How to create a Jira bot: A step-by-step guide

We’ve all been there. You’re in a busy Slack channel, a bug gets reported, and a flurry of messages follows. Someone finally says, "Can you make a Jira ticket for this?" Then comes the awkward pause. Who’s going to stop their work, open a new tab, and painstakingly copy-paste the whole conversation into a new issue?

It’s a small task, but it’s a total flow-killer. Important details get lost, and what should be a quick fix gets delayed.

A Jira bot that automatically creates tickets from those conversations sounds like a dream, right? But how do you actually build one? We’re going to walk through three different ways to create a Jira bot, from the full-on developer approach to a clever AI solution you can have running by your next coffee break.

A view of the Jira dashboard, where tickets created by a Jira bot would be managed.

How to create a Jira bot: What you’ll need

Before you dive in, it’s a good idea to have a few things sorted. The exact needs will change depending on which method you choose, but here’s a general checklist to get you started.

• A Jira account: This one’s a given. You’ll need admin rights in your Jira Cloud account to set up any integrations or mess with the API.

• A clear mission for your bot: Know exactly what you want it to do. Get specific, like: "When someone uses a bug emoji in the #bugs channel, create a ‘Bug’ ticket in our main project."

• Admin access to your other tools: If you’re pulling info from Slack or Teams, you’ll need to be an admin there, too.

• Dev resources (for the hard mode): If you’re planning to build this from scratch, you’ll need a developer who’s comfortable with Jira’s API and a server to run the bot on.

Three ways to create a Jira bot

There’s more than one way to get this done. Let’s look at the three main paths you can take, starting with the most technical and finishing with the fastest.

Method 1: Create a bot from scratch (the developer route)

This is the full-on, build-it-yourself path. It gives you total control over every little detail, but be warned: it’s a serious project that needs time, money, and a dedicated developer (or two). Think of it as building a car from scratch instead of buying one.

Here’s a bird’s-eye view of what that journey looks like:

1. Get your workshop ready. First, your developer needs to set up a coding environment. This means picking a language like Python or Node.js and getting a server ready to host the bot.

2. Get permission from Jira. You can’t just have an app talking to Jira without permission. You’ll need to go into Jira’s developer console, register your new bot as an application, and get the right API keys so it can securely log in.

3. Write the actual bot. This is the big one. Your developer will write the code that listens to your chat app (like Slack), figures out when to act (maybe it spots a specific keyword or emoji), grabs the relevant text, and formats it in a way Jira can understand.

4. Connect it all to Jira’s API. With the keys from step two, the code can now send commands to your Jira account. It’ll use an API call to say, "Hey Jira, create a new issue with this summary, this description, in this project."

5. Launch and babysit. Once it’s built, the bot needs a place to live, like a server on AWS or Heroku. And it’s not a "set it and forget it" deal. When Jira updates its API or your chat platform changes a feature, someone has to go back into the code and make sure your bot doesn’t break.

The bottom line? Building a bot from the ground up is powerful, but it’s a huge commitment. It’s less of a quick solution and more of a long-term software project.

Method 2: Use Jira’s built-in automation

Jira actually has its own built-in automation tool, which is pretty handy for tasks that happen entirely inside Jira. It’s a no-code way to create rules that fire off based on certain events.

An example of Jira's built-in automation rules for creating a Jira bot.

Setting one up looks something like this:

1. Head to your Project settings > Automation in Jira.

2. Click Create rule to get started.

3. Choose a trigger. This is the event that kicks things off. For connecting to an outside app like Slack, you’d probably use the Incoming webhook trigger. This gives you a special URL that another app can send information to.

4. Add your actions. The main action here would be Create issue. You’ll need to map the data coming from the webhook to the right fields in your new Jira ticket (like summary, description, etc.).

5. Give your rule a name and turn it on.

This is great for internal Jira housekeeping, like automatically notifying a Slack channel when an issue’s priority changes. But when it comes to creating tickets from a chat, it can get a bit clunky.

The webhook trigger isn’t exactly plug-and-play. You still need something on the other end (in Slack or Teams) that knows how to bundle up the conversation and send it to that specific URL in the right format. It also struggles with context. It can’t really summarize a long thread or intelligently figure out who should be assigned the ticket. The logic lives in Jira, so you can’t just tell it what to do from your chat window using plain English.

Method 3: Use a no-code AI platform

Okay, so what if you want the power of a custom bot without hiring a developer, and more smarts than the built-in Jira tools? This is where modern AI platforms come in. They act like a smart connector between all the apps you already use.

A tool like eesel AI is built specifically for this. Instead of wrestling with code or webhooks, you can get an intelligent Jira bot up and running in a few minutes.

An AI-powered bot from a no-code platform like eesel AI interacting with a user on Slack to create a Jira ticket automatically.

Here’s how to create a Jira bot with this approach:

1. Connect your apps. The first step is to sign up for eesel AI and link your accounts. You can connect Jira Service Management, Slack, and even your knowledge bases like Confluence with just a few clicks. It’s all self-serve, so you don’t have to talk to a salesperson.

2. Tell the bot what to look for. Inside eesel, you decide what triggers the bot. Maybe it’s a specific emoji reaction (like a ticket emoji) on a message in Slack, or a direct mention of the bot in a channel.

3. Tell the AI what to do. This is the cool part. You can give the AI simple, plain-English instructions for the "Create Jira Issue" action. You can tell it to:

   • Summarize the entire Slack thread to use as the ticket description.

   • Use the first message as the ticket summary.

   • Automatically set the issue type to "Bug" and the project to "Mobile App."

   • Even suggest the right person to assign it to based on what the conversation is about.

4. Test it out safely. One of the best parts is the simulation mode. You can point eesel at past Slack conversations and see exactly what kind of Jira tickets it would have created. This lets you fine-tune everything and get it perfect before you unleash it on your team. No "oops" moments.

5. Set it live. Once you’re happy with the simulation, you just flip the switch. You can start with a single channel to see how it goes and expand from there. eesel even gives you reports to show you what your bot is up to and how you can make it even better.

This approach gives you the best of both worlds. It’s as easy as a no-code tool but has the intelligence to understand conversations, thanks to AI that learns from your existing documents and past chats.

Choosing the right method for your team

All right, so which path makes the most sense for you? Each option has its pros and cons, depending on your team’s budget, time, and technical skills. Building it yourself gives you ultimate power but comes with a hefty price tag, while Jira’s built-in tools are free but can feel a bit rigid.

For most teams, a no-code AI platform strikes the right balance. It gets rid of the technical headaches while giving you smart, flexible automation that goes way beyond simple commands.

Here’s a quick comparison to help you decide:

Feature	Method 1: DIY (From Scratch)	Method 2: Jira Native Automation	Method 3: eesel AI Platform
Setup Time	Months	Hours to Days	Minutes
Cost	High (dev salaries, hosting)	Included in Jira plan	Predictable subscription
Maintenance	High (ongoing dev work)	Low	None (handled by platform)
Flexibility	Very High	Medium	High (customizable AI actions)
AI Capabilities	You have to build it yourself	None	Built-in (summarization, etc.)
Ease of Use	Very Low (for developers only)	Medium (requires admin know-how)	Very High (no-code, self-serve)

Stop the context switching and start automating

Trying to keep track of everything manually just doesn’t scale. Constantly switching between a chat and Jira isn’t just annoying; it’s where good ideas and urgent bugs fall through the cracks. As we’ve seen, you have a few ways to automate this. You can go all-in with a custom-coded bot, stick to Jira’s built-in options, or use a modern AI platform to get the best of both worlds.

For most teams looking for a fast, smart, and low-maintenance solution, an AI platform is tough to beat. It’s the quickest way to build an intelligent Jira bot that understands the context of a conversation and turns it into a perfectly formatted ticket, every time.

If you’re ready to stop the copy-pasting and let your team focus on their real work, eesel AI can help you build an AI Agent that connects your team’s conversations directly to your Jira projects.

Take the next step

• Start a free trial of eesel AI and create your first Jira bot today.

• Book a demo to see how our AI Agents can transform your ITSM and support workflows.