jira-lifecycle

Workflow and lifecycle management for JIRA issues.

Risk Levels

Operation	Risk	Notes
List transitions	-	Read-only
List versions/components	-	Read-only
Transition issue	!	Can transition back
Assign/unassign	!	Can reassign
Resolve issue	!	Can reopen
Reopen issue	!	Can resolve again
Create version/component	-	Easily reversible
Update version/component	!	Can be undone
Release version	!	Can unrelease
Archive version	!	Can unarchive
Delete component	!!	Issues lose component association

Risk Legend: - Safe, read-only | ! Caution, modifiable | !! Warning, destructive but recoverable | !!! Danger, irreversible

Quick Discovery

Use this skill to: Drive issues through workflows, assign ownership, manage releases and components.

Not for: Creating/editing issue content (use jira-issue) or finding issues (use jira-search).

Also see: Workflow Guide | JSM Workflows | Best Practices

What this skill does

IMPORTANT: Always use the jira-as CLI. Never run Python scripts directly.

7 command categories for complete lifecycle management:

Category	Purpose	Example
Transitions	Move issues between statuses	jira-as lifecycle transition PROJ-123 --to "In Progress"
Assignments	Control ownership	jira-as lifecycle assign PROJ-123 --self or --user email
Resolution	Mark issues complete	jira-as lifecycle resolve PROJ-123 --resolution Fixed
Reopen	Restore resolved issues	jira-as lifecycle reopen PROJ-123
Versions	Plan and track releases	jira-as lifecycle version create PROJ --name "v2.0.0"
Components	Organize by subsystem	jira-as lifecycle component create PROJ --name "API"
Discovery	View available options	jira-as lifecycle transitions PROJ-123

All commands support --help for full option documentation.

Available Commands

Workflow Transitions

jira-as lifecycle transitions PROJ-123                    # List available transitions
jira-as lifecycle transitions PROJ-123 --output json      # Output as JSON
jira-as lifecycle transition PROJ-123 --to "In Progress"  # Transition by status name
jira-as lifecycle transition PROJ-123 --id 31             # Transition by ID
jira-as lifecycle transition PROJ-123 --to Done --resolution Fixed  # With resolution
jira-as lifecycle transition PROJ-123 --to "In Progress" --comment "Starting work"  # With comment
jira-as lifecycle transition PROJ-123 --to "In Progress" --sprint 42  # Move to sprint after transition
jira-as lifecycle transition PROJ-123 --to Done --dry-run             # Preview without executing
jira-as lifecycle transition PROJ-123 --to Done --fields '{"customfield_10001": "value"}'  # With custom fields

Assignments

jira-as lifecycle assign PROJ-123 --self                  # Assign to yourself
jira-as lifecycle assign PROJ-123 --user email@example.com  # Assign to user
jira-as lifecycle assign PROJ-123 --unassign              # Remove assignee

Resolution

jira-as lifecycle resolve PROJ-123                         # Resolve issue (may require --resolution)
jira-as lifecycle resolve PROJ-123 --resolution Fixed      # Resolve with specific resolution
jira-as lifecycle resolve PROJ-123 --resolution Fixed --comment "Fixed in v1.2.0"  # With comment
jira-as lifecycle reopen PROJ-123                          # Reopen issue
jira-as lifecycle reopen PROJ-123 --comment "Reopening for additional work"  # Reopen with comment

Version Management

jira-as lifecycle version list PROJ                       # List versions
jira-as lifecycle version list PROJ --output json         # Output as JSON
jira-as lifecycle version list PROJ --unreleased          # Show only unreleased versions
jira-as lifecycle version list PROJ --archived            # Include archived versions
jira-as lifecycle version create PROJ --name "v2.0.0"     # Create version
jira-as lifecycle version create PROJ --name "v2.0.0" --description "Major release"  # With description
jira-as lifecycle version create PROJ --name "v2.0.0" --start-date 2026-01-01 --release-date 2026-03-01
jira-as lifecycle version create PROJ --name "v2.0.0" --released --dry-run  # Preview creation
jira-as lifecycle version create PROJ --name "v2.0.0" --archived  # Create as archived
jira-as lifecycle version release PROJ "v1.0.0"           # Release a version
jira-as lifecycle version release PROJ "v1.0.0" --move-unfixed "v1.1.0"  # Move unfixed issues to another version
jira-as lifecycle version archive PROJ "v0.9.0"           # Archive a version

Component Management

Note: Component update and delete operations require the component ID (not name). Use jira-as lifecycle component list PROJ to find component IDs. The --lead option requires an account ID, not email.

jira-as lifecycle component list PROJ                     # List components (shows IDs)
jira-as lifecycle component list PROJ --output json       # Output as JSON
jira-as lifecycle component create PROJ --name "API"      # Create component
jira-as lifecycle component create PROJ --name "API" --description "REST API layer"  # With description
jira-as lifecycle component create PROJ --name "Backend" --lead 5b10a2844c20165700ede21g
jira-as lifecycle component create PROJ --name "Frontend" --assignee-type COMPONENT_LEAD
jira-as lifecycle component update --id 10000 --name "New Name"           # Update by ID
jira-as lifecycle component update --id 10000 --description "Updated description"  # Update description
jira-as lifecycle component update --id 10000 --lead 5b10a2844c20165700ede22h
jira-as lifecycle component update --id 10000 --assignee-type PROJECT_LEAD --dry-run
jira-as lifecycle component delete --id 10000             # Delete with confirmation prompt
jira-as lifecycle component delete --id 10000 --yes       # Delete without confirmation
jira-as lifecycle component delete --id 10000 --move-to 10001  # Move issues before deletion
jira-as lifecycle component delete --id 10000 --dry-run   # Preview deletion

Common Options

All commands support these options:

Option	Description
--help	Show help message and exit

Output Formats by Command

Command	Supported Formats
transitions	text, json
transition	text, json
assign	text, json
resolve	text, json
reopen	text, json
version list	table, json
version create/release/archive	text, json
component list	table, json
component create/update/delete	text, json

Dry Run Support

Most modification commands support --dry-run to preview changes without executing:

jira-as lifecycle transition PROJ-123 --to Done --dry-run
jira-as lifecycle assign PROJ-123 --self --dry-run
jira-as lifecycle version create PROJ --name "v1.0.0" --dry-run
jira-as lifecycle component create PROJ --name "API" --dry-run
jira-as lifecycle component update --id 10000 --name "New Name" --dry-run
jira-as lifecycle component delete --id 10000 --dry-run

Exit Codes

Code	Meaning
0	Success - operation completed successfully
1	Error - operation failed (check stderr for details)

Examples

See examples/LIFECYCLE_EXAMPLES.md for comprehensive copy-paste examples.

Workflow Compatibility

Works with standard JIRA workflows, custom workflows, JIRA Service Management workflows, and simplified workflows. Scripts automatically adapt to different configurations.

Troubleshooting

See references/TROUBLESHOOTING.md for common issues and solutions.

Quick fixes:

• "No transition found" - Run jira-as lifecycle transitions ISSUE-KEY to see available transitions
• "Transition requires fields" - Use --fields '{"field": "value"}' option
• "User not found" - Verify user email and project permissions

Configuration

Requires JIRA credentials via environment variables (JIRA_SITE_URL, JIRA_EMAIL, JIRA_API_TOKEN).

Best Practices

See docs/BEST_PRACTICES.md for:

• Workflow Design - For JIRA admins designing workflows
• Daily Operations - For developers and team leads

Workflow Patterns

Pre-built patterns in references/patterns/:

• standard_workflow.md - Simple 3-status workflow
• software_dev_workflow.md - Development with review/QA
• jsm_request_workflow.md - Service desk requests
• incident_workflow.md - Incident management

Related skills

• jira-issue: For creating and updating issues
• jira-search: For finding issues to transition
• jira-collaborate: For adding comments during transitions
• jira-agile: For sprint management and Agile workflows