jira-mcp-server

<p align="center"> <img src="assets/logo.svg" alt="Jira MCP Server logo" width="480" /> </p>

<p align="center"> A lightweight <a href="https://modelcontextprotocol.io">Model Context Protocol (MCP)</a> server that exposes Jira issue operations as tools for MCP-compatible AI clients (Claude Desktop, Claude Code, etc.). </p>

<p align="center"> <img alt="Node.js" src="https://img.shields.io/badge/node-%3E%3D18-339933?logo=node.js&logoColor=white" /> <img alt="License" src="https://img.shields.io/badge/license-ISC-blue" /> <img alt="MCP" src="https://img.shields.io/badge/MCP-stdio-6E56CF" /> </p>

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Overview

jira-mcp-server runs as a local stdio-based MCP server. It connects to a Jira Cloud instance via the REST API and exposes three tools that an MCP client can call: fetching an issue, searching issues with JQL, and creating new issues.

Features

• 🔍 Get issue — fetch a single Jira issue by key
• 🔎 Search issues — run arbitrary JQL queries
• ➕ Create issue — create a new issue in a project
• 🔌 Implements the MCP tools/list and tools/call protocol over stdio
• ⚙️ Configuration via environment variables (.env)

Prerequisites

• Node.js 18 or later
• A Jira Cloud site and an Atlassian API token
• An MCP-compatible client (e.g. Claude Desktop, Claude Code)

Installation

git clone <this-repo-url>
cd jira-mcp-server
npm install

Configuration

Copy the example environment file and fill in your Jira credentials:

cp .env.example .env

Variable	Description	Example
JIRA_EMAIL	The email address associated with your Atlassian account	you@example.com
JIRA_API_TOKEN	An Atlassian API token generated from your account security settings	abcd1234...
JIRA_BASE_URL	The base REST API URL for your Jira site	https://your-domain.atlassian.net/rest/api/3

Never commit your .env file. It is already excluded via .gitignore.

Running the server

node src/server.js

The server communicates over stdio, so it's designed to be launched by an MCP client rather than run standalone in a terminal for interactive use.

Connecting from Claude Desktop

Add an entry to your Claude Desktop MCP config (claude_desktop_config.json):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "jira": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["C:\\path\\to\\jira-mcp-server\\src\\server.js"],
      "env": {
        "JIRA_EMAIL": "you@example.com",
        "JIRA_API_TOKEN": "your-api-token",
        "JIRA_BASE_URL": "https://your-domain.atlassian.net/rest/api/3"
      }
    }
  }
}

Restart Claude Desktop and the jira tools will become available in the tool picker.

Available tools

Tool	Description	Parameters
get_issue	Get a Jira issue by key	key (string, required) — e.g. PROJ-123
search_issues	Search Jira issues using JQL	jql (string, required) — a valid JQL query string
create_issue	Create a new Jira issue	projectKey (string, required), summary (string, required), description (string, optional)

Project structure

jira-mcp-server/
├── assets/
│   └── logo.svg          # Project logo
├── src/
│   ├── server.js         # MCP server entry point (tool routing)
│   ├── tools.js          # Tool definitions / input schemas
│   └── jiraclient.js     # Jira REST API client
├── .env.example           # Sample environment configuration
├── package.json
└── README.md

Troubleshooting

• 401 Unauthorized — verify JIRA_EMAIL and JIRA_API_TOKEN are correct and that the token hasn't expired.
• 404 Not Found — check that JIRA_BASE_URL points to the correct Jira Cloud REST API base (/rest/api/3).
• No output from the server — the server communicates over stdio; run it via an MCP client rather than expecting interactive terminal output.

License

Distributed under the ISC License.