# Quick Start Guide - MCP Jira Server
## 🚀 Setup in 5 Minutes
### Step 1: Get Your Personal Access Token
1. Go to your Jira instance: **https://jira.domain.com**
2. Click your profile icon → **Profile** or **Account Settings**
3. Find **Personal Access Tokens** or **Security** section
4. Click **Create token**
5. Name it "MCP Server" and click **Create**
6. **Copy the token NOW** (you can't see it again!)
### Step 2: Configure Claude Desktop (Recommended)
1. **Find your config file:**
- Mac: `~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json`
- Windows: `%APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json`
2. **Copy the example configuration:**
```bash
# Open the example file
cat /Users/username/mcp-jira-server/claude_desktop_config.example.json
```
3. **Edit your Claude config** and add the Jira server section
4. **Replace `your-personal-access-token-here`** with your actual token
5. **Update the path** if you installed the server elsewhere
6. **Restart Claude Desktop**
### Step 3: Test It!
Open Claude Desktop and try:
```
Show me all Jira projects
```
or
```
Get my current Jira user information
```
## 🔧 Alternative: VS Code Setup
1. Create `.vscode/mcp.json` in your project
2. Copy content from `vscode_mcp_config.example.json`
3. Replace the token and path
4. Restart VS Code
## ✅ Verify Installation
Once configured, you can:
1. **List projects:**
```
List all my Jira projects
```
2. **Search issues:**
```
Find all issues assigned to me that are open
```
3. **Create an issue:**
```
Create a new task in project ABC with summary "Test MCP"
```
## 🐛 Troubleshooting
### "Server not found" or "Cannot connect"
- Verify the absolute path in your config is correct
- Make sure you ran `npm install` and `npm run build`
- Restart Claude Desktop or VS Code
### "Unauthorized" or "Authentication failed"
- Check your Personal Access Token is copied correctly
- Ensure the token hasn't expired
- Verify the JIRA_BASE_URL is correct (no trailing slash)
### "Cannot find module"
```bash
cd /Users/username/mcp-jira-server
npm install
npm run build
```
## 📚 Common JQL Queries
Once connected, you can search using JQL:
- `project = ABC AND status = Open`
- `assignee = currentUser() AND status != Done`
- `priority = High AND created >= -7d`
- `reporter = john.doe AND status IN (Open, "In Progress")`
## 🎯 Available Operations
- ✅ Get, create, update, delete issues
- ✅ Search with JQL
- ✅ Add comments
- ✅ Assign issues
- ✅ Transition statuses
- ✅ List projects and issue types
- ✅ View current user
## 💡 Example Prompts
Try these in Claude:
1. "Show me all high priority bugs in project XYZ"
2. "Create a new task in project ABC to update documentation"
3. "Add a comment to issue ABC-123 saying 'Fixed in latest release'"
4. "Update issue ABC-456 to set status to In Progress and assign to me"
5. "Search for all issues I reported in the last week"
## 🔐 Security Reminder
- Never commit your Personal Access Token to git
- Set token expiration dates
- Rotate tokens regularly
- Use minimal required permissions
---
**Need help?** Check the full README.md for detailed documentation.
