JIRA MCP Server (Async)

A high-performance, asynchronous Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that integrates with JIRA using stdio transport, allowing AI assistants to:

• Connect to your company's JIRA instance with async operations

• Search for issues using JQL (JIRA Query Language) with concurrent processing

• Get detailed issue information including comments with improved performance

• Track issue relationships (links, parent/child, epics) efficiently

• Create new issues and update existing ones

• View available workflow transitions

🚀 Performance Features

This async implementation provides significant performance improvements over traditional synchronous JIRA clients:

• Concurrent API Calls: Process multiple JIRA requests simultaneously

• Connection Pooling: Efficient HTTP connection management with aiohttp

• Rate Limiting: Built-in throttling to respect JIRA API limits

• Non-blocking I/O: True async operations that don't block the event loop

• Stdio Transport: Optimized for MCP client integration

• Clean Architecture: Focused on essential tools without unnecessary complexity

Performance Comparison

• Synchronous: Traditional blocking operations

• Asynchronous: Non-blocking concurrent operations with connection pooling

Related MCP server: Jira MCP Server

Features

This MCP server provides functionality through MCP tools:

MCP Tools

The server exposes the following MCP tools with jira_ prefixes to avoid conflicts with other MCP servers (like GitHub):

Architecture

The server uses a clean, tool-focused architecture:

• 8 MCP Tools: All essential JIRA operations as simple, focused functions

• No Resources: Simplified design without MCP resources for easier maintenance

• Async Client: High-performance AsyncJiraClient with connection pooling

• Comprehensive Logging: Detailed logging for monitoring and debugging

This approach provides:

• ✅ Simplicity: Easy to understand and maintain

• ✅ Performance: Async operations with connection pooling

• ✅ Reliability: Focused functionality with comprehensive error handling

• ✅ Flexibility: All essential JIRA operations available through clean tool interfaces

Setup

Prerequisites

• Python 3.13+

• uv package manager

• JIRA API token from your Atlassian account

Installation

1. Clone this repository:

   git clone https://github.com/yourusername/mcp-jira.git
   cd mcp-jira

2. Install dependencies:

   uv sync

3. Create a .env file with your JIRA credentials:

   cp config.env.example .env

4. Edit the .env file with your JIRA credentials:

   # JIRA Configuration
   JIRA_SERVER_URL=https://your-company.atlassian.net
   JIRA_API_TOKEN=your_api_token_here
   
   # Performance Configuration
   MAX_CONCURRENT_REQUESTS=2
   LOG_LEVEL=INFO
   
   # Timeouts (in seconds)
   REQUEST_TIMEOUT=30
   CONNECT_TIMEOUT=10

Running the Server

This is a STDIO MCP Server designed to be used with MCP clients like Claude Desktop.

The server is designed to be used with MCP clients. For Claude Desktop:

1. Add to Claude Desktop Configuration:

   {
     "mcpServers": {
       "jira": {
         "command": "python",
         "args": ["/path/to/your/jira_mcp_server.py"],
         "env": {
           "JIRA_SERVER_URL": "https://your-company.atlassian.net",
           "JIRA_API_TOKEN": "your_api_token_here"
         }
       }
     }
   }

2. Restart Claude Desktop to load the new server configuration.

Environment Variables

The server uses the following environment variables with built-in defaults:

Only JIRA_SERVER_URL and JIRA_API_TOKEN are required - all other settings have sensible defaults.

Logging

The server includes comprehensive logging:

• Console Output: Real-time status and errors

• Log File: Detailed logs saved to jira_mcp_server.log

• Configurable Levels: Set LOG_LEVEL in your .env file

Log levels:

• DEBUG: Detailed debugging information

• INFO: General operational messages (default)

• WARNING: Warning messages and rate limiting notices

• ERROR: Error conditions