Skill: Jira Backlog Management

Purpose

Manage and prioritize the product backlog including ordering, refinement status tracking, and grooming operations.

When to Use

• Product Owner prioritizes backlog items
• Product Owner moves items between backlog states
• Product Owner sets story priorities (MoSCoW)
• Business Analyst marks stories as refined
• Orchestrator queries backlog for sprint planning

MCP Tools Used

Tool	Purpose
Atlassian:searchJiraIssuesUsingJql	Query backlog items
Atlassian:editJiraIssue	Update priority, labels, rank
Atlassian:addCommentToJiraIssue	Log prioritization decisions
Atlassian:getJiraIssue	Fetch issue details

Configuration

All values come from config/project.json:

{
  "cloudId": "{{jira.cloudId}}",
  "projectKey": "{{jira.development.projectKey}}"
}

---

Querying Backlog Items

Get All Backlog Items

Atlassian:searchJiraIssuesUsingJql({
  cloudId: "{{jira.cloudId}}",
  jql: "project = {{jira.development.projectKey}} AND status = 'Backlog' ORDER BY rank ASC",
  fields: ["summary", "status", "priority", "labels", "issuetype"]
})

Get Unrefined Stories

Atlassian:searchJiraIssuesUsingJql({
  cloudId: "{{jira.cloudId}}",
  jql: "project = {{jira.development.projectKey}} AND status = 'Backlog' AND labels NOT IN ('refined') AND issuetype = Story ORDER BY created DESC",
  fields: ["summary", "description", "labels"]
})

Get Ready for Sprint

Atlassian:searchJiraIssuesUsingJql({
  cloudId: "{{jira.cloudId}}",
  jql: "project = {{jira.development.projectKey}} AND labels = 'refined' AND sprint IS EMPTY ORDER BY rank ASC",
  fields: ["summary", "priority", "labels", "customfield_10016"]  // story points
})

---

Setting Priority (MoSCoW)

Priority Labels

Priority	Label	Description
Must Have	must-have	Critical for release
Should Have	should-have	Important but not critical
Could Have	could-have	Nice to have
Won't Have	wont-have	Out of scope for now

Example: Set Must Have Priority

Atlassian:editJiraIssue({
  cloudId: "{{jira.cloudId}}",
  issueIdOrKey: "PROJECT-45",
  fields: {
    labels: ["refined", "must-have", "agent-generated"]
  }
})

Log Priority Decision

Atlassian:addCommentToJiraIssue({
  cloudId: "{{jira.cloudId}}",
  issueIdOrKey: "PROJECT-45",
  commentBody: `🤖 **Product Owner Agent**

**Priority Set:** Must Have

**Rationale:**
- Core user functionality
- Blocking other stories
- Stakeholder requested for MVP

**Sprint Candidate:** Yes - next sprint`
})

---

Marking Stories as Refined

A story is refined when:

• Acceptance criteria are complete
• Technical review done (Architect notes added)
• Testability confirmed (QA notes added)
• Estimated (story points assigned)

Example: Mark as Refined

Atlassian:editJiraIssue({
  cloudId: "{{jira.cloudId}}",
  issueIdOrKey: "PROJECT-45",
  fields: {
    labels: ["refined", "must-have"]
  }
})

Atlassian:addCommentToJiraIssue({
  cloudId: "{{jira.cloudId}}",
  issueIdOrKey: "PROJECT-45",
  commentBody: `🤖 **Product Owner Agent**

**Story Refined** ✅

**Checklist:**
- [x] Acceptance criteria complete (4 criteria)
- [x] Technical review by Architect
- [x] QA testability confirmed
- [x] Story points: 5

**Ready for sprint planning.**`
})

---

Backlog Grooming Session

Query Items for Grooming

// Get unrefined items created in last 2 weeks
Atlassian:searchJiraIssuesUsingJql({
  cloudId: "{{jira.cloudId}}",
  jql: "project = {{jira.development.projectKey}} AND issuetype IN (Story, Task) AND labels NOT IN ('refined') AND created >= -14d ORDER BY created DESC",
  maxResults: 20,
  fields: ["summary", "description", "labels", "created"]
})

Grooming Session Comment

Atlassian:addCommentToJiraIssue({
  cloudId: "{{jira.cloudId}}",
  issueIdOrKey: "PROJECT-45",
  commentBody: `🤖 **Product Owner Agent** - Backlog Grooming

**Session Date:** {{date}}

**Discussion:**
- Clarified edge case: empty cart behavior
- Added AC for error handling
- Architect confirmed feasibility

**Actions:**
- [x] Updated acceptance criteria
- [x] Added technical notes
- [ ] Pending QA review

**Status:** Needs QA review before refined`
})

---

Backlog Health Metrics

Query for Metrics

// Count by status
Atlassian:searchJiraIssuesUsingJql({
  cloudId: "{{jira.cloudId}}",
  jql: "project = {{jira.development.projectKey}} AND issuetype = Story AND sprint IS EMPTY",
  maxResults: 100,
  fields: ["labels"]
})

Health Report Format

## Backlog Health Report

**Total Backlog Items:** 45
**Refined:** 18 (40%)
**Unrefined:** 27 (60%)

**By Priority:**
- Must Have: 8
- Should Have: 12
- Could Have: 15
- Unprioritized: 10

**Recommendation:**
10 stories need prioritization before next sprint planning.

---

Used By Agents

Agent	Usage
Product Owner	Primary user - prioritizes, refines, grooms
Business Analyst	Marks stories as refined after analysis
Orchestrator	Queries backlog for sprint planning
Project Manager	Backlog health reporting

Error Handling

Error	Cause	Resolution
No results	Wrong project key or status	Verify JQL syntax and project
403 Forbidden	No project access	Check permissions
Invalid field	Custom field not available	Use correct field ID