Does Jira CLI work with Jira Cloud and Jira Server?

Yes. Both Jira Cloud and Jira Server/Data Center. Run `jira init` and select your installation type. Cloud uses API tokens from id.atlassian.com. Server supports basic auth, personal access tokens (bearer), and mTLS client certificates. Your agent authenticates once via `JIRA_API_TOKEN` environment variable.

Is Jira CLI an official Atlassian product?

No. Community-built open-source tool by Ankit Pokhrel, licensed under MIT with 5,000+ GitHub stars. Not maintained by Atlassian, but Atlassian is listed as a project supporter. It is the most popular Jira CLI and actively maintained with regular releases.

How do you authenticate Jira CLI?

For Jira Cloud, generate an API token at id.atlassian.com/manage-profile/security/api-tokens and export as `JIRA_API_TOKEN`. For on-premise, export your password or personal access token. Run `jira init` to create a config file. Supports `.netrc` and system keychain for token storage.

Can you use Jira CLI with multiple Jira projects?

Yes. Load different configuration files with `--config/-c` or set the `JIRA_CONFIG_FILE` environment variable. Your agent switches between projects or different Jira instances (Cloud + on-premise) without reconfiguring. Each config file stores its own authentication and project settings.

Does Jira CLI support JQL queries?

Yes. Use `--jql/-q` with any list command for raw JQL within your project context. `jira issue list -q "summary ~ cli"` searches for matching issues. Your agent combines JQL with filter flags for complex queries. Output in `--plain` and `--csv` modes for piping into scripts and reports.

Jira CLI

5.3k stars

open-source macOS Cross-platform Actively maintained

Feature-rich interactive Jira command line. Create, search, and transition issues, manage sprints and epics, all without leaving the terminal.

Part of the Jira CLI tools for AI agents

What your agent can do

You're deep in code. You need to check a story's acceptance criteria. Open browser, navigate to Jira, wait for the page to load (Jira is notoriously slow), find the ticket, read it, switch back to your editor. UC Irvine research: it takes 23 minutes and 15 seconds to regain deep focus after an interruption. Every Jira status update costs 30 seconds of clicking but 23 minutes of focus recovery. Your agent runs `jira issue view PROJ-42` without leaving the terminal.Your agent runs `jira issue list -s "To Do" -yHigh --created-after 2026-03-10` and gets every high-priority issue created this week. Chain flags for status, priority, assignee, labels, date ranges, and raw JQL. The `--plain` and `--csv` output modes let your agent pipe results into scripts for bulk operations, reporting, or CI/CD integrations.The interactive TUI makes triage fast. Press `v` to view details, `m` to transition tickets, `Enter` to open in browser. Your agent can scan the sprint, transition issues with `jira issue move PROJ-42 "In Progress"`, assign with `jira issue assign PROJ-42 @me`, and bulk-update boards. No page loads, no clicking through Jira's notoriously slow web interface.Your agent creates issues with full context: `jira issue create -tBug -s "Auth fails on Safari" -b "Steps to reproduce: ..."`. No filling out 10+ custom fields through the web form. The CLI handles the fields that matter and skips the "T-Shirt Size," "OKR Alignment," and other accumulated fields that slow down the web UI.Works with Jira Cloud and Jira Server/Data Center. Supports API token auth, personal access tokens, and mTLS client certificates. For enterprise teams stuck on on-premise Jira, this is one of the few CLI options with 5,000+ GitHub stars and active maintenance.

Limitations

Community-built, not an official Atlassian product (though Atlassian is listed as a project supporter). Board-level drag-and-drop, custom dashboards, and Jira automation rules have no CLI equivalent. Windows support is partial without WSL. Jira-specific, with no support for Linear, Asana, or other project management platforms.

Key Commands

jira issue list Search and list issues with filters for status, priority, assignee, labels, and JQL

jira issue create Create a new issue with type, summary, priority, labels, and description

jira issue move Transition an issue from one status to another

jira issue view View issue details rendered as markdown in the terminal

jira sprint list List sprints and filter issues within a sprint

jira epic list Browse epics and their child issues in an explorer view

jira issue assign Assign an issue to a user, yourself, or unassign it

GitHub Stats

repo ankitpokhrel/jira-cli

stars 5.3k

language Go

license MIT

last commit Jan 20, 2026

Links

GitHub repository github.com/ankitpokhrel/jira-cli Installation guide (wiki) github.com/ankitpokhrel/jira-cli/wiki/Installation FAQs and discussions github.com/ankitpokhrel/jira-cli/discussions/categories/faqs Release notes github.com/ankitpokhrel/jira-cli/releases

Alternatives

tool	description
Jira CLI	current tool
go-jira	Simple Jira command line client in Go. Context-aware configuration, template-based output. Last release in 2020, largely unmaintained.
jirust-cli	Jira CLI written in Rust with WASM support for Node.js. Actively maintained but smaller community.

FAQ

Does Jira CLI work with Jira Cloud and Jira Server?: Yes. Both Jira Cloud and Jira Server/Data Center. Run `jira init` and select your installation type. Cloud uses API tokens from id.atlassian.com. Server supports basic auth, personal access tokens (bearer), and mTLS client certificates. Your agent authenticates once via `JIRA_API_TOKEN` environment variable.
Is Jira CLI an official Atlassian product?: No. Community-built open-source tool by Ankit Pokhrel, licensed under MIT with 5,000+ GitHub stars. Not maintained by Atlassian, but Atlassian is listed as a project supporter. It is the most popular Jira CLI and actively maintained with regular releases.
How do you authenticate Jira CLI?: For Jira Cloud, generate an API token at id.atlassian.com/manage-profile/security/api-tokens and export as `JIRA_API_TOKEN`. For on-premise, export your password or personal access token. Run `jira init` to create a config file. Supports `.netrc` and system keychain for token storage.
Can you use Jira CLI with multiple Jira projects?: Yes. Load different configuration files with `--config/-c` or set the `JIRA_CONFIG_FILE` environment variable. Your agent switches between projects or different Jira instances (Cloud + on-premise) without reconfiguring. Each config file stores its own authentication and project settings.
Does Jira CLI support JQL queries?: Yes. Use `--jql/-q` with any list command for raw JQL within your project context. `jira issue list -q "summary ~ cli"` searches for matching issues. Your agent combines JQL with filter flags for complex queries. Output in `--plain` and `--csv` modes for piping into scripts and reports.