Vim JIRA Atlassian: Create, Update and Follow Along Jira Issues Actively Without Leaving Vim!

If you have made it this far there is a good chance that you already enjoy staying inside of vim as much as you can. vira will help you stay on top of your Jira development process without leaving your favorite environment.

Table of Contents

• Installation
• Configuration
  • Jira server configuration (Required)
    • Atlassian Cloud and API Token Notes
  • Quick start guide
  • Jira project configuration
    • Filter config
    • New issue config
    • Issue sort order
    • Project templates
    • __default__ template
  • Browser
• Menus and Reports
  • Commands
  • Reports
  • .vimrc examples
• Functions
• Configuration Variables
• Support
  • Private and cloud Jira hosting
  • Vim plugins
    • vim-fugitive
    • GV
  • name 'Vira' is not defined
• Contributors

Example of vim-plug post-update hook to automatically install python dependencies along with vira:

Plug 'n0v1c3/vira', { 'do': './install.sh' }

Alternatively, manually install the python3 dependencies:

pip3 install --user jira

If you would like to be on board with the active development the dev branch can be used:

Plug 'n0v1c3/vira', { 'do': './install.sh', 'branch': 'dev' }

There are currently two separate files that are used in configuration. The ~/.config/vira/vira_servers.json file will be the required file for your connections and ~/.config/vira/vira_projects.json will map projects to folders while linking them to servers inside vira_servers.json.

NOTE: Both of these files can be moved to other locations and set in your .vimrc:

let g:vira_config_file_servers = $HOME . '/.config/vira/vira_servers.json'
let g:vira_config_file_projects = $HOME . '/.config/vira/vira_projects.json'

We also support trying the yaml configuration however, it will require one more library for python. The default file-type is json, this is because it comes "out of the box" inside of python. Run the following from the terminal if you require PyYAML to enjoy yaml:

pip3 install --user pyyaml

NOTE: When using yaml a link is REQUIRED in your .vimrc settings.

For each Jira server, the following configuration variables are available, only one of the options password or password_cmd will be set depending on a raw password vs a password command:

• username - Jira server username.
• password_cmd - Run a CLI password manager such as pass or lpass to retrieve the Jira server password.
• password - Enter Jira server password in plain text. This is not recommended for security reasons, but we're not going to tell you how to live your life.
• skip_cert_verify - This option can be set in order to connect to a sever that is using self-signed TLS certificates.

The following is an example of a typical vira_servers.json configuration:

{
  "https://n0v1c3.atlassian.net": {
    "username": "travis",
    "password_cmd": "lpass show --password account"
  },
  "https://jira.career.com": {
    "username": "mike",
    "password": "SuperSecretPassword",
    "skip_cert_verify": true
  }
}

Here is an example of the vira_servers.yaml configuration:

https://n0v1c3.atlassian.net:
  username: user1
  password_cmd: lpass show --password account
  skip_cert_verify: true
https://jira.career.com:
  username: user2
  password: SuperSecretPassword

IMPORTANT: If only ONE the connection is automatic otherwise, a menu will open to select a server. This can be avoided with the __default__ mapping, see Jira Projects.

IMPORTANT: If NO configuration is found you will be asked for a manual URL, username, and password entry.

Atlassian Cloud Jira Key may be required if you are using the Atlassian Cloud service. Create an API token. This API token is now the password set in your vira_servers.json file.

• Configure ~/.config/vira/vira_servers.json as per Jira servers configuration.
• Run :ViraServers and select a server with <cr>.
• Run :ViraIssues and select an issue with <cr>.
• Run :ViraReport to view report.
• Press <cr> to edit any field.
• Rejoice because you have one less reason to leave vim!

Check out Menus and Reports after that for a list of commands and tools that can be mapped to your .vimrc like the ones above.

As mentioned in Configuration a separate file vira_projects.json/yaml can be created in the vira configuration directory. __default__ is also set up here to define the default server to use in the other directories when there is more than one server mapped.

NOTE: When you're in a git repo, vira will auto-load your pre-defined settings by matching the local repo name from file path.

NOTE: vira will only load the vira_projects.json/yaml configuration automatically once per vim session. You can, however, manually switch servers and filters as many times as you want after that.

For each Jira project, set:

• server - The Jira server to connect to (using authentication details from vira_servers.json/yaml).

The following is an example of a typical vira_projects.json configuration:

{
  "__default__": {
    "server": "https://n0v1c3.atlassian.net"
  },
  "vira": {
    "server": "https://n0v1c3.atlassian.net"
  },
  "OtherProject": {
    "server": "https://jira.career.com"
  }
}

The following is an example of the same configuration in yaml:

__default__:
  server: https://n0v1c3.atlassian.net
vira:
  server: https://n0v1c3.atlassian.net
OtherProject:
  server: https://jira.career.com

Default repo filters can be defined under a filter key as such:

{
  "vira": {
    "server": "https://n0v1c3.atlassian.net",
    "filter": {
      "project": ["VIRA"],
      "assignee": ["Travis Gall"],
      "priority": ["High", "Highest"],
      "fixVersion": ["0.4.13"]
    }
  },
  "OtherProject": {
    "server": "https://jira.career.com",
    "filter": {
      "project": ["VQL"],
      "assignee": ["Travis Gall", "Mike Boiko"],
      "priority": ["low", "lowest"],
      "fixVersion": ["2.2.18"]
  }
}

vira:
  server: https://n0v1c3.atlassian.net
  filter:
    project: [VIRA]
    assignee: [Mike Boiko]
    priority: [High, Highest]
    fixVersion: [1.1.1, 1.1.2]
OtherProject:
  server: https://jira.career.com
  filter:
    project: [MAIN]
    assignee: [Travis Gall]
    status: [In-Progress]

The acceptable values for the filter key are:

• project - Filter these projects. Can be a single item or list.
• assignee - Filter these assignees by display name. Can be a single item or list.
• component - Filter these components. Can be a single item or list.
• epic - Filter these epics. Can be a single item or list.
• fixVersion - Filter these versions. Can be a single item or list.
• issuetype - Filter the types of issues. Can be a single item or list.
• priority - Filter these priorities. Can be a single item or list.
• reporter - Filter these reporters. Can be a single item or list.
• status - Filter these statuses. Can be a single item or list.

NOTE: currentUser is also connected to the active account and can be used for all user related tasks.

IMPORTANT: use the display name in assignee and reporter, as account names will be unknown. You only know your own account number on Cloud services.

• example: "Travis Gall" vs travis/848ab357sfd1c5e32effcd4657234e233/n0v1c3@gmail.com

Similar to the filter key, you can define a newissue key to set repo-based. Default configuration for the new-issue fields, for example in:

{
  "vira": {
    "server": "https://n0v1c3.atlassian.net",
    "filter": {
      "project": ["VIRA"],
      "assignee": ["Travis Gall"],
      "priority": ["High", "Highest"],
      "fixVersion": ["0.4.13"]
    },
    "newissue": {
      "issuetype": "Task"
    }
  },
  "OtherProject": {
    "server": "https://jira.career.com",
    "filter": {
      "project": ["VIM", "TEST"],
      "assignee": ["Mike Boiko"],
      "priority": ["low", "lowest"],
    "newissue": {
      "assignee": "Travis Gall"
    }
  }
}

vira:
  server: https://n0v1c3.atlassian.net
  filter:
    project: [VIRA]
    assignee: [Travis Gall]
    priority: [High, Hihest]
    fixVersion: [0.4.13]
  newissue:
    issuetype: [Task]
OtherProject:
  server: https://jira.career.com
  filter:
    assignee: [Travis Gall]
    status: [In-Progress]
  newissue:
    assignee: Travis Gall

The acceptable values for filter keys are:

• assignee - Define assignee.
• component - Define component. Note - these are project specific.
• epic - Define epic. Current project filters apply to list.
• fixVersion - Define fixVersion. Note - these are project specific.
• issuetype - Define issue type. The default is Bug.
• priority - Define priority.
• status - Define status. Vira will transition issue to this status.

Optionally, it is possible to define a custom sort order for the issues displayed in vira_menu. This sort order is project based - meaning you can define different sort orders for your projects.

Define the sort order using the issuesort key as follows:

{
  "vira": {
    "server": "https:n0v1c3.atlasian.net",
    "issuesort": "status DESC"
  },
  "OtherProject": {
    "server": "https://jira.career.com",
    "filter": {
      "assignee": ["Travis Gall", "Mike Boiko"],
      "priority": ["Low", "Lowest"],
    "issuesort": {
      "status": "ASC",
      "updated": "DESC"
    }
  }
}

vira:
  server: https://n0v1c3.atlassian.net
  issuesort: status
OtherProject:
  server: https://jira.career.com
  filter:
    assignee: Mike Boiko
    status: In-Progress
  issuesort:
    - status ASC
    - updated DESC

The value of issuesort can either be a string or a list. If no issuesort key is provided, the default sort order used is updated DESC.

NOTE: that it is possible to define a custom status order in Jira-web in Administration > Issues > Statuses. This can be used to achieve a similar functionality to Kanban boards.

Templates can be defined in the same way that projects are defined. These templates can be referenced for multiple projects, by using the template key. Any name can be used for a template, but it is recommended to use the pythonic syntax of __name__ in order to make a distinction from a project. Refer to the yaml example below, note that the priority in repo2 will override the __maintemplate__ priority:

{
  "__WORK__": {
    "server": "https:n0v1c3.atlasian.net",
    "filter": {
      "project": "VIRA",
      "assignee": ["Travis Gall"],
      "priority": ["High", "Highest"]
    }
  },
  "repo1": {
    "template": "__WORK__"
  },
  "repo2": {
    "template": "__WORK__",
    "filter": {
      "priority": "High"
    }
  }
}

__WORK__:
  server: https://n0v1c3.atlassian.net
  filter:
    project: VIRA
    assignee: Travis Gall
    priority: [High, Highest]
repo1:
  template: __maintemplate__
repo2:
  template: __maintemplate__
  filter:
    priority: High

If you would like to have a catch-all project configuration template, define a __default__ key in your vira_projects.json/yaml file. Refer to the yaml example below:

{
  "__default__": {
    "server": "https:n0v1c3.atlasian.net",
    "filter": {
      "assignee": ["Travis Gall"],
      "priority": ["High", "Highest"]
    },
    "newissue": {
      "issuetype": "Story"
    }
  }
}

__default__:
  server: https://n0v1c3.atlassian.net
  filter:
    assignee: Mike Boiko
  newissue:
    issuetype: Task

By default, the open or xdg-open command will be used by :ViraBrowse to open the current issue in the default browser. If either command is missing or you wish to override the default browser, you may set the g:vira_browser variable or provide the BROWSER environment variable.

Example setting custom default browser using g:vira_browser:

let g:vira_browser = 'chromium'

A list of the important commands, functions and global variables for menus and reports to be used to help configure Vira to work for you. There is also a good example of .vimrc mapping and report layout.

• ViraBrowse - View Jira issue in web-browser.
• ViraComment - Insert a comment for active issue.
• ViraEditComment - Update the comment relative to position in report.
• ViraEditDescription - Update the description of the current issue.
• ViraEditSummary - Update the summary of the current issue.
• ViraFilterAssignees - Add and remove assignees to filter.
• ViraFilterComponents - Add and remove components to filter.
• ViraFilterEdit - Display/Edit all active filter in a vim buffer.
• ViraFilterEpics - Add and remove epics to current filter.
• ViraFilterPriorities - Add and remove priorities to filter.
• ViraFilterProjects - Add and remove projects to filter.
• ViraFilterReset - Reset and remove filter to default.
• ViraFilterStatuses - Add and remove statuses to filter.
• ViraFilterText - Add and remove flexible issue text to filter.
• ViraFilterTypes - Add and remove issuetypes to filter.
• ViraFilterVersions - Add and remove versions to filter.
• ViraIssue - Create a new issue. The required fields are indicated by *.
• ViraIssues - Get and Set the active issue.
• ViraLoadProject - Load project from vira_projects.json/yaml. The default is based on cwd. Optionally pass repo name in argument. Ex. :ViraLoadProject My Repo
• ViraReport - Get report for active issue.
• ViraServers - Get and Set active Jira server.
• ViraSetAssignee - Select user to assign the current issue.
• ViraSetComponent - Select component to append the current issue.
• ViraSetEpic - Select epic of the current issue.
• ViraSetPriority - Select priority of the current issue.
• ViraSetStatus - Select the status of the current issue.
• ViraSetType - Select the issuetype of the current issue.
• ViraSetVersion - Select the version to append the current issue.
• ViraTodo - Make a TODO note for current issue.
• ViraTodos- Get a list of the remaining TODOs.

Menus (keys pre-mapped only to menu windows):

• D - Unselect and Apply "Delete" all lines within menu.
• H - Toggle special hidden menu items.
• s - Select current line within menu.
• S - Select all lines within menu.
• u - Unselect current line within menu.
• U - Unselect all lines within menu.
• q - Quit the current menu with no apply.
• <cr> - Apply selections along with current line.

NOTE: It is possible to select multiple items from all menus, if nothing is selected prior to the item will be selected from the current column.

Reports (keys pre-mapped only to report windows):

• <cr> - Edit current field cursor is within.
• s - Select issue or website under cursor.

NOTE: currentUser is also connected to the active account and can be used for all user related tasks. This can make it easier to create scripts with different accounts.

This is an example of a typical Jira issue report (except the report looks colorized and fancy in vim):

+---------------------------------+
|            VIRA-134             |
+--------------+------------------+
|      Created | 2020-04-06 12:06 |
|      Updated | 2020-06-23 01:43 |
|         Type | Task             |
|       Status | In Progress      |
| Story Points | None             |
|     Priority | Highest          |
|    Epic Link | VIRA-32          |
|    Component | Software         |
|      Version | 1.0.0            |
|     Assignee | Mike Boiko       |
|     Reporter | Mike Boiko       |
+--------------+------------------+
+--------------+
|    Summary   |
+--------------+
Edit any Jira field

+--------------+
|  Description |
+--------------+
A user should be able to edit any field that
is shown on a vira issue report.

I would suggest to use a default key of <cr>
for editing a report field and allow the user
to customize this mapping.

The edit command would bring up the vira_prompt
buffer, in the same manner as creating new
issues/comments.

+--------------+
|   Comments   |
+--------------+
...

Most issue fields can be edited by pressing <cr>.

For the text entry fields (Summary, Description, Comments), if the text entry is left blank, the write action will be aborted.

" Basics
nnoremap <silent> <leader>vI :ViraIssue<cr>
nnoremap <silent> <leader>vS :ViraServers<cr>
nnoremap <silent> <leader>vT :ViraTodo<cr>
nnoremap <silent> <leader>vb :ViraBrowse<cr>
nnoremap <silent> <leader>vc :ViraComment<cr>
nnoremap <silent> <leader>vi :ViraIssues<cr>
nnoremap <silent> <leader>vr :ViraReport<cr>
nnoremap <silent> <leader>vt :ViraTodos<cr>

" Sets
nnoremap <silent> <leader>vsa :ViraSetAssignee<cr>
nnoremap <silent> <leader>vsp :ViraSetPriority<cr>
nnoremap <silent> <leader>vss :ViraSetStatus<cr>
nnoremap <silent> <leader>vse :ViraSetEpic<cr>
nnoremap <silent> <leader>vsv :ViraSetVersion<cr>

" Edits
nnoremap <silent> <leader>ved :ViraEditDescription<cr>
nnoremap <silent> <leader>ves :ViraEditSummary<cr>

" Filter search
nnoremap <silent> <leader>vfR :ViraFilterReset<cr>

nnoremap <silent> <leader>v/ :ViraFilterText<cr>

nnoremap <silent> <leader>vfP :ViraFilterPriorities<cr>
nnoremap <silent> <leader>vfa :ViraFilterAssignees<cr>
nnoremap <silent> <leader>vfe :ViraFilterEpics<cr>
nnoremap <silent> <leader>vfp :ViraFilterProjects<cr>
nnoremap <silent> <leader>vfr :ViraFilterReporter<cr>
nnoremap <silent> <leader>vfs :ViraFilterStatuses<cr>
nnoremap <silent> <leader>vft :ViraFilterTypes<cr>

" Projects/Boards
nnoremap <silent> <leader>vbm :ViraLoadProject __default__<cr>

" Functions
function! Enter_ViraActiveIssue()
    let g:vira_active_issue = input("Enter issue.key: ")
    ViraReport
endfunction
nnoremap <silent> <leader>vei :call Enter_ViraActiveIssue()<cr>

" Status
statusline+=%{ViraStatusline()}

• ViraGetActiveIssue() - Get the currently selected active issue.
• ViraStatusline() - Quick statusline drop-in.

• g:vira_active_issue - Set and get the active issue.
• g:vira_async_timer - Normal time between vim async updates. (10000ms)
• g:vira_async_timer_init - Faster initial time between async updates. (2000ms)
  • Lower the number to increase the rate of the initial versions listing.
  • WARNING: A lower number makes it "jumpy" but gets it over and onto g:vira_async_timer much faster.
• g:vira_highlight - Text used when there is no issue.
• g:vira_issue_limit - Set the maximum issue limit for query (default 50).
• g:vira_menu_height - Set the height of the menu (default 7).
  • Height - g:vira_menu_height > 0 (may also equal 'J')
  • Tab - g:vira_menu_height = 0 (may also equal 'T')
• g:vira_null_issue - Text used when there is no issue.
• g:vira_report_width - Set the width of the report (default 0).
  • Left - g:vira_report_width > 0 (may also equal 'L')
  • Right - g:vira_report_width < 0 (may also equal 'R')
  • Tab - g:vira_report_width = 0 (may also equal 'T')
• g:vira_version_hide - Toggle the display of complete versions.

We currently support Private Jira servers version 8 and up. We have not seen issues with the lower versions we had access to but we no longer do have a test platform.

The Cloud feature now available from Atlassian is currently also available. The API token key referenced above is required to use as your password.

Plugins may be used and supported. This list will build as required from other requests. Support will be focused on providing functions that provide information along with the related Jira commands for easy usage.

Below are a few common examples. Please recommend any other tools that could use some good features to make your development easier.

A simple example is below but recommended that it can be expanded on for your personal needs.

function! s:Vira_GitActiveIssue()
    let g:vira_active_issue = execute("Git branch --show-current > echo")
    ViraReport
endfunction

function! s:Vira_GitCommit()
  " Commit current `git` status
  silent! execute 'Git commit'

  " Call prompt
  call s:Vira_GitPrompt()
endfunction

function! s:Vira_GitPrompt()
  if g:vira_active_issue != 'None'
    " Write current version
    redir @x>
      silent! echo g:vira_active_issue . ': '
    redir END
    put x

    " Delete blank lines
    goto 1
    join!
    join!
  endif
endfunction

nnoremap <silent> <leader>vgc :call Vira_GitCommit()<cr>
nnoremap <silent> <leader>vgi :call Vira_GitActiveIssue()<cr>

Most of us that have made it this far to use vim all day while using git to merge our work together and Jira to track what we have done and needs to be done coming up, GV is very helpful in nearly needing to leave our vim world. vira has added in some syntax so that we will be able to see some useful copy/paste in our {code} sections.

NOTE: Wrap with code and place {code:none}```GV``` as the header.

{code:none}
```GV```
*   2021-03-06 8a97263 VIRA 0.4.7 - temporary version filter bypass (Travis Gall)
|\
| * 2021-03-06 fd073bd VIRA-253: version update (Travis Gall)
| * 2021-03-06 0180e52 VIRA-253: temportaty `_async()` removed (Travis Gall)
|/
*   2021-03-05 e5ce063 VIRA 0.4.6 - `issuetype` menu typo (Travis Gall)
|\
| *   2021-03-05 daf502f VIRA-18: `issuetype` type patch (Travis Gall)
| |\
| | * 2021-03-05 43e33c0 VIRA-18: prepare version increase (Travis Gall)
| | * 2021-03-05 360cd97 VIRA-253: `issuetype` typo fix (Travis Gall)
| |/
| * 2021-03-04 85093b1 VIRA-245: Fixed summary/description line edit bug (Mike Boiko)
|/
*   2021-03-03 f9996e3 VIRA 0.4.5 - `report` reload bug patch (Travis Gall)
{code}

I have seen that users still make their way to issue #43 once in a while. You may need to update python3_host_prog that is stuck in version 0.4.1.

FROM: @uberbrodt

Ok, so I finally got back around to looking at this. I tested with removing the python3_host_prog and it worked after I upgraded to pynvim 0.4.2 (previous was at 0.4.1).

Setting the python3_host_prog again and then manually install the Jira package works as well. My suspicion is that the automatic install via vim-plug was not working with virtualenv for some reason, so might be something to note in the README. Thanks to everyone for debugging and offering advice!

A big thank you to @mikeboiko for his active development on vira.

With growing support from: @chinwobble, @jamesl33, @kkonopko, @mattalexander-pantheon, and @maricn

All user feedback and contributions are welcome!