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MCP Atlassian for Claude Desktop: Setup & Config

MCP Atlassian connects Claude Desktop to Jira and Confluence for issue tracking and team documentation.

What you can do with MCP Atlassian in Claude Desktop

Combine Jira delivery workflows and Confluence knowledge access in one assistant integration.

  • Find assigned Jira issues using JQL-backed search.
  • Create bug reports and move issues through workflow statuses.

Before you start: MCP Atlassian in Claude Desktop

  • uvx
  • An MCP-compatible client
  • Access to Jira or Confluence with appropriate credentials
  • Confluence 6.0+ or Jira 8.14+ for self-managed deployments

This is the Cloud quickstart configuration. Server/Data Center uses PAT authentication; the README specifies JIRA_PERSONAL_TOKEN in place of the Jira username and API-token pair. Keep credentials private.

MCP Atlassian Claude Desktop configuration

  1. Choose Claude Desktop configuration scope

    For MCP Atlassian, open macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json. Merge under mcpServers via Settings → Developer → Edit Config when available.

  2. Add MCP Atlassian to Claude Desktop

    Use the mcp-atlassian entry below in mcpServers. Keep MCP Atlassian's documented stdio connection fields and your other Claude Desktop entries.

  3. Check MCP Atlassian in Claude Desktop

    MCP Atlassian: Fully quit and reopen Claude Desktop; check developer diagnostics.

Config file · macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

JSON
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "mcp-atlassian": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": [
        "mcp-atlassian"
      ],
      "env": {
        "JIRA_URL": "<your Jira instance URL>",
        "JIRA_USERNAME": "<your Jira account email>",
        "JIRA_API_TOKEN": "<your Jira Cloud API token>",
        "CONFLUENCE_URL": "<your Confluence instance URL>",
        "CONFLUENCE_USERNAME": "<your Confluence account email>",
        "CONFLUENCE_API_TOKEN": "<your Confluence Cloud API token>"
      }
    }
  }
}

MCP Atlassian tools available to Claude Desktop

MCP Atlassian's stored tool list documents 10 tools; compare it with Claude Desktop's connected tool list, because the stored list is not a live check.

jira_search

When Claude Desktop requests jira_search from MCP Atlassian, review the action before approving it.

Find Jira issues using a JQL query.

jira_get_issue

When Claude Desktop requests jira_get_issue from MCP Atlassian, review the action before approving it.

Retrieve a Jira issue's details.

jira_create_issue

When Claude Desktop requests jira_create_issue from MCP Atlassian, review the action before approving it.

Create a new Jira issue.

jira_update_issue

When Claude Desktop requests jira_update_issue from MCP Atlassian, review the action before approving it.

Modify an existing Jira issue.

jira_transition_issue

When Claude Desktop requests jira_transition_issue from MCP Atlassian, review the action before approving it.

Move an issue to another workflow status.

confluence_search

When Claude Desktop requests confluence_search from MCP Atlassian, review the action before approving it.

confluence_get_page

When Claude Desktop requests confluence_get_page from MCP Atlassian, review the action before approving it.

confluence_create_page

When Claude Desktop requests confluence_create_page from MCP Atlassian, review the action before approving it.

confluence_update_page

When Claude Desktop requests confluence_update_page from MCP Atlassian, review the action before approving it.

confluence_add_comment

When Claude Desktop requests confluence_add_comment from MCP Atlassian, review the action before approving it.

MCP Atlassian: full stored tool descriptions

Troubleshooting MCP Atlassian in Claude Desktop

  • Fully quit and reopen Claude Desktop for MCP Atlassian. If uvx mcp-atlassian (from uv, for Python tools) is missing, check the desktop process's PATH, which may differ from your terminal.
  • In Claude Desktop's MCP Atlassian entry, check CONFLUENCE_API_TOKEN, CONFLUENCE_URL, CONFLUENCE_USERNAME, JIRA_API_TOKEN, JIRA_URL, JIRA_USERNAME. Keep secrets out of shared screenshots and repositories.
  • MCP Atlassian uses stdio here: Claude Desktop must keep the configured process running; protocol output belongs on stdout and diagnostics on stderr.
  • Known limitation: Requires product URLs and appropriate authentication credentials.
  • Known limitation: Self-managed support has minimum Confluence and Jira version requirements.
  • Known limitation: Only a subset of the full tool catalog is named in the README.
  • General Claude Desktop troubleshooting lives in the /clients/claude-desktop guide.

MCP Atlassian — details. Claude Desktop guide

Frequently asked questions

Claude Desktop loads MCP Atlassian from claude_desktop_config.json: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/ on macOS, or %APPDATA%\Claude\ on Windows. Open it via Settings → Developer → Edit Config when available.

Claude Desktop's mcp-atlassian example uses stdio.

MCP Atlassian's Claude Desktop configuration invokes uvx mcp-atlassian (from uv, for Python tools).

Claude Desktop's MCP Atlassian example references CONFLUENCE_API_TOKEN, CONFLUENCE_URL, CONFLUENCE_USERNAME, JIRA_API_TOKEN, JIRA_URL, JIRA_USERNAME. Check these names if startup or authentication fails; the example alone does not distinguish required from optional values.

MCP Atlassian's stored list contains 10 tools, including jira_search, jira_get_issue, jira_create_issue. Compare those names with Claude Desktop's connected tool list; the stored list is not a live check.

Yes. The compatibility table lists Confluence Server/Data Center 6.0+ and Jira Server/Data Center 8.14+.

The named search tools use JQL for Jira and CQL for Confluence.