Jira... I hate Jira. I hate it so much, that I try to avoid it as much as possible. I think, most of the developers feel with me.
Luckily there is a awesome project which transfer the jira api to a CLI tool which make it, at least less annoying. This tool is go-jira. It is programmed in go-lang and after you fiddled the authentication you are more or less free from using the GUI.
For the common tasks in Jira, I created some zsh function as alias and combined this with a custom configuration which contains the search and filter terms to display my tickets and stories of interests.
# open vim for commenting on a ticket id
alias comment='f() { jira comment $1 };f'
# assign and unassign ticket
alias subtaskUnassign='f() { jira unassign $1 };f'
alias subtaskAssign='f() { jira assign $1 ###MY_LDAPID### };f'
# change the workflow status of a subtask or story
alias subtaskReview='f() { jira transition "In Review" $1 };f'
alias subtaskProgress='f() { jira transition "In Progress" $1 };f'
alias subtaskDone='f() { jira transition "Done" $1 };f'
# custom search for all stories in the current sprint
alias sprint='jira listStories'
# list Subtask for a story
alias subtask='f() { jira listSubtasks $1};f'
alias subtaskView='f() { jira view $1};f'
My config file for the custom search is here
If you want, you can crate a template for special views. I created a template in table format which displayed only the minimum information of a ticket:
{{/* table template */ -}}
{{$w := sub termWidth 170 -}}
| {{ "Issue" | printf "%-10s" }} | {{ "Summary" | printf (printf "%%-%ds" (sub $w 9)) }} | {{"Status" | printf "%-12s"}} | {{ "Assignee" | printf "%-12s" }} |
{{ range .issues -}}
| {{ .key | printf "%-10s"}} | {{ .fields.summary | abbrev (sub $w 9) | printf (printf "%%-%ds" (sub $w 9)) }} | {{ .fields.status.name | printf "%-12s" }} | {{if .fields.assignee}} {{.fields.assignee.name | printf "%-10s" }} {{else}}<unassigned>{{end}} |
{{ end -}}
That looks like this:
| Issue | Summary | Status | Assignee |
| ID-5018 | Summary 1 | Cancelled | <unassigned> |
| ID-4981 | Summary 2 | In Review | user 1 |
| ID-4915 | Summary 3 | Done | user 1 |
| ID-4914 | Summary 4 | Backlog | <unassigned> |
The template engine is Hugo which is basically yet another template engine based on curly brackets with dot notation for accessing json objects and quite powerful.
To get a round trip in Vim, I have some mapping as well.
" list all Stories in the current sprint
map <leader>jS :call ViewSprint() <CR>
" Shoes the subtask of a ticket
map <leader>js :call SubtaskJira(expand("<cWORD>"))<CR>
" shows the ticket Content
map <leader>jv :call ViewJira(expand("<cWORD>"))<CR>
" comment on a ticket
map <leader>jco :call CommentJira(expand("<cWORD>"))<CR>
" edit a ticket
map <leader>je :call EditJira(expand("<cWORD>"))<CR>
" assign and unassign the tickt from me
map <leader>ju :call JiraUnassign(expand("<cWORD>"))<CR>
map <leader>ja :call JiraAssign(expand("<cWORD>"))<CR>
" List all Tickets in review in current sprint
map <leader>jro :call JiraOpenReview()<CR>
" change the ticket status
map <leader>jr :call JiraReview(expand("<cWORD>"))<CR>
map <leader>jd :call JiraDone(expand("<cWORD>"))<CR>
map <leader>jp :call JiraProgress(expand("<cWORD>"))<CR>
map <leader>jt :call JiraTodo(expand("<cWORD>"))<CR>
" list the subtask from my a ticket g:ActualTicket is a global vim variable and is set to a Story id
map <leader>jl :call SubtaskJira(g:ActualTicket)<CR>
" Create a subtask for ticket id under the cursor
map <leader>jn :call JiraCreateSubtask(expand("<cWORD>"))<CR>
"shows specifiv tickets from a different board
map <leader>jpl :call JiraPlatform()<CR>
" Open the ticket under the curser in browser
map <leader>jo :call JiraOpen("<cWORD>")<CR>
The vim functions are implemented here
The implementation is quite naive, but for me its good enough.
And now I just have to find something for Confluence, the another developers nightmare.
Top comments (3)
Hi mate, I plan to blog about Jira because it seems a lot of developers are "hating" it. Would you mind sharing your concerns? Please comment on this draft: dev.to/offirmo/placeholder-how-to-...
Thanks for sharing this post about using Jira as a CLI! It’s refreshing to see creative approaches to make Jira less cumbersome, especially for those of us who often find ourselves frustrated with its interface.
One practical solution I’ve found is leveraging the Jira REST API to automate repetitive tasks. By scripting common actions, like creating or updating issues, I’ve been able to streamline my workflow significantly. This not only saves time but also reduces the annoyance of navigating through the UI for every little task.
While Jira has its strengths, I think it’s worth exploring alternatives that might offer a more user-friendly experience. For instance, I recently came across a resource discussing some of the best Jira alternatives that could provide a smoother workflow for teams looking for something different: blog on JIRA alternatives.
What are some of your favorite tips or tools for making Jira more manageable? I’d love to hear your thoughts!
So true