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

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"

Integration

Works with: jira (API), git-workflows (branches/PRs), orchestration-patterns (agent coordination), testing (test execution), debugging (root cause analysis).