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# Jira MCP server

The Jira MCP server enables your LLM to explore and manage Jira issues through natural conversation. It provides tools to search for issues, retrieve details, review comments and activity history, create new issues, update status, and modify issue fields without requiring direct interaction with the Jira interface.

The Jira MCP server lets your LLM synthesize information across multiple tickets to identify patterns, summarize comment threads, and highlight dependencies. Your LLM can aggregate customer tickets and surface critical issues for meeting preparation and compile your assignments and recent activity into coherent summaries for standup briefings.

# Uses

Use the Jira MCP server when you plan to perform the following actions:

  • Check the status of a specific issue
  • Create or update an issue
  • Transition an issue to a new status
  • Add a comment to an issue
  • Get full context on an issue including comments and history
  • Find issues by topic, assignee, status, or customer
  • View issues assigned to you or a teammate
  • Prepare for a customer call by reviewing their open issues
  • Update priority status, reassign, or add labels to an issue

# Example prompts

  • What's the status of API-1234?
  • Summarize the payment timeout bug
  • What do I need to know about API-1234 before my meeting?
  • Who's working on the login issue?
  • Summarize API-456
  • What's the history on API-789?
  • What decisions were made on API-2323
  • What issues does Acme Corp have?
  • Summarize Acme's recent tickets
  • What's been escalated by Acme?
  • Give me context before my call with Acme

# Jira MCP server tools

The Jira MCP server provides the following tools:

Tool Description
get_issue Retrieves detailed information about a single Jira issue by its key or ID.
get_issue_changelog Retrieves the change history for a specified issue, showing what fields changed, change date, who made the changes, and the old and new values.
get_issue_comments Retrieves all comments for Jira issue by ID.
search_issues Searches for Jira issues matching the criteria you specify.
create_issue Creates a new Jira issue with the fields you specify.
get_account_id Retrieves the account ID for the user you specify.
transition_issue Transitions an issue to a new workflow status.
get_transition_id Retrieves the transition ID for the issue you specify.
add_comment Adds a comment to an existing Jira issue.
update_issue Updates an existing Jira issue with the fields you specify.

# Install the Jira MCP server

Complete the following steps to install a prebuilt MCP server to your project:

1

Sign in to your Workato account.

2

Go to AI Hub > MCP servers.

3

Click + Create MCP server.

4

Go to the Start with a template section and select the prebuilt MCP server you plan to use.

5

Click Use this template.

6

Provide a name for your MCP server in the MCP server name field.

7

Go to the Connections section and connect to your app account.

8

Select the connection type you plan to use for the MCP server template.

  • User's connection: MCP server tools perform actions based on the identity and permissions of the user who connects to the application. Users authenticate with their own credentials to execute the skill.
  • Your connection: This option uses the connection established by the recipe builder and follows the same principles as normal app connections.

VERIFIED USER ACCESS REQUIRES OAUTH 2.0

Only app connections that use OAuth 2.0 are available for user's connection. Refer to Verified user access for more information.

9

Complete the app-specific connection setup steps in the following section.

# Jira connection setup

There are four ways to connect to Jira:

DEPRECATED PASSWORD AUTHENTICATION

From 1 December 2018, Atlassian is deprecating basic authentication with password for Jira (cloud only) in favor of API tokens. On-premise Jira will not be affected.

We strongly recommend using API tokens, OAuth2.0, or personal access tokens to connect to Workato.

# API tokens

API tokens are the primary method to authenticate with Jira. For on-premise Jira, you can only use basic authentication with password.

API token auth API token auth

  • Connection name Give this Jira connection a unique name that identifies which Jira instance it is connected to.

  • Host name Complete Jira instance URL used to log in to Jira.

  • API token authentication? Set this to 'Yes' to authenticate using API tokens. You must then provide an email and API token. Set this to 'No' to authenticate using basic authentication with password.

  • Email Email of Jira account to link to Workato.

  • API token To create an API token from your Atlassian account:

    1

    Navigate to https://id.atlassian.com/manage-profile/security/api-tokens (opens new window).

    2

    Click Create API token.

    3

    Add a Label to the API token.

    4

    Use Copy to clipboard, then return to your Jira connection in Workato and paste your API token.

    Generate API token

  • Is this app in a private network? To connect to on-premise Jira instances, set up the on-prem agent (opens new window). Ability to use the on-premise access functionality depends on the Workato plan subscribed to.

# OAuth2.0

OAuth 2.0 enables you to share specific data with an application while keeping your username, password, and other information private.

# OAuth2.0 limitations

OAuth2.0 has the following limitations:

  • OAuth2.0 does not support real-time triggers.

    • OAuth2.0 is incompatible with webhook-based triggers. We recommend that you authenticate using an API token. If you plan to use the static webhook functionality offered by Jira, we recommend using the Webhooks connector in Workato and registering it in Jira as described here (opens new window).

  • OAuth2.0 does not support Jira connections for on-prem users.

OAuth 2.0 auth OAuth 2.0 auth

Complete the following steps to authenticate through OAuth2.0:

1

Select OAuth2.0 as the authentication type and enter your Jira Service Desk subdomain.

2

Select advanced settings and select the authorization scopes you plan to request. Otherwise, Workato requests the following scopes by default:

  • read:jira-user
  • write:jira-work
  • manage:jira-project
  • read:jira-work
  • manage:jira-webhook
3

Click Connect and log into your Jira Service Desk instance using the account username and password in a separate window when prompted.

4

Authorize Workato's request to access your Jira Service Desk instance.

# Personal access tokens

You can create a personal access token in your Jira profile page.

1

Open Jira and select your profile picture at the top right of the screen.

2

Select Profile > Personal Access Token > Create token.

# Basic authentication with password

Basic authentication with password can be used to authenticate with Jira.

DEPRECATED PASSWORD AUTHENTICATION

From 1 December 2018, Atlassian is deprecating basic authentication with password for Jira (cloud only) in favor of API tokens. On-premise Jira will not be affected.

Basic password auth Basic password auth

  • Connection name Give this Jira connection a unique name that identifies which Jira instance it is connected to.

  • Host name Complete Jira instance URL used to log in to Jira.

  • API token authentication? Set this to 'No' to authenticate using basic authentication with password. You must then provide a username and password. Set this to 'Yes' to authenticate using an API token.

  • Username Username to connect to Jira.

  • Password Password to connect to Jira.

  • Is this app in a private network? To connect to on-premise Jira instances, set up the on-prem agent (opens new window). Ability to use the on-premise access functionality depends on the Workato plan subscribed to.

# How to use Jira MCP server tools

Refer to the following sections for detailed information on available tools:

# get_issue tool

The get_issue tool retrieves the full details of a specific Jira ticket using its issue key, such as PROJ-123. Your LLM uses this tool to check the progress of a task, read the full requirements of a story, or see who is currently responsible for resolving a bug.

Try asking:

  • What is the current status of JIRA-101 and who is it assigned to?
  • Show me the full description and priority for the 'login page' bug.
  • Get the details for the task 'Update API documentation' and check for any linked issues.
  • When was the ticket PROJ-45 created and are there any labels on it?

# get_issue_changelog tool

The get_issue_changelog tool retrieves the history of all changes made to a specific Jira ticket. Your LLM uses this tool to track how an issue has evolved, see when its status changed, or identify who modified specific fields like priority or assignee.

Try asking:

  • Show me the recent history of changes for PROJ-123.
  • When was the status of JIRA-45 changed from 'In Progress' to 'Done'?
  • Who changed the priority on the 'API integration' task?
  • Get the changelog for the 'mobile-app' bug to see how many times it has been reassigned.

# get_issue_comments tool

The get_issue_comments tool retrieves the entire discussion history for a Jira ticket you specify. Your LLM uses this tool to catch up on team conversations, find specific decisions made regarding a task, or gather additional context that isn't in the main description.

Try asking:

  • Show me all the comments on JIRA-101.
  • What have people been saying about the 'payment gateway' bug?
  • Get the discussion history for PROJ-45 to see if there are any updates from the client.

# search_issues tool

The search_issues tool searches for Jira issues based on keywords, filters, or criteria you specify. Your LLM uses this tool to locate tickets within a project, find all tasks assigned to a specific person, or filter for bugs with a certain priority level.

Try asking:

  • Find all open bugs in the 'Mobile App' project.
  • Search for issues containing the keyword 'authentication'.
  • What tasks are currently assigned to @Sarah in the 'Marketing' project?
  • Search for all high-priority tickets that haven't been updated in the last week.

# create_issue tool

The create_issue tool creates a new Jira issue with the fields you specify, including summary, description, issue type, priority, assignee, and labels. Your LLM uses this tool to capture bugs, feature requests, or tasks from your conversation and immediately create properly formatted, actionable issues without switching to the Jira interface.

Try asking:

  • Create a bug in PROJ for the timeout issue on the checkout page and assign it to Sarah.
  • File a high-priority task about updating our SSL certificates.
  • Create a story for the dark mode feature in the mobile app project.
  • Open a new ticket for the API documentation update and label it 'documentation'.

# get_account_id tool

The get_account_id tool retrieves the Jira account ID for a user you specify. Your LLM uses this tool to find the correct account identifier before assigning issues, filtering by user, or performing other operations that require a specific account ID.

Try asking:

  • What's Josh's account ID in Jira?
  • Get the account ID for [email protected].
  • Find the Jira account ID for the user 'Maria Rodriguez'.
  • Look up the account identifier for our team lead before I assign them this bug.

# transition_issue tool

The transition_issue tool moves an issue to a new workflow status, such as from To Do to In Progress or from In Review to Done. Your LLM uses this tool to update issue status as work progresses, mark tasks complete, or move tickets through your team's workflow without manual clicks.

Try asking:

  • Move PROJ-123 to 'In Progress' status.
  • Mark the authentication bug as 'Done'.
  • Transition JIRA-456 to 'In Review' now that the code is ready.
  • Change the status of the API task to 'Blocked'.

# get_transition_id tool

The get_transition_id tool retrieves the available workflow transition IDs for a specific issue. Your LLM uses this tool to identify which status changes are possible for a ticket based on your Jira workflow configuration before attempting to transition the issue.

Try asking:

  • What status transitions are available for PROJ-123?
  • Show me the valid next steps for this ticket in the workflow.
  • What are the transition options for the 'payment bug' issue?
  • Check what statuses I can move JIRA-789 to from its current state.

# add_comment tool

The add_comment tool adds a comment to an existing Jira issue. Your LLM uses this tool to provide status updates, answer questions, share additional context, or document decisions directly in the ticket without leaving your conversation.

Try asking:

  • Add a comment to PROJ-123 saying we've completed the database migration.
  • Comment on the login bug that we're investigating the root cause.
  • Post an update to JIRA-456 with the latest test results.
  • Add a note to the API task explaining the workaround we found.

# update_issue tool

The update_issue tool updates an existing Jira issue with the fields you specify, including summary, description, priority, assignee, labels, or any custom fields. Your LLM uses this tool to modify ticket details as requirements change, update priority levels, reassign work, or adjust issue fields based on your conversation.

Try asking:

  • Update PROJ-123 to high priority and assign it to Josh.
  • Change the description of the checkout bug to include the new error details.
  • Update JIRA-456 with the label 'needs-review' and increase its priority.
  • Modify the API task summary to reflect that it now includes authentication updates.

# Getting started

View and manage your MCP server tools in the Overview page Tools section. Tool management provides the following capabilities:

TOOLS MUST BE STARTED

Your LLM can only access active tools in your MCP server connector.

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Last updated: 1/28/2026, 8:31:02 PM

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