JIRA Writer Skill

This skill provides write access to JIRA issues on Red Hat Issue Tracker (https://redhat.atlassian.net).

WARNING: This skill modifies JIRA issues. Always verify the changes before confirming.

Capabilities

• Push Release Notes: Update the release note custom field with generated content
• Update Status: Set release note status to 'Proposed' or other values
• Update Custom Fields: Modify any custom field on a JIRA issue
• Label Management: Add or remove labels on JIRA issues
• Batch Updates: Update multiple issues with the same content

Usage

The skill uses a Python script that connects to JIRA using an authentication token.

Environment Variables Required

Set in ~/.env (global) or .env in the project root (local override). See docs-skills README for setup:

JIRA_API_TOKEN=your-jira-api-token
JIRA_EMAIL=you@redhat.com           # required for Atlassian Cloud
JIRA_URL=https://redhat.atlassian.net  # optional, defaults to redhat.atlassian.net

The script loads .env files automatically — do not prepend source ~/.env to bash commands.

Examples

Push a release note:

uv run --script ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/scripts/jira_writer.py --issue INFERENG-5233 --release-note "Fixed issue with..."

Update release note status:

uv run --script ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/scripts/jira_writer.py --issue INFERENG-5233 --status Proposed

Update custom field:

uv run --script ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/scripts/jira_writer.py --issue INFERENG-5233 --custom-field customfield_10783 --value "Release note content"

Batch update multiple issues:

uv run --script ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/scripts/jira_writer.py --issue INFERENG-5233 --issue INFERENG-5049 --status Approved

Read release note from file:

uv run --script ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/scripts/jira_writer.py --issue INFERENG-5233 --release-note-file /path/to/note.txt

Add a label:

uv run --script ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/scripts/jira_writer.py --issue PROJ-123 --labels-add docs-in-progress

Swap labels (remove + add in one API call):

uv run --script ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/scripts/jira_writer.py --issue PROJ-123 --labels-remove docs-ready --labels-add docs-in-progress

Batch label update:

uv run --script ${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/scripts/jira_writer.py --issue PROJ-123 --issue PROJ-456 --labels-add docs-complete

Output Format

The script outputs JSON with the following structure:

{
  "success": true,
  "issue_key": "INFERENG-5233",
  "updated_fields": {
    "customfield_10783": "Release note content",
    "customfield_10807": "Proposed"
  },
  "url": "https://redhat.atlassian.net/browse/INFERENG-5233"
}

Custom Fields

Common custom fields used:

• customfield_10783: Release Note Text
• customfield_10807: Release Note Status (values: Proposed, Approved, Rejected)
• customfield_10785: Release Note Type

Rate Limiting

The skill respects JIRA API rate limits (2 calls per 5 seconds) to avoid overwhelming the server.

Security

• Requires user approval before making changes (no allowed-tools restriction)
• Token stored in environment variable (not in code)
• All changes are logged with details

Common Use Cases

1. Publish release notes: Push generated release note content to JIRA
2. Update status: Mark release notes as Proposed/Approved after review
3. Batch updates: Apply same status to multiple issues
4. Field updates: Modify any custom field on JIRA issues
5. Label management: Add or remove labels for workflow automation

Best Practices

• Always review the content before pushing to JIRA
• Test with non-production issues first
• Verify the issue key is correct
• Back up existing content if overwriting
• Use descriptive commit messages when used with git workflows