Jira

Search (JQL) for a set of tickets

acli jira workitem search --jql 'project = PROJECT AND status != Done ORDER BY updated DESC' --json

Common epic patterns (use whichever matches the Jira project configuration):

acli jira workitem search --jql 'parent = PROJECT-5678' --json
acli jira workitem search --jql '"Epic Link" = PROJECT-5679' --json

Epic children: status vs comments

• workitem search lists keys + status + summary but not comments.
• To review comments, call workitem view per ticket with the comment field.
• Jira comments are returned as Atlassian Document Format (ADF) in JSON; summarize rather than pasting raw JSON.

Extract PR links from Jira comments (ADF)

• Fetch: acli jira workitem view PROJECT-1234 --json --fields 'summary,status,updated,comment,issuelinks'
• Extract links: search JSON output for github.com/<org>/<repo>/pull/<num> patterns, then use gh pr view to confirm state.

Field selection

Minimal summary:

acli jira workitem view PROJECT-1234 --json --fields 'summary,status,assignee,reporter,priority,labels,components,fixVersions,description'

Dependency context:

acli jira workitem view PROJECT-1234 --json --fields 'summary,status,issuelinks,subtasks'

Comment signal (blockers/rollout state):

acli jira workitem view PROJECT-1234 --json --fields 'summary,status,updated,comment,issuelinks'

Custom fields (escape hatch):

acli jira workitem view PROJECT-1234 --json --fields '*all'

Epic → outcomes summary workflow

When asked "what are the outcomes of the tickets in this epic?":

1. List child tickets (pick parent = or "Epic Link" =).
2. For each child ticket, extract: outcome, acceptance criteria, user/maintainer impact, dependencies.
3. Deduplicate overlapping outcomes.
4. Produce a short outcomes inventory (1–2 bullets per ticket) and an aggregated deliverable candidate.

Real-world workflow: Fetch epic outcomes

Goal: Summarize what an epic will deliver.

# 1. Find epic child tickets
EPIC="PROJECT-5678"
acli jira workitem search --jql "parent = $EPIC" --json | \
  jq -r '.[].key' > /tmp/tickets.txt

# 2. For each ticket, extract outcome and acceptance criteria
while read ticket; do
  acli jira workitem view "$ticket" --json --fields \
    'summary,description,status,assignee' | \
    jq '{key: .key, summary: .fields.summary, status: .fields.status.name}'
done < /tmp/tickets.txt

# 3. Optional: extract PR links from comments
acli jira workitem view $EPIC --json --fields 'comment,issuelinks' | \
  jq -r '.fields.comment[]? | .body' | \
  grep -oE 'github.com/[^/]+/[^/]+/pull/[0-9]+' || true

Common failure modes + fixes

• Field not allowed / not found: remove the field; retry; only use '*all' when needed.
• Too much output: prefer --fields with a minimal set.
• Epic child query returns nothing: try the alternative epic pattern (parent = vs "Epic Link" =), or remove status filters.
• Moved tickets: Jira may redirect keys (e.g., OLD-5652 → NEW-2834). Treat the redirected key as canonical in notes.
• Large epics: fetch comments only for non-Done tickets or tickets updated in the review window.