jira-plan

jira-plan

Creates well-structured Jira subtasks ready for autonomous agents. Works in two modes:

1. Task mode: Investigates codebase, asks clarifying questions, creates subtasks
2. Session mode: Reads existing .oh/<session>.md context, skips investigation, creates subtasks

Prerequisites

This skill requires a Jira MCP server to be configured. At startup, verify the MCP is available:

Check for Jira MCP tools:
- jira_search or jira_search_issues
- jira_create_issue
- jira_get_issue

If tools are not available:
  → Exit with: "Jira MCP not configured. Add a Jira MCP server to use this skill."

Invocation

# Task mode - investigate from scratch
/jira-plan PROJ-123 "Add dark mode support to the dashboard"

# Session mode - use existing context from skills workflow
/jira-plan PROJ-123 auth-refactor

Arguments:

• First argument: Parent issue key (e.g., PROJ-123) - subtasks will be created under this
• Second argument: Task description OR session name

Mode Detection

At the start, check if the second argument matches an existing session file:

If .oh/<arg>.md exists AND contains ## Solution Space:
    → Session mode (skip investigation, use context)
Else:
    → Task mode (investigate, ask questions)

Session Mode Flow

When .oh/<session>.md exists with solution-space context:

1. Read session file and extract:

   • ## Aim → Goal for subtasks
   • ## Problem Space → Constraints, terrain, assumptions
   • ## Solution Space → Selected approach, trade-offs accepted
   • ## Problem Statement → Framing (if present)

2. Skip investigation - context already gathered by grounding skills

3. Skip clarifying questions - decisions already made during solution-space

4. Decompose the selected solution into right-sized subtasks:

   • Use the Solution Space recommendation as the starting point
   • Apply standard decomposition heuristics (see below)
   • Aim for 1-4 hours of work per subtask

5. Create Jira subtasks with enriched context from session:

   Use Jira MCP to create subtask:
   
   Project: <extracted from parent issue>
   Parent: <parent issue key>
   Issue Type: Sub-task
   Summary: <clear, actionable title>
   Description:
     h2. Goal
     <from Aim section>
   
     h2. Context
     <from Problem Space: constraints, terrain>
     <from Solution Space: selected approach>
   
     h2. Acceptance Criteria
     * <derived from solution trade-offs>
     * <derived from aim feedback signals>
   
     h2. Trade-offs Accepted
     <from Solution Space>
   
     h2. Notes
     <from Problem Space assumptions>
   
   Labels: jira-planned
   

6. Update session file with created subtasks:

   ## Plan
   **Updated:** <timestamp>
   **Subtasks:** PROJ-124, PROJ-125, PROJ-126
   

Session Mode Example

$ /jira-plan PROJ-100 auth-refactor

Found session file: .oh/auth-refactor.md

Reading context...
- Aim: Users complete signup in under 60 seconds
- Problem: Current flow has 5 steps, competitors have 2
- Solution: Collapse to email + password, defer profile to post-signup
- Trade-offs: Less data upfront, need progressive profiling later

Decomposing into subtasks...

Created 2 subtasks under PROJ-100:

PROJ-101: "Simplify signup to email + password only"
  - Remove name, company, role fields from signup
  - Add post-signup redirect to profile completion
  - Blocked by: none

PROJ-102: "Add progressive profile completion flow"
  - Prompt for missing fields on first dashboard visit
  - Track completion percentage
  - Blocked by: PROJ-101

Updated .oh/auth-refactor.md with subtask links.
Done. Subtasks ready for execution.

Task Mode Flow

When no session file exists:

1. Get parent issue context using Jira MCP:

   Use jira_get_issue to fetch parent issue details:
   - Summary and description
   - Project key
   - Existing subtasks (to avoid duplication)
   

2. Explore the codebase to understand:

   • Project architecture and patterns
   • Relevant files that would be touched
   • Existing similar implementations to follow
   • Potential complications or dependencies

3. Ask clarifying questions via AskUserQuestion:

   • Scope boundaries (what's in/out of scope)
   • Technical preferences (if multiple approaches exist)
   • Priority and any constraints
   • Only ask questions that genuinely affect the plan

4. Assess complexity and determine decomposition:

   • Single coherent task → create 1 subtask
   • Multiple independent pieces → create multiple subtasks
   • Large with dependencies → create subtasks with blocking links
   • Aim for subtasks that are 1-4 hours of work each

5. Create Jira subtask(s) with the jira-planned label:

   Use Jira MCP to create subtask:
   
   Project: <from parent issue>
   Parent: <parent issue key>
   Issue Type: Sub-task
   Summary: <clear, actionable title>
   Description:
     h2. Goal
     <1-2 sentences describing what we're trying to achieve>
   
     h2. Context
     <relevant background - files identified, patterns to follow, constraints>
   
     h2. Acceptance Criteria
     * Criterion 1 (specific, testable)
     * Criterion 2
     * Criterion 3
   
     h2. Notes
     <any technical decisions, edge cases, or things to watch out for>
   
   Labels: jira-planned
   

6. Link dependencies between subtasks:

   If subtask B depends on subtask A:
   Use Jira MCP to create link:
   - Type: "Blocks" or "is blocked by"
   - From: A
   - To: B
   

Subtask Quality Guidelines

Subtasks created by jira-plan should be:

• Self-contained: All context needed to start work without re-investigation
• Actionable: Clear summary, specific acceptance criteria, "done" is obvious
• Right-sized: 1-4 hours of focused work (not too big, not trivial)
• Linked: Dependencies explicitly noted if multiple subtasks created

Good Summary Examples

• "Add session timeout detection with configurable threshold"
• "Refactor user auth to use JWT instead of sessions"
• "Fix race condition in concurrent task spawning"

Bad Summary Examples

• "Improve the code" (too vague)
• "Do the thing we discussed" (no context)
• "Bug fix" (what bug?)

Decomposition Strategy

Bias toward focused subtasks. A well-scoped subtask that does one thing well is better than a multifaceted subtask that tries to do many things. When genuinely uncertain, prefer splitting - but don't create trivial subtasks.

When to Split

Split into multiple subtasks when ANY of these apply:

• Multiple modules with distinct concerns - Each coherent subsystem change can be its own subtask
• Mix of backend and frontend - API changes and UI changes often work better as separate subtasks
• Testable in isolation - If parts can be tested independently, they're candidates for separate subtasks
• Different risk profiles - Risky changes shouldn't be bundled with straightforward ones

When NOT to Split

Keep as one subtask when:

• Integration is trivial - Just wiring things together with a few lines of code
• Changes are tightly coupled - Splitting would create subtasks that can't be tested alone
• The "integration" is obvious - No complex error handling, no new edge cases
• Total scope is still reasonable - Even combined, it's 2-4 hours of work

Decomposition Example

Task: "Add dark mode support to the dashboard"

Over-decomposed (too many trivial subtasks):

PROJ-101: Add preferences API
PROJ-102: Add toggle component
PROJ-103: Add CSS variables
PROJ-104: Wire toggle to API
PROJ-105: Wire CSS to components
PROJ-106: Handle loading states

Under-decomposed (one big subtask):

PROJ-101: Add dark mode support (everything)

Right-sized:

PROJ-101: "Add user preferences API with theme support" (Foundation)
  - GET/POST /api/preferences
  - Includes theme field

PROJ-102: "Add dark mode theming system" (Feature)
  - CSS custom properties for light/dark
  - Theme toggle in settings
  - Wire to preferences API
  - Apply theme on app load
  Blocked by: PROJ-101

PROJ-103: "Handle theme edge cases" (Polish)
  - Only if complex: system preference fallback,
    theme flicker prevention, etc.
  - Skip if straightforward
  Blocked by: PROJ-102

Jira-Specific Considerations

Issue Types

Always use Sub-task as the issue type. The parent issue should be a Story, Task, or Bug.

Fields

Adapt to available Jira fields. Common optional fields:

• Story Points: If the project uses them, estimate based on complexity
• Sprint: Usually leave unassigned (let humans assign to sprints)
• Components: If the project uses them, select appropriate component
• Fix Version: Usually leave unassigned

Description Formatting

Jira uses wiki markup, not Markdown:

• h2. for headers (not ##)
• * for bold (not **)
• * item for bullets (not - item)
• {code}...{code} for code blocks (not triple backticks)

Labels

Always add jira-planned label to identify subtasks created by this skill.

What NOT to Do

• Don't create subtasks for trivial changes (typo fixes, single-line changes)
• Don't over-decompose - 10 tiny subtasks is worse than 2-3 well-scoped ones
• Don't start implementation - jira-plan is for planning only
• Don't skip the clarifying questions if scope is ambiguous (task mode)
• Don't re-investigate when session context exists (session mode)
• Don't guess at Jira project configuration - fetch from parent issue

Exit Conditions

Outcome	Description
Success	Subtask(s) created successfully
Error	Jira MCP not available, user cancelled, failed to create subtask, parent issue not found, or session file missing solution-space

Completion Signaling (MANDATORY)

CRITICAL: You MUST signal completion when done. Call the signal_completion tool as your FINAL action.

Signal based on outcome:

Outcome	Call
Subtasks created	signal_completion(status: "success", message: "Created N subtasks: PROJ-101, PROJ-102")
Jira MCP not available	signal_completion(status: "error", error: "Jira MCP not configured")
User cancelled	signal_completion(status: "error", error: "User cancelled")
Failed to create subtask	signal_completion(status: "error", error: "<reason>")
Parent issue not found	signal_completion(status: "error", error: "Parent issue PROJ-100 not found")
Session missing context	signal_completion(status: "error", error: "Session missing Solution Space - run /solution-space first")

If you do not signal, the orchestrator will not know you are done and the session becomes orphaned.

Fallback: If the signal_completion tool is not available, output your completion status as your final message in the format: COMPLETION: status=<status> message=<message> or COMPLETION: status=<status> error=<reason>.

Task Mode Example

$ /jira-plan PROJ-100 "Add heartbeat monitoring for tmux sessions"

Fetching parent issue PROJ-100...
Found: "Miranda remote orchestration improvements"
Project: PROJ

Exploring codebase...
Found relevant files:
- src/tmux/sessions.ts (session management)
- src/state/sessions.ts (session state tracking)
- src/index.ts (main loop)

I have a few questions to scope this correctly:

Q: What should happen when a session stops responding?
[1] Mark as crashed, notify user
[2] Auto-restart the session
[3] Just log and continue

User: 1

Q: How often should we check for heartbeats?
[1] Every 30 seconds (Recommended)
[2] Every minute
[3] Every 5 minutes

User: 1

Creating subtask...

Created PROJ-107: "Add heartbeat monitoring for tmux sessions"

h2. Goal
Detect when tmux sessions stop responding and notify the user.

h2. Context
- Sessions are tracked in src/state/sessions.ts
- Tmux interactions in src/tmux/sessions.ts
- Need to add periodic check in main loop

h2. Acceptance Criteria
* Check session liveness every 30 seconds
* Mark session as "crashed" if not responding
* Send Telegram notification when session crashes
* Add crashed sessions to /status output

h2. Notes
- Use tmux has-session to check liveness
- Consider: what if tmux server itself is down?

Labels: jira-planned

signal_completion(status: "success", message: "Created 1 subtask: PROJ-107")
Done.

Integration with Skills Workflow

jira-plan works seamlessly with the Open Horizons skills workflow:

# Grounding phase (in skills workflow)
/aim auth-refactor
/problem-space auth-refactor
/solution-space auth-refactor

# Planning phase (jira-plan reads the context)
/jira-plan PROJ-100 auth-refactor    # Creates Jira subtasks from session

# Execution phase
# Work the subtasks via your preferred method

This avoids duplicating investigation work - the grounding skills gather context, jira-plan transforms it into trackable Jira subtasks.