Comment / bulk-comment
jirac issue comment list PROJ-123
jirac issue comment add PROJ-123 --body 'QA verified in staging'
jirac issue bulk-comment --jql 'project = PROJ AND sprint = openSprints()' --body 'Standup reminder'
jirac issue bulk-comment --keys PROJ-1,PROJ-2,PROJ-3 --body 'Please update'

# Worklog
jirac issue worklog list PROJ-123
jirac issue worklog add PROJ-123 --time '2h' --comment 'Implementation work'
jirac issue worklog delete PROJ-123 <WORKLOG_ID>

# Attach
jirac issue attach PROJ-123 ./screenshot.png

# Links between issues
jirac issue link list-types
jirac issue link add --link-type Blocks PROJ-123 PROJ-456            # PROJ-123 blocks PROJ-456
jirac issue link add --link-type Relates PROJ-123 PROJ-456
jirac issue link delete <LINK_ID>

# Clone, change-type, move, delete, archive
jirac issue clone PROJ-123                                # same project
jirac issue clone PROJ-123 --project NEWPROJ --summary 'Copy: original'
jirac issue change-type PROJ-123 Bug                      # native Jira move semantics
jirac issue move PROJ-123 NEWPROJ                         # cross-project, native (not clone+delete)
jirac issue delete PROJ-123                               # prompts confirmation
jirac issue delete PROJ-123 --force
jirac issue archive --jql 'project = PROJ AND resolution = Done AND updated < -180d'

# Bulk operations
jirac issue bulk-transition --jql 'project = PROJ AND status = "To Do"' --to 'In Progress'
jirac issue bulk-update --jql 'project = PROJ AND assignee = EMPTY' --assignee me
jirac issue bulk-update --jql 'project = PROJ AND priority = Low' --priority High --force
jirac issue bulk-create --manifest issues.json

# Batch (mixed ops from manifest)
jirac issue batch --manifest ops.json

# Render markdown → Jira ADF preview
jirac issue render --input description.md

# Raw REST passthrough (last resort)
jirac api GET /rest/api/3/myself
jirac api POST /rest/api/3/issue --body '{"fields":{...}}'

# TUI
jirac tui                                     # uses default project or assigned issues
jirac tui -p PROJ

# MCP server registration (optional)
jirac mcp doctor                              # check prereqs
jirac mcp install                             # interactive client picker
jirac mcp install --client claude-code
jirac mcp install --client cursor

Bulk-create manifest format#

json

[
  {
    "project": "PROJ",
    "summary": "Issue title",
    "type": "Task",
    "assignee": "user@org.com",
    "priority": "High",
    "labels": ["backend"],
    "parent": "PROJ-100",
    "description": "Markdown description",
    "fields": { "customfield_10016": 5 }
  }
]

Batch manifest format#

json

[
  { "op": "create",     "project": "PROJ", "summary": "New task", "type": "Task" },
  { "op": "update",     "key": "PROJ-10",  "priority": "High", "assignee": "me" },
  { "op": "transition", "key": "PROJ-11",  "to": "Done" },
  { "op": "archive",    "key": "PROJ-12" }
]

JQL quoting#

JQL strings often contain spaces, parentheses, and quotes — wrap the entire --jql value in single quotes in bash, then use double quotes inside:

bash

jirac issue list --jql 'project = PROJ AND status = "In Progress" AND assignee = currentUser()'

For Windows PowerShell, the inverse — wrap in double quotes outside, escape inner doubles with `:

powershell

jirac issue list --jql "project = PROJ AND status = `"In Progress`""

See references/jql.md for common JQL recipes.

Guidance#

• Prefer interactive or metadata-assisted flows when field requirements are unclear ( jirac issue fields ..., jirac issue jql --run, jirac issue transition KEY).
• Always confirm intent before operations that may change workflow state, bulk-edit, delete, archive, change type, or move issues across projects.
• Confirm that local files selected for attachment are intended and safe to upload.
• Prefer explicit project scoping ( -p PROJ) when working across multiple Jira projects.
• jirac issue transition takes a positional transition name/ID — not --to.
• jirac issue change-type and jirac issue move use Jira's native move semantics; the issue key is preserved.
• For agents that need Jira inside an MCP client (Claude Code, Cursor, Codex, OpenCode, Gemini CLI, Zed), install jirac-mcp separately, then run jirac mcp install for an interactive registration picker.

References#

• Install guide: references/install.md
• JQL recipes: references/jql.md