jps-jira-utils 0.14.0

Collection of Python scripts for interacting with Jira tickets.

jps-jira-utils

A clean, modular, production-grade toolkit for Jira power users
Built with Typer, rich logging, and full test coverage.

Features

• Unified CLI — jps-jira-utils command with subcommands for all operations
• Create Issues — create_issue.py — Create new Jira issues with all required fields
  • Interactive prompts for issue type, summary, and description
  • Automatic reporter field handling (uses authenticated user)
  • Support for all required fields: Space (project), Work Type, Reporter, Title
  • Full validation and confirmation before creation
• Update Issues — update_issue.py — Bulk update issue fields from YAML configuration
  • Update custom fields (Software Component, PROGRAM, TICKET TYPE, Project Label, Team)
  • Smart sprint assignment (latest sprint matching project key)
  • Automatic date calculations (Due Date, Dev Complete, QA Complete, UAT Start)
  • Business day calculations with configurable defaults
  • Only updates empty fields (preserves existing values)
  • Dry-run mode for validation
• Add Comments — add_comment.py — Add rich comments (with optional file attachments) to any Jira issue
  • Interactive multiline input (ends on two blank lines)
  • Load comment from file (--comment-file)
  • Attach files with pre-canned or custom notes (STDOUT, STDERR, log file, README, etc.)
  • Final confirmation table before posting
  • Full logging with structured output
  • Optional custom config file (--config-file)
• Secure credential loading via ~/.config/jps-jira-utils/.jira.env (never in code or CLI)
• Clean, maintainable, fully tested codebase using modern Python best practices
• Zero external runtime dependencies beyond requests, typer, and python-dotenv

Installation

From source (recommended for development)

git clone https://github.com/jai-python3/jps-jira-utils.git
cd jps-jira-utils
make install    # creates .venv and installs in editable mode

From PyPI (coming soon)

pip install jps-jira-utils

Configuration

Setting up credentials

The tool requires Jira Cloud credentials to authenticate API requests. By default, credentials are loaded from:

~/.config/jps-jira-utils/.jira.env

Auto-create the configuration file

You can automatically create the configuration directory and file with placeholder values:

mkdir -p ~/.config/jps-jira-utils
cat > ~/.config/jps-jira-utils/.jira.env << 'EOF'
JIRA_BASE_URL=https://your-company.atlassian.net
JIRA_EMAIL=[e-mail]
JIRA_API_TOKEN=your_api_token_here
EOF

Then edit the file with your actual credentials:

nano ~/.config/jps-jira-utils/.jira.env
# or use your preferred editor

Manual configuration

Create the configuration directory and file manually:

mkdir -p ~/.config/jps-jira-utils

Then create ~/.config/jps-jira-utils/.jira.env with your Jira Cloud credentials:

JIRA_BASE_URL=https://your-company.atlassian.net
JIRA_EMAIL=[e-mail]
JIRA_API_TOKEN=your_api_token_here

Generate your API token at: https://id.atlassian.com/manage-profile/security/api-tokens

Using a custom config file

If you need to use a different location for your configuration file, you can specify it with the --config-file option:

jps-add-comment JPS-1234 --config-file /path/to/custom/.jira.env

Prerequisites

Python 3.11 or higher is required.

Usage

Unified CLI

View all available commands:

jps-jira-utils --help

Create a new issue

Create an issue interactively:

jps-jira-utils create-issue JPS

Or using the standalone command:

jps-jira-utils-create-issue JPS

Create with all details provided:

jps-jira-utils create-issue JPS \
  --summary "Fix login bug" \
  --issue-type Bug \
  --description "Users cannot log in with SSO"

Required fields for issue creation:

• Space (Project key): e.g., JPS
• Work Type (Issue type): e.g., Task, Bug, Story
• Reporter: Automatically set to authenticated user's email
• Title (Summary): Brief description of the issue

Update issue fields

Update an issue with values from config file:

jps-jira-utils update-issue COMPBIO-1234

Or using the standalone command:

jps-jira-utils-update-issue COMPBIO-1234

With custom config file:

jps-jira-utils update-issue COMPBIO-1234 --config-file ~/my-config.yaml

Dry run to preview changes:

jps-jira-utils update-issue COMPBIO-1234 --dry-run

Configuration File Setup

The update-issue command requires a YAML configuration file with project-specific settings.

Default location: ~/.config/jps-jira-utils/config.yaml

Auto-generate the configuration file:

mkdir -p ~/.config/jps-jira-utils
cat > ~/.config/jps-jira-utils/config.yaml << 'EOF'
# Jira Issue Update Configuration
# Customize these values for your project

# Project settings
project_key: "COMPBIO"  # Your Jira project key (used for sprint matching)
board_id: 123        # Your Jira board ID for sprint lookup (find this in board settings)

# Custom field values (these will populate empty custom fields)
software_component: "MyComponent"    # Software Component dropdown value
program: "MyProgram"                 # PROGRAM field value
ticket_type: "Development"           # TICKET TYPE field value
project_label: "MyProject"           # Project Label field value
team: "Engineering Team"             # Team field value

# Date calculation settings (in business days)
# These control automatic due date calculations
default_due_date_business_days: 10                      # Due Date: Friday after N business days from today
default_dev_complete_due_date_business_days: 5          # Dev Complete: Friday after N business days from today
default_qa_complete_due_date_business_days: 2           # QA Complete: N business days after Dev Complete
default_uat_start_date_business_days: 1                 # UAT Start: N business days after QA Complete
EOF

Then edit the file with your actual values:

nano ~/.config/jps-jira-utils/config.yaml
# or use your preferred editor

Configuration File Explanation:

Setting	Description	Example
project_key	Your Jira project key. Used to find the latest sprint matching this prefix (e.g., "COMPBIO FY25 Sprint 6").	"COMPBIO"
board_id	Jira board ID for sprint lookups. Find this in your board's URL or settings. Optional if provided via --board-id CLI option.	123
software_component	Value for the Software Component custom field dropdown. Must match an existing option in Jira.	"Backend API"
program	Value for the PROGRAM custom field.	"Platform"
ticket_type	Value for the TICKET TYPE custom field.	"Development"
project_label	Value for the Project Label custom field.	"Q1 Initiative"
team	Value for the Team custom field.	"Backend Team"
default_due_date_business_days	Number of business days from today to calculate Due Date. Result will be the next Friday after N business days.	10
default_dev_complete_due_date_business_days	Number of business days from today to calculate Dev Complete Due Date. Result will be the next Friday after N business days.	5
default_qa_complete_due_date_business_days	Number of business days after Dev Complete Due Date to set QA Complete Due Date.	2
default_uat_start_date_business_days	Number of business days after QA Complete Due Date to set UAT Start Date.	1

Finding your Board ID:

1. Go to your Jira board
2. Look at the URL: https://your-company.atlassian.net/jira/software/c/projects/COMPBIO/boards/123
3. The number after /boards/ is your board ID (e.g., 123)

Example Configuration:

# Project settings
project_key: "COMPBIO"
board_id: 123

# Custom field values
software_component: "Backend API"
program: "Platform Modernization"
ticket_type: "Development"
project_label: "Q1 2025 Initiative"
team: "Backend Engineering"

# Date calculation settings (in business days)
default_due_date_business_days: 10
default_dev_complete_due_date_business_days: 5
default_qa_complete_due_date_business_days: 2
default_uat_start_date_business_days: 1

What gets updated:

• Software Component (custom field)
• Sprint (latest sprint matching project key)
• PROGRAM, TICKET TYPE, Project Label, Team (custom fields)
• Due Date (Friday after N business days)
• Dev Complete Due Date (Friday after N business days)
• QA Complete Due Date (N business days after Dev Complete)
• UAT Start Date (N business days after QA Complete)
• Assignee (current user)

Note: Only updates fields that are currently empty.

Add a comment to an issue

Add a comment interactively:

jps-jira-utils add-comment JPS-1234

Or using the standalone command:

jps-jira-utils-add-comment JPS-1234

Add a comment from a file + attach a log:

jps-jira-utils add-comment JPS-1234 \
  --comment-file results.txt \
  --attach-file test-run.log

Get help

Full help for any command:

jps-jira-utils --help
jps-jira-utils create-issue --help
jps-jira-utils update-issue --help
jps-jira-utils add-comment --help

Development

# Format, lint, and fix everything
make fix
make format
make lint

Run tests with coverage

make test

Run pre-commit hooks (recommended)

pre-commit run --all-files

Project Structure

src/jps_jira_utils/
├── cli.py                # Main CLI entry point with subcommands
├── create_issue.py       # Create new Jira issues
├── update_issue.py       # Update issue fields from YAML config
├── add_comment.py        # Add comments to Jira issues
├── jira_helper.py        # Credential loading
├── logging_helper.py     # Structured logging setup
└── prompt_helper.py      # Interactive input utilities

tests/                    # Full test coverage with pytest
├── test_cli.py           # CLI tests
├── test_create_issue.py  # Issue creation tests
├── test_update_issue.py  # Issue update tests
├── test_add_comment.py   # Comment addition tests
└── ...

config.yaml.example       # Example YAML configuration file

Troubleshooting

Field Compatibility Issues

If you see errors like "Field 'customfield_XXXXX' cannot be set. It is not on the appropriate screen, or unknown.", this means:

• The field doesn't exist in your Jira instance
• The field exists but is not available on this issue's edit screen
• You don't have permissions to edit that field

Solution: The update-issue command will automatically skip incompatible fields and update the remaining fields. Check your config.yaml to ensure field names match your Jira setup.

Sprint Lookup Failures

If you see "Failed to fetch sprints for board XXX: 404":

• Verify your board_id is correct (see "Finding your Board ID" above)
• Ensure you have view permissions for that board
• The board may not exist or may have been deleted

Solution: The sprint field will be skipped, but all other fields will update normally. To fix, update your board_id in config.yaml or use --board-id option.

UAT Start Date Warnings

If you see "Cannot calculate UAT Start Date without QA Complete Date":

• The UAT Start Date field doesn't exist in your Jira instance
• Or the QA Complete Date field hasn't been set/calculated

Solution: This is informational only. The program will skip the UAT Start Date calculation and continue with other updates.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please:

Use pre-commit hooks Write tests for new features Follow Google-style docstrings Keep the codebase clean and modular

License

MIT License © Jaideep Sundaram