Jira Story Points Scripts

Command-line scripts for reading and updating story point estimates on Jira tickets.

Scripts

• jira-read-storypoints.sh - Read story points for one or more tickets
• jira-update-storypoints.sh - Update story points for one or more tickets

Requirements

• jq - Command-line JSON processor
• curl - HTTP client

Environment Variables

These scripts require four environment variables. Add them to your shell profile (~/.bashrc or ~/.zshrc):

export JIRA_URL='https://mycompany.atlassian.net'
export JIRA_EMAIL='your-email@example.com'
export JIRA_API_TOKEN='your_api_token_here'
export JIRA_STORY_POINTS_FIELD='customfield_XXXXX'

JIRA_URL

Your Jira Cloud instance URL (e.g., https://mycompany.atlassian.net).

JIRA_EMAIL

The email address associated with your Jira account.

JIRA_API_TOKEN

Generate an API token at: https://id.atlassian.com/manage-profile/security/api-tokens

1. Click “Create API token”
2. Give it a name (e.g., “Jira CLI Scripts”)
3. Copy the token and save it securely

JIRA_STORY_POINTS_FIELD

The custom field ID for story points. This value is different for each Jira instance because custom field IDs are assigned sequentially as fields are created.

Finding Your Story Points Field ID

Option 1: Jira Admin UI

1. Go to Jira Settings (gear icon) → Issues → Custom fields
2. Find “Story Points” (or “Story point estimate”) in the list
3. Click on it to view details
4. The field ID is in the URL: .../customFields/configure?fieldId=customfield_XXXXX

Option 2: API Query

curl -s -u "your-email@example.com:$JIRA_API_TOKEN" \
  "$JIRA_URL/rest/api/3/field" | jq '.[] | select(.name | test("story point"; "i")) | {name, id}'

This returns something like:

{
  "name": "Story point estimate",
  "id": "customfield_XXXXX"
}

Option 3: Inspect a Ticket

Query any ticket that has story points set:

curl -s -u "your-email@example.com:$JIRA_API_TOKEN" \
  "$JIRA_URL/rest/api/3/issue/PROJ-123" | jq '.fields | to_entries[] | select(.key | startswith("customfield_"))'

Look for the field containing your story points value.

Usage

Reading Story Points

# Single ticket
./jira-read-storypoints.sh PROJ-123

# Multiple tickets
./jira-read-storypoints.sh PROJ-123 PROJ-124 PROJ-125

Updating Story Points

# Single ticket
./jira-update-storypoints.sh PROJ-123 3

# Multiple tickets (pairs of ticket and points)
./jira-update-storypoints.sh PROJ-123 3 PROJ-124 5 PROJ-125 8