jira-mcp

A local MCP server that wraps the Jira REST API v3 for openmrs.atlassian.net, providing a comprehensive alternative to the Atlassian Rovo MCP Server. Bypasses the Rovo server's "anonymous project" bug by calling the REST API directly with Basic Auth.

Prerequisites

uv installed
A Jira API token (see below)

Generating a Jira API Token

Go to https://id.atlassian.com/manage-profile/security/api-tokens
Click Create API token, give it a label (e.g. "Claude MCP"), and copy the token.

Environment Variables

Variable	Required	Description
`JIRA_EMAIL`	Yes	Your Atlassian account email
`JIRA_API_TOKEN`	Yes	The API token you generated above
`JIRA_BASE_URL`	No	Defaults to `https://openmrs.atlassian.net`

Installation

Install as a tool so it's available as a standalone command:

uv tool install /absolute/path/to/jira-mcp

Replace /absolute/path/to/jira-mcp with the actual path to this directory. This creates a jira-mcp command (typically at ~/.local/bin/jira-mcp).

To update after pulling changes:

uv tool install --force /absolute/path/to/jira-mcp

Claude Desktop MCP Config

Add the following to your Claude Desktop config file:

macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json
Linux / WSL: ~/.config/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "jira": {
      "command": "jira-mcp",
      "env": {
        "JIRA_EMAIL": "you@example.com",
        "JIRA_API_TOKEN": "your-api-token-here"
      }
    }
  }
}

If jira-mcp is not on Claude Desktop's PATH, use the full path (e.g. "/Users/you/.local/bin/jira-mcp").

Claude Code MCP Config

In your Claude Code settings (e.g. ~/.claude/settings.json), add:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "jira": {
      "command": "jira-mcp",
      "env": {
        "JIRA_EMAIL": "you@example.com",
        "JIRA_API_TOKEN": "your-api-token-here"
      }
    }
  }
}

Tools

Tool	Description	Key Parameters
`createJiraIssue`	Create a new issue	`projectKey`, `summary`, `issueType`, `description`, `priority`, `labels`, `assigneeAccountId`
`getJiraIssue`	Fetch an issue by key/ID	`issueIdOrKey`, `fields`
`editJiraIssue`	Update fields on an issue	`issueIdOrKey`, `summary`, `description`, `priority`, `labels`, `assigneeAccountId`, `issueType`
`searchJiraIssues`	Search with JQL	`jql`, `maxResults`, `fields`
`addCommentToJiraIssue`	Add a comment	`issueIdOrKey`, `body`
`getJiraIssueComments`	List comments (with their IDs)	`issueIdOrKey`, `maxResults`, `newestFirst`
`editJiraIssueComment`	Replace the text of your own comment	`issueIdOrKey`, `commentId`, `body`
`getTransitionsForJiraIssue`	List available transitions	`issueIdOrKey`
`transitionJiraIssue`	Move issue to new status	`issueIdOrKey`, `transitionId`
`getVisibleJiraProjects`	List visible projects	`maxResults`
`getJiraIssueTypeMetaWithFields`	Get create metadata for a project/issue type	`projectIdOrKey`, `issueTypeId`
`lookupJiraAccountId`	Search users by name/email	`query`, `maxResults`

All description and comment body parameters accept Markdown, which is automatically converted to Atlassian Document Format (ADF) before sending.

editJiraIssueComment only edits comments posted by the authenticated user: the comment's author is compared against /myself and the edit is refused otherwise, even if the account holds Jira's "Edit All Comments" permission.