atlassian-cli

A lightweight, native Go CLI for Atlassian Jira and Confluence

Installation

go install (recommended)

Requires Go 1.21+:

go install github.com/putcho01/atlassian-cli@latest

If $GOPATH/bin is not in your $PATH, add the following to your shell config (~/.zshrc, etc.):

export PATH="$PATH:$(go env GOPATH)/bin"

From source

git clone https://github.com/putcho01/atlassian-cli.git
cd atlassian-cli
go build -o atlassian-cli .

Quick Start

Cloud (atlassian.net)

1. Create an API Token

2. Set environment variables:

export JIRA_URL=https://your-domain.atlassian.net
export JIRA_EMAIL=you@example.com
export JIRA_API_TOKEN=your-api-token

3. Verify authentication:

atlassian-cli jira myself

To use Confluence as well, set the additional variables:

export CONFLUENCE_URL=https://your-domain.atlassian.net/wiki
export CONFLUENCE_EMAIL=you@example.com
export CONFLUENCE_API_TOKEN=your-api-token

Server/Data Center

export JIRA_URL=https://jira.example.com
export JIRA_PERSONAL_TOKEN=your-pat

If JIRA_EMAIL is not set, Bearer (PAT) authentication is used automatically.

Authentication

Two authentication methods are supported:

Cloud - API Token (Basic Auth)

Used with Atlassian Cloud (*.atlassian.net). Authenticates via Basic auth using your email address and API token.

Variable	Description
JIRA_URL	Jira Cloud URL (e.g. https://your-domain.atlassian.net)
JIRA_EMAIL	Your Atlassian account email address
JIRA_API_TOKEN	API Token
JIRA_DEFAULT_PROJECT	Default project key used when --project is omitted (optional)
CONFLUENCE_URL	Confluence Cloud URL (e.g. https://your-domain.atlassian.net/wiki)
CONFLUENCE_EMAIL	Your Atlassian account email address
CONFLUENCE_API_TOKEN	API Token

Server/Data Center - Personal Access Token (Bearer)

Used with self-hosted Jira/Confluence Server/DC. Authenticates via Bearer auth using a PAT.

Variable	Description
JIRA_URL	Jira base URL (e.g. https://jira.example.com)
JIRA_PERSONAL_TOKEN	Personal Access Token
JIRA_DEFAULT_PROJECT	Default project key used when --project is omitted (optional)
CONFLUENCE_URL	Confluence base URL
CONFLUENCE_PERSONAL_TOKEN	Personal Access Token

If EMAIL is set, Basic auth (Cloud) is used; otherwise Bearer auth (Server/DC) is used.

Only the variables for the service you use are required. For example, if you only use Jira, you don't need to set the Confluence variables.

Commands

Jira

# Authentication
atlassian-cli jira myself                # Show authenticated user

# Issues
atlassian-cli jira issue get PROJ-123    # Get issue (includes description)
atlassian-cli jira issue open PROJ-123   # Open issue in browser
atlassian-cli jira issue search "project = PROJ"       # Search issues via JQL
atlassian-cli jira issue search "project = PROJ" -i    # Interactive TUI picker (↑/↓ navigate, enter detail, o open, q quit)
atlassian-cli jira issue create --project PROJ --summary "New task"  # or omit --project if JIRA_DEFAULT_PROJECT is set
atlassian-cli jira issue update PROJ-123 --field summary="Updated summary"
atlassian-cli jira issue delete PROJ-123
atlassian-cli jira issue subtasks PROJ-123
atlassian-cli jira issue transition PROJ-123 "In Progress"

# Comments
atlassian-cli jira issue comment list PROJ-123
atlassian-cli jira issue comment add PROJ-123 --body "Looks good to me"

Confluence

# Pages
atlassian-cli confluence page get 12345          # Get page content
atlassian-cli confluence page create --space PROJ --title "New Page" --body "<p>Hello</p>"
atlassian-cli confluence page create --space PROJ --title "Child Page" --parent 12345 --body "<p>Child</p>"
atlassian-cli confluence page update 12345 --title "Updated Title" --body "<p>New content</p>"           # version auto-detected
atlassian-cli confluence page update 12345 --title "Updated Title" --body "<p>New content</p>" --version 3  # explicit version

# Labels
atlassian-cli confluence label list 12345
atlassian-cli confluence label add 12345 important,reviewed
atlassian-cli confluence label remove 12345 outdated

# Page Restrictions
atlassian-cli confluence restriction list 12345
atlassian-cli confluence restriction add 12345 --operation update --type user --name <account-id>
atlassian-cli confluence restriction remove 12345 --operation update --type user --name <account-id>

Output Formats

All commands support three output formats via the --output / -o flag:

# Default: human-readable table
atlassian-cli jira issue search "project = PROJ" -o table

# Machine-readable JSON
atlassian-cli jira issue search "project = PROJ" -o json

# GitHub-flavored Markdown (great for Claude Code)
atlassian-cli jira issue search "project = PROJ" -o markdown

HTML to Markdown Conversion

When using -o markdown, HTML content (Jira descriptions, Confluence page bodies and comments) is automatically converted to clean GitHub-flavored Markdown. Confluence storage format macros are also handled:

• Code blocks (ac:structured-macro name="code") -> fenced code blocks
• Admonitions (note, info, warning, tip) -> blockquotes with labels
• Page links (ac:link) -> emphasized text
• Table of contents macros -> removed

MCP Server

Start as an MCP server for AI assistant integration:

atlassian-cli mcp-server

Tool Group Filtering

Filter available tools using the --tools flag:

# Only enable Jira issue and search tools
atlassian-cli mcp-server --tools jira_issue,jira_search

# Only enable Confluence tools
atlassian-cli mcp-server --tools confluence_page,confluence_label

Available tool groups:

• jira_user - User authentication
• jira_issue - Get issue, subtasks
• jira_search - Search issues via JQL
• jira_create - Create issues
• jira_update - Update issues
• jira_delete - Delete issues
• jira_transition - Transition issues, get available transitions
• confluence_page - Get page content
• confluence_label - Label management
• confluence_restriction - Page restriction management

Claude Code Integration

Add to your Claude Code MCP settings:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "atlassian": {
      "command": "atlassian-cli",
      "args": ["mcp-server"],
      "env": {
        "JIRA_URL": "https://your-domain.atlassian.net",
        "JIRA_EMAIL": "you@example.com",
        "JIRA_API_TOKEN": "your-api-token",
        "CONFLUENCE_URL": "https://your-domain.atlassian.net/wiki",
        "CONFLUENCE_EMAIL": "you@example.com",
        "CONFLUENCE_API_TOKEN": "your-api-token"
      }
    }
  }
}

Why not the official ACLI?

Atlassian provides an official CLI (ACLI) and a remote MCP server for AI integration. Here's how this tool differs:

vs. ACLI

	atlassian-cli	ACLI
Distribution	Single binary, no dependencies	Requires package installation
Authentication	Environment variables only	Interactive acli auth login
CI/CD friendliness	High — no browser flow needed	Limited — headless login is cumbersome
Server/DC support	Yes (PAT auth)	Cloud-focused
Target audience	Developers, automation, AI agents	Admins, bulk operations

vs. Atlassian remote MCP server

Atlassian's remote MCP server went GA in February 2026, but comes with trade-offs:

• Context-heavy — loads 73 tool schemas upfront, consuming 40–50% of the context window before any real work
• OAuth required — browser-based auth flow; not suitable for headless or CI/CD environments
• Network dependency — requires an outbound connection to Atlassian's remote server

This tool's --tools flag lets you load only the groups you need, keeping token usage minimal for AI agents.

When to choose this tool

• Running in CI/CD pipelines or automation scripts (auth via environment variables only)
• Using both Server/Data Center and Cloud with a single interface
• Embedding as an MCP server in AI agents where context efficiency matters

License

MIT