Jira

You set up an MCP Jira Server to interact with your self-hosted Jira instance using Personal Access Tokens. This server lets you create, read, update, and delete Jira issues, search with JQL, manage comments and assignees, list projects and issue types, and get current user details, all through a consistent MCP interface.

How to use

You interact with the MCP Jira Server from your MCP client by referencing the provided tool endpoints. Use the available tools to manage Jira issues, search with JQL, and retrieve project or user information. Authenticate with your Jira Personal Access Token (PAT) and point the server at your self-hosted Jira base URL. The server exposes a set of operations that map directly to Jira REST actions, so you can perform common workflows like creating issues, updating fields, adding comments, and transitioning statuses.

How to install

Prerequisites: ensure you have Node.js 18 or higher installed on your machine.

Option 1: Using npm (Recommended) to run via npx directly.

# Run the MCP Jira Server directly without installing
npx mcp-jira-server

Or install a global CLI for reuse.

npm install -g mcp-jira-server

Additional configuration and usage notes

Configure your MCP client to reference the Jira server using environment variables for the base URL and PAT. Use the following environment variables in each MCP configuration.

MCP server configuration snippets

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "jira": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "mcp-jira-server"],
      "env": {
        "JIRA_BASE_URL": "https://jira.domain.com",
        "JIRA_PAT": "your-personal-access-token-here"
      }
    }
  }
}

Security and best practices

Keep your Jira PAT secret and rotate it periodically. Use tokens with the least privileges necessary for your tasks. Store tokens securely and avoid committing them to version control. Verify the Jira base URL is correct and accessible from your network.

Troubleshooting

If the server cannot connect, verify the absolute paths and that the server is built or available as indicated by your setup. Check environment variables for correctness and restart your MCP client after changes.

Notes on Tools and Endpoints

You have access to a comprehensive set of Jira-related operations, including getting issue details, searching with JQL, creating and updating issues, adding and retrieving comments, listing projects and issue types, assigning issues, deleting issues, and fetching current user information.

Development and testing

To build or run in development mode, follow the build and run commands appropriate for your environment as shown in the installation options above.

Available tools

jira_get_issue

Get details of a Jira issue by its key.

jira_search_issues

Search Jira issues using a JQL query string with an optional maxResults limit.

jira_create_issue

Create a new Jira issue with required projectKey, summary, and issueType and optional fields like description, priority, assignee, labels, and components.

jira_update_issue

Update an existing Jira issue including fields such as summary, description, assignee, priority, labels, and status.

jira_add_comment

Add a comment to a Jira issue.

jira_get_comments

Retrieve all comments for a Jira issue.

jira_get_projects

List all Jira projects.

jira_get_project

Get details of a specific Jira project.

jira_get_issue_types

Get available issue types for a project.

jira_assign_issue

Assign a Jira issue to a user.

jira_delete_issue

Permanently delete a Jira issue.

jira_get_current_user

Get information about the currently authenticated Jira user.