Jira Orchestration Workflow
Execute 6-phase protocol for coordinating Jira-based development work with multi-agent orchestration.
When to Use
- •Starting work on Jira issues (Bug, Story, Task, Epic)
- •Automating development workflows
- •Tracking progress and linking commits/PRs
- •Coordinating multi-agent work
The 6-Phase Protocol
EXPLORE → PLAN → CODE → TEST → FIX → COMMIT
Each phase must complete validation gates before proceeding.
Phase 1: EXPLORE
- •Fetch issue details, acceptance criteria, linked issues
- •Analyze affected codebase areas and dependencies
- •Agents: code-analyst, requirements-analyzer, dependency-mapper
- •Outputs: Issue analysis, affected files, dependency map, risk assessment
- •Jira: Transition to "In Progress", add analysis comment, log effort
Phase 2: PLAN
- •Design solution, break into subtasks, create task DAG
- •Plan file changes, define success criteria
- •Agents (by type): Bug→critical-bug-analyzer; Story→feature-architect; Task→technical-planner; Epic→epic-decomposer
- •Outputs: Implementation plan, test plan, rollback strategy
- •Jira: Create sub-tasks, add plan comment, update estimate
Phase 3: CODE
- •Execute DAG tasks in parallel
- •Implement changes, add docs and error handling
- •Agents (by tech): Frontend→frontend-developer; Backend→backend-developer; DevOps→infra-engineer
- •Outputs: Code changes, configs, migration scripts
- •Jira: Add progress comments, log time spent, flag blockers
Phase 4: TEST
- •Run unit/integration/E2E tests, verify acceptance criteria
- •Agents: test-engineer, qa-specialist, integration-tester
- •Outputs: Test results, coverage, performance metrics
- •Jira: Add test results, attach reports
- •Failure: Return to FIX, do NOT complete issue
Phase 5: FIX
- •Debug failures, address code review feedback
- •Re-run tests until passing (max 3 iterations before escalation)
- •Agents: debugger, code-reviewer, refactoring-specialist
- •Loop: Return to TEST after fixes
Phase 6: COMMIT
- •Create PR with issue key, link to Jira, request review
- •Format:
[ISSUE-KEY] description\n\nResolves: ISSUE-KEY - •Agents: git-specialist, pr-creator, documentation-writer
- •Jira: Add PR link, transition to "In Review"
Agent Selection
| Issue Type | Primary | Secondary |
|---|---|---|
| Bug | critical-bug-analyzer, debugger | root-cause-investigator, test-engineer |
| Story | feature-architect, code-architect | frontend/backend-developer |
| Task | technical-planner | technology-specific |
| Epic | epic-decomposer | split into stories first |
| Spike | research-specialist, poc-developer | domain experts |
By Technology: Frontend→react-specialist; Backend→api-specialist; DevOps→infra-engineer; Mobile→mobile-developer
By Priority: Blocker→critical-bug-analyzer + escalate; Critical→senior agents + extended thinking; High→standard selection; Medium/Low→optimize for efficiency
Blocker Handling
Mark blocker when: Missing requirements, dependencies, technical limits, security concerns, breaking changes.
Immediate: Add "Blocked" label, create detailed comment, link blocking issue, notify stakeholders.
Escalate when: Persists >4 hours, beyond agent authority, security vulnerability, breaking changes, customer impact, legal/compliance questions.
Process: Pause, document context, create Jira comment, tag humans, transition to "Waiting for Support".
Human Involvement
Always required: Security changes, breaking API/DB changes, infrastructure, customer-facing features, compliance.
Optional (post-review): Bug fixes, docs, tests, refactoring.
Progress Tracking
Update Jira at: Phase transitions, blockers, test failures, PR creation, hourly.
Status format:
## Progress - Phase: [NAME] - Completed: [items] - In Progress: [items] (X%) - Blocked: [items] ([reason]) - Next: [steps] - Time Spent: Xh Ym
Metrics: Velocity (story points/sprint), Cycle Time (In Progress→Done), Lead Time (creation→completion), Work Log (time/phase).
Best Practices
- •Never skip phases (critical validations at each)
- •Checkpoint between phases for recovery
- •Run independent tasks in parallel
- •Use 3-5 agents minimum, 13 maximum
- •Frequent Jira updates: comments, work logs, links, labels, components
- •Quality gates: All tests passing, >80% coverage, no vulnerabilities, docs updated, human review
Workflows by Issue Type
Bug: EXPLORE (reproduce)→PLAN (fix design)→CODE→TEST (add regression)→FIX→COMMIT Story: EXPLORE→PLAN (subtasks)→CODE (parallel)→TEST (E2E)→FIX→COMMIT Epic: Decompose into Stories, execute each Story workflow, integrate results
PR/Commit Format
PR Title: [ISSUE-KEY] Brief description
Commit:
[ISSUE-KEY] description Changes: - item1 - item2 Resolves: ISSUE-KEY
Branch: [type]/[issue-key]-[description] (e.g., feature/PROJ-123-auth)
Smart commits: [ISSUE-KEY] #comment text | #time 2h 30m | #transition In Review
Quality Gates
- • All tests passing (unit, integration, E2E)
- • Coverage >80%
- • No security vulnerabilities
- • No breaking changes (or documented)
- • Documentation updated
- • PR created and linked
- • Human review requested
- • Acceptance criteria met
Example: Bug Fix
Issue: PROJ-123 "Login timeout after 5 minutes"
| Phase | Activity | Agents |
|---|---|---|
| EXPLORE | Analyze auth code, identify JWT expiry | code-analyst, security-specialist |
| PLAN | Design fix: extend expiry, fix cleanup | critical-bug-analyzer |
| CODE | Update JWT config, implement refresh | backend-developer, security-specialist |
| TEST | Unit/integration/manual tests | test-engineer, qa-specialist |
| FIX | No fixes needed | - |
| COMMIT | Create PR, link to PROJ-123 | git-specialist |
Integration
Works with: jira (API), git-workflows (branches/PRs), orchestration-patterns (agent coordination), testing (test execution), debugging (root cause analysis).