jira-issue
The jira-issue agent handles single-issue operations in Jira. It creates bugs, tasks, and stories, retrieves issue details, updates fields, and deletes issues — all through the jira-as CLI wrapper with built-in safety tiers that escalate confirmation requirements based on operation risk.
Cognitive Framing
"One issue at a time. Read operations run immediately; destructive operations require dry-run confirmation."
The jira-issue agent is a domain-specific agent for single-issue CRUD. It operates on demand and uses a 4-tier safety model: reads execute immediately, creates need no confirmation for single issues, updates show a diff before execution, and deletes require a dry-run review first.
Key Facts
| Type | Domain (Jira) |
| Phase | On-demand |
| Model | inherit |
| Color | blue |
| Safety | 4-tier (read → create → modify → destructive) |
| Never does | Transition issues (jira-lifecycle), add comments (jira-collaborate), bulk operations (jira-bulk), link issues (jira-relationships) |
When to Use
- When you need to create a new bug, task, or story in Jira.
- When you need to view an issue's details — summary, status, assignee, priority.
- When you need to update fields on an existing issue — summary, priority, labels, components.
- When you need to delete an issue (with mandatory dry-run first).
Key Capabilities
- Issue CRUD — full create, read, update, and delete operations for single Jira issues.
- Template support — uses
bug,task, andstorytemplates for standardized issue creation. - Safety tiers — graduated confirmation: Tier 1 (read, immediate), Tier 2 (create, none for single), Tier 3 (update, show diff), Tier 4 (delete, dry-run + confirm).
- Field projection — trims JSON output to essential fields (key, summary, status, assignee) using
jqfor readable results.
Behavioral Checklist
- [x] Uses
jira-aswrapper for all operations — never calls the Jira CLI directly - [x] Shows current-vs-proposed diff before updates (Tier 3)
- [x] Runs
--dry-runbefore deletes (Tier 4) and waits for user review - [x] Projects output fields for readability
- [x] Runs
--helpfor unfamiliar flags rather than guessing - [x] Never writes ticket bodies, comment content, or token values to memory
- [x] Captures common project keys and custom field IDs in memory for future sessions
Common Use Cases
| Scenario | What the agent does |
|---|---|
| "Create a bug for the login issue" | Creates issue with --type Bug, --project, and --summary via template |
| "Show me PROJ-123" | Retrieves issue details with projected fields |
| "Update PROJ-123 priority to High" | Shows current vs proposed diff, then executes update |
| "Delete PROJ-456" | Runs --dry-run first, shows what would be deleted, waits for confirmation |
Pro Tips
Use Templates for Consistent Issues
The bug, task, and story templates ensure consistent issue creation across the team. Templates seed default fields and structure, reducing the chance of missing critical information.
Capture Custom Field IDs Early
Custom field IDs vary per Jira instance. When the agent encounters a custom field, it records the ID and human-readable name in memory for future sessions, preventing repeated lookup overhead.
Key Takeaway
The jira-issue agent provides safe, single-issue CRUD with graduated safety tiers that match confirmation requirements to operation risk. Reads are instant, creates are smooth, updates show diffs, and deletes always require dry-run review.
Related Agents
- jira-lifecycle — handles transitions and workflow state changes (not CRUD)
- jira-collaborate — handles comments, attachments, and watchers
- jira-bulk — handles operations on 10+ issues
- jira-search — finds issues by JQL criteria