How to connect Jira with IntelliJ IDEA

For ease of development, we can connect the IntelliJ IDE with the Jira ticket service.

We will need two different components to interconnect IntelliJ with Jira successfully. First, we will need to create an API token in Jira. Consequently, we need to interconnect IntelliJ IDEA with Jira.

Jira API token creation

We need to generate the API token in Jira, which will secure communication between IntelliJ and Jira.

1. In Jira, go to your profile and go to the option to change your password. This link should move you to Jira Security Profile at https://id.atlassian.com/manage-profile/security link.

2. Click on the Create and manage API tokens link from the API token section.

3. Here at the page https://id.atlassian.com/manage-profile/security/api-tokens we can create API tokens.

Go to blue Create new token bottom and click it.

4. New pop-up window will show up. Type a rememberable name for the token into the input field.

Hit Create button. A new API token will be generated (You should also get an email notification). You can see token plaintext when clicking on the icon of an eye in the field.

Copy the token to some save location. You will need it later.

Be aware that if you close the window, the token will be lost, and it will be not possible to see it again.

Note: If you made a mistake and want to display the token again, it is not possible. Instead, you need to create a new token and go through the procedure of the new token generation again.

Remove the invalid token from the token list by clicking on Revoke bottom for individual token.

Revoke API token pop-up window will close, and after successful removal, a new pop-up Notification will show in Jira to display successful removal.

Connecting IntelliJ IDEA with Jira

1. Open your desired project in IntelliJ IDEA.

2. Go to IntelliJ IDEA settings (Ctrl + Alt + S) and under Tools > Task > Servers add new Jira configuration. New Jira configuration is possible to add by hitting a + (plus sign) in the bottom left corner of Configurated servers list. Select JIRA option.

3. Add the following information to the Jira server settings:

Server URL – URL of your Jira

Email – Add your Jira account email

API token – Provide API token generated in Jira.

Search – assignee = currentUser() and project = XXXX and resolution = Unresolved order by updated.

The code in the search input field will give you your most recent task assigned to you at the top of the menu.

Test your connection with Jira with the Test button.

If your connection to the Jira server was successful hit Apply and OK and close the Settings window. Now you can go into the right corner of the IntelliJ window, and you should see a drop-down menu showing you all connected tasks with Jira.

Checking out a new task

When checking out a new task, we can create immediately a new branch on which the task will be built.

Go to section Tasks and set up the settings according to the image below.

Changelist name format: ${id} ${summary}

Feature branch name format: feature/${id} ${summary}

Settings like the picture above will secure that a new feature branch will be created when we check out a new task in the IntelliJ IDEA window.

Conclusion

In this short tutorial, we followed the steps to interconnect IntelliJ IDEA with your Jira account. One of the most critical parts is to keep the Jira API token. If you consider using them in other projects, keep the token in a separate secured file. Otherwise, do not be afraid to revoke tokens, if necessary, and create a new one.