Jira Integration

This page describes Otto Builder, Otto's ticket-driven workflows that work from Linear or Jira tickets. It is separate from Otto Detective, the pull request reviewer, which never commits, pushes, or merges. Start with the Introduction for Otto Detective.

Connect Otto to Jira to automatically respond to issues and updates.

Connecting Jira

1. Go to Settings → Integrations in your Otto dashboard
2. Click Connect Jira
3. Sign in to Jira and authorize Otto
4. Select which projects Otto should have access to

Webhook Events

Otto listens for these Jira events:

Setting Up Triggers

Status-Based Triggers

Trigger Otto when an issue moves to a specific status:

1. Go to Triggers → Create Trigger
2. Select Jira status change
3. Choose the status (e.g., "In Progress")
4. Select which agent should handle it
5. Optionally filter by project or issue type

Label-Based Triggers

Trigger Otto when a specific label is applied:

1. Create a label in Jira (e.g., otto-implement)
2. In Otto, create a trigger for Jira label added
3. Select the label
4. Choose the agent

Comment-Based Triggers

Trigger Otto when someone mentions it in a comment:

1. Create a trigger for Jira comment created
2. Set a keyword filter (e.g., @otto or otto:)
3. Otto will respond to comments containing that keyword

Project Mapping

Map Jira projects to GitHub or Azure DevOps repositories:

1. Go to Projects in Otto
2. Click Add Project
3. Select a Jira project
4. Select the corresponding repository
5. Choose the default branch

Now Otto knows where to create PRs for issues in that project.

Best Practices

Use Dedicated Statuses

Create a status specifically for Otto-handled work:

Backlog → To Do → Otto Working → In Review → Done

Prefix Labels

Use a consistent prefix for Otto-related labels:

• otto-implement — Full implementation
• otto-plan — Planning only
• otto-review — Review existing code

Issue Type Filtering

Use Jira issue types (Story, Task, Bug) to route different work to different agents:

• Story agents — Handle new feature development
• Bug agents — Focus on debugging and fixes
• Task agents — Handle technical debt or refactoring

Custom Fields

Take advantage of Jira custom fields in agent context:

• Story points → Help Otto understand scope
• Sprint info → Provide deadline context
• Component tags → Route to specialists