link-issues

ericfisherdev's avatarfrom ericfisherdev

This skill MUST be used when the user asks to "link issues", "relate issues", "mark as duplicate", "blocks issue", "is blocked by", "create issue link", "connect issues", or otherwise requests creating relationships between Jira issues.

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[Project Management]

When & Why to Use This Skill

This Claude skill automates the management of Jira issue relationships, enabling users to link, relate, or mark tickets as duplicates through natural language or scripts. It streamlines project workflows by maintaining clear dependencies and reducing the manual overhead associated with Jira issue tracking.

Use Cases

  • Dependency Management: Quickly establish 'Blocks' or 'Is Blocked By' relationships between tasks to visualize and manage project bottlenecks.
  • Backlog Grooming: Efficiently identify and mark redundant tickets as 'Duplicates' to maintain a clean and organized development backlog.
  • Cross-Team Coordination: Link related issues across different Jira projects to ensure visibility and alignment on shared goals or dependencies.
  • Contextual Triage: Create issue links while simultaneously adding explanatory comments to provide immediate context for why the relationship was established.
namelink-issues
descriptionThis skill MUST be used when the user asks to "link issues", "relate issues", "mark as duplicate", "blocks issue", "is blocked by", "create issue link", "connect issues", or otherwise requests creating relationships between Jira issues.

Link Jira Issues

Create relationships between Jira issues such as "blocks", "is blocked by", "relates to", "duplicates", etc.

Quick Start

Use the Python script at scripts/link_issues.py:

# Link two issues (default: "Relates")
python scripts/link_issues.py PROJ-123 PROJ-456

# Specify link type
python scripts/link_issues.py PROJ-123 PROJ-456 --type "Blocks"

# Add a comment to the outward issue
python scripts/link_issues.py PROJ-123 PROJ-456 --type "Duplicates" --comment "Found during triage"

Arguments

Argument Description
outward_issue The "from" issue key (e.g., PROJ-123 blocks...)
inward_issue The "to" issue key (e.g., ...blocks PROJ-456)
--type, -t Link type name (default: "Relates")
--comment, -c Optional comment on the outward issue
--format, -f Output: compact (default), text, json

Discovery Commands

# List available link types
python scripts/link_issues.py --list-types
Type Outward Inward
Blocks blocks is blocked by
Cloners clones is cloned by
Duplicate duplicates is duplicated by
Relates relates to relates to

Examples

Mark as Blocking

# PROJ-100 blocks PROJ-101
python scripts/link_issues.py PROJ-100 PROJ-101 --type "Blocks"

Mark as Duplicate

# PROJ-200 duplicates PROJ-150 (original)
python scripts/link_issues.py PROJ-200 PROJ-150 --type "Duplicate" --comment "Closing as duplicate"

Create Relation with Comment

python scripts/link_issues.py PROJ-300 PROJ-301 --type "Relates" --comment "Related work for Q4 release"

Output Formats

compact (default):

LINKED|PROJ-123->PROJ-456|Blocks

text:

Link Created
From: PROJ-123
To: PROJ-456
Type: Blocks (blocks -> is blocked by)

json:

{"outward":"PROJ-123","inward":"PROJ-456","type":"Blocks"}

Environment Setup

Requires three environment variables:

  • JIRA_BASE_URL - e.g., https://yoursite.atlassian.net
  • JIRA_EMAIL - Your Jira account email
  • JIRA_API_TOKEN - API token from Atlassian account settings

Reference

For detailed link type options, see references/options-reference.md.