Getting Started

Prerequisites

Node.js 18.0.0 or later
Jira Cloud account with API access
API Token from Atlassian API Tokens

Installation

Claude Code (Recommended)

One command to install and configure:

claude mcp add jira -- env \
  JIRA_URL=https://your-domain.atlassian.net \
  JIRA_EMAIL=your@email.com \
  JIRA_API_KEY=your-api-key \
  npx -y @bodywave/jira-mcp

Manual Configuration

Add to your ~/.claude.json or project .mcp.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "jira": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@bodywave/jira-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "JIRA_URL": "https://your-domain.atlassian.net",
        "JIRA_EMAIL": "your@email.com",
        "JIRA_API_KEY": "your-api-key"
      }
    }
  }
}

Global Install

npm install -g @bodywave/jira-mcp

Then configure with:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "jira": {
      "command": "bodywave-jira-mcp",
      "env": {
        "JIRA_URL": "https://your-domain.atlassian.net",
        "JIRA_EMAIL": "your@email.com",
        "JIRA_API_KEY": "your-api-key"
      }
    }
  }
}

Environment Variables

Variable	Required	Description
`JIRA_URL`	Yes	Your Jira Cloud instance URL (e.g., `https://mycompany.atlassian.net`)
`JIRA_EMAIL`	Yes	Your Atlassian account email
`JIRA_API_KEY`	Yes	API token from Atlassian
`JIRA_LOG_LEVEL`	No	Logging level: `DEBUG`, `INFO`, `WARN`, `ERROR`, `SILENT` (default: `INFO`)

Generating an API Token

Go to Atlassian API Tokens
Click Create API token
Give it a label (e.g., “JiraMCP”)
Copy the token immediately (it won’t be shown again)

Verification

After installation, test the connection by asking your AI agent:

"Test my Jira connection"

The agent will call jira_test_account and report the connection status and authenticated user.

Multiple Accounts

You can configure multiple Jira instances. See the Multi-Account Management guide for details.