🎫 Issues

All commands live under jira issue. ls works as an alias for list wherever a list subcommand exists.

Reading

jira issue list                              # yours, most recently updated first
jira issue list --status 'In Progress'
jira issue list --project ABC --sprint current
jira issue view ABC-123 --comments
jira issue view ABC-123 --fields status,assignee,issuelinks
jira issue open ABC-123
jira issue history ABC-123

issue list options:

issue view lists links and subtasks. --fields takes a comma-separated list and trims both plain text and --json output; the key and summary always stay. issue open --print prints the URL instead of opening a browser.

Creating and editing

jira issue create -p ABC -t Task -s 'Fix the thing' -b 'Longer **markdown** body' --status 'In Progress'
jira issue create -p ABC -t Task -s 'A sub-task' --parent ABC-100 --link Relates:ABC-99
jira issue edit ABC-123 --summary 'Better title' --assignee me --parent ABC-100
jira issue edit ABC-123 --prepend-description '**Update:** finished QA'
jira issue assign ABC-123 me
jira issue delete ABC-123

create requires -p, --project, -t, --type and -s, --summary. Optional: -b, --body, -a, --assignee, -l, --label <label...>, --priority, --parent, --link <type:key> (repeatable), --status and --json.

• Bodies are Markdown, converted to Atlassian Document Format. A body of - reads stdin.
• --link types are checked against your instance before anything is created, so a typo costs nothing. If creation works but a link or the --status move fails, the new key and the failure are reported and the exit is non-zero.
• edit takes -s, -b, -l (replaces labels), --priority, --parent (none clears it) and -a. --prepend-description and --append-description splice Markdown around the existing description and can be combined, but not with --body.
• People are resolved for you. Names and emails search the project's assignable users first, then everyone. me is you, none unassigns, and a raw account id passes through. An ambiguous name assigns nothing: matches are printed on stderr and the exit is non-zero.

Transitions

jira issue transition ABC-123              # list what's available
jira issue transition ABC-123 'In Review'  # by transition name or target status

Matching is case-insensitive and also accepts a transition id. With no status it prints name → target status. --resolution <name> sets a resolution as part of the move; move is an alias.

Comments

jira issue comment list ABC-123 --last 5
jira issue comment add ABC-123 -            # body from stdin
jira issue comment edit ABC-123 12345 'Actually fixed in 2.1'
jira issue comment delete ABC-123 12345

--last [n] shows the n most recent comments (default 1), oldest first.

Links, watchers and remote links

jira issue link ABC-1 Blocks ABC-2
jira issue link list ABC-1
jira issue watch add ABC-123 [who]       # yourself by default
jira issue watch remove ABC-123 [who]
jira issue watch list ABC-123
jira issue remotelink add ABC-123 https://example.com/page --title 'Spec'
jira issue remotelink list ABC-123
jira issue remotelink remove ABC-123 789

remotelink add is idempotent: re-adding the same URL updates the existing link.

Worklogs

jira issue worklog add ABC-123 '2h 30m' -b 'Pairing on the fix'
jira issue worklog list ABC-123
jira issue worklog edit ABC-123 456 --time '3h' --started 2026-10-27T09:00:00.000+0000
jira issue worklog delete ABC-123 456

Ranking

jira issue rank ABC-1 ABC-2 --before ABC-3
jira issue rank ABC-1 ABC-2 --after ABC-3
jira issue rank ABC-1 ABC-2 --top --jql 'project = ABC AND sprint = 42'

--top ranks the keys above the first issue of the JQL scope, so the JQL must order by rank. ORDER BY Rank ASC is appended when missing, and any other ordering is refused. If the keys already sit at the top, nothing is sent.

Deleting safely

issue delete, comment delete, worklog delete and remotelink remove ask before acting. Piped or scripted runs refuse unless you pass --yes, because Jira has no undo.