Most teams use Jira to plan work and GitHub to build it. The problem is those two tools don’t talk to each other by default. Developers end up manually copying commit references into tickets, project managers hunt through GitHub to answer basic status questions, and sprint reviews become archaeology expeditions through two disconnected systems.

Git Integration for Jira closes that gap. It connects your GitHub repositories directly to your Jira instance, surfacing branches, commits, pull requests, and deployments right on the issue view, so every stakeholder can see exactly where work stands without leaving the tool they already live in.

This guide covers everything you need to set up and get value from a Jira GitHub integration in 2026, including new capabilities that go well beyond the basics.

What Is Git Integration for Jira?

Git Integration for Jira is the #1 paid Git integration app on the Atlassian Marketplace. It connects Jira (Cloud, Data Center, and Server) to GitHub and a wide range of other Git hosts, making Git development activity visible directly inside Jira issues, sprints, and project views.

At its core, it lets you:

• See commits, branches, pull requests, tags, and deployments on the Jira issue view
• Create branches and pull requests from within Jira issues
• Automate issue updates using smart commits and DevOps trigger rules
• Give project managers and engineering leaders real-time visibility into development progress without requiring direct access to GitHub

“Git Integration for Jira gives us the ‘needle in the haystack’ finder that we’ve always needed.” – CTO, Applause

“Git Integration for Jira helps our PMs retrieve data 94% faster than they could before.” – VP Engineering, Superna

How to Connect Jira and GitHub

Setting up the Jira GitHub integration takes a few minutes. Here’s the current setup flow for Jira Cloud:

1. Install Git Integration for Jira from the Atlassian Marketplace. A free 30-day trial is available.
2. From your Jira instance, select Apps in the top navigation bar.
3. Choose Git Integration: Manage integrations from the dropdown.
4. Click Add integration.
5. Select Git service integration (Recommended).
6. Choose either GitHub.com – OAuth or GitHub.com – Personal Access Token based on your preference.
7. Click the blue Connect GitHub.com button and authenticate with your GitHub credentials.

Once connected, select which repositories you want to link to Jira. You can connect individual repos or all repositories under a GitHub account in one step. The integration is safe, fast, and does not require write access to your repositories.

Supported connection methods: OAuth, Personal Access Tokens, and Webhooks. GIJ also supports GitHub Enterprise Server for organizations running self-hosted GitHub instances.

What You Can Do After Connecting

See Full Development Context on Every Issue

Once connected, every Jira issue shows a development panel with all associated Git activity. You can view:

• All commits linked to the issue, including full messages, authorship, timestamps, and file changes
• Branches created from the issue
• Pull requests and their current status (open, merged, declined)
• Tags and deployment events
• Code diffs, directly in context

This replaces the “tab switching” workflow that drains developer and PM time. Instead of jumping between Jira and GitHub to piece together what happened on a ticket, the full picture lives on the issue itself.

Create Branches Directly from Jira Issues

You no longer need to leave Jira to kick off development on a ticket. From any issue:

1. Open the Git Development panel.
2. Click Create branch.
3. Select the target GitHub repository and a source branch.
4. Adjust the branch name if needed. GIJ autopopulates a name based on the issue key and summary, which helps enforce consistent naming conventions across your team.
5. Click Create branch.

The branch appears immediately in your GitHub repo. Pull it down locally and start working.

Admin tip: Repository admins can set default branch naming templates globally so every developer follows the same convention without any extra effort.

Create Pull Requests from Jira Issues

You can also open pull requests without switching to GitHub. From the same Git Development panel:

1. Click Create pull request.
2. Select the repository, source branch, and target branch.
3. Adjust the PR title if needed. GIJ autopopulates it with the issue key.
4. Click Create pull request.

The PR appears linked to the Jira issue immediately. Anyone viewing the ticket can see the PR status at a glance without touching GitHub.

Smart Commits: Automate Issue Updates from the Terminal

Smart commits let developers update Jira issues directly through their commit messages, without ever opening Jira. As long as the email in your Git config matches your Jira profile, any commit to a connected repository can trigger actions.

The syntax is:

ISSUE-KEY #command [optional value]

Copy

Examples:

Add a comment to an issue:

ISSUE-123 #comment Fixed the null pointer in checkout flow

Copy

Log time against an issue:

ISSUE-123 #time 2h 30m

Copy

Transition an issue to a new status:

ISSUE-123 #in-review

Copy

Assign an issue to a team member:

ISSUE-123 #assign @username

Copy

Smart commits eliminate the repetitive copy-paste work of updating tickets after committing code. They also help keep Jira accurate without requiring developers to manually navigate the project management tool mid-flow.

DevOps Automation Trigger Rules

Beyond smart commits, GIJ supports automation trigger rules that connect Git events to Jira workflow automations. You can configure rules to fire on:

• Commits (update status when a commit references an issue)
• Branch creation
• Pull request opens, reviews, and merges
• Build and deployment events

For example: when a PR targeting your main branch is merged, automatically transition every linked Jira issue to “Done.” This keeps sprints accurate and reduces the number of manual status updates developers need to make.

Webhooks: Keep Everything in Sync in Real Time

By default, GIJ indexes your connected repositories on a polling schedule. Adding webhooks changes that to event-driven, near-real-time indexing, so commits and branches appear in Jira within seconds of being pushed.

Setting Up GitHub Webhooks for Jira Cloud

1. In Jira, go to Apps > Git Integration: Manage integrations.
2. In the left sidebar, select Indexing triggers and enable them.
3. Copy the Webhook URL and Secret key shown on that page.
4. In GitHub, navigate to the repository settings.
5. Go to Webhooks > Add webhook.
6. Paste the Webhook URL into the Payload URL field.
7. Set Content type to application/json.
8. Paste the Secret key into the Secret field.
9. Select which events should trigger reindexing (pushes, pull requests, branch creation, etc.).
10. Click Add webhook.

Repeat for any other repositories you want synced in real time.

Timeline, Backlog, and Team Views: Visibility Beyond the Issue

The Jira GitHub integration isn’t limited to the individual issue view. GIJ adds several project-level views that give engineering managers and project planners a birds-eye perspective on development activity.

Timeline View

The Timeline view plots Jira issues against a heat map showing when each issue was last updated. You can scan across epics, sprints, and projects to instantly spot which issues have been touched recently and which have gone quiet. For sprint managers, this replaces the daily “any blockers?” question with a visual scan.

Backlog View

The Backlog view monitors sprint progress in detail. You can audit when issues were added or removed from a sprint, review daily activity across the board, and get alerted when a sprint is off track. This makes stand-ups and sprint reviews faster and grounded in actual data rather than status calls.

Repository Browser

The Repository Browser lets you compare branches and tags directly in Jira and see a diff of which issues or commits changed between them. This is particularly useful for release verification: compare your release branch against main, confirm that all expected issues are included, and build release notes without leaving Jira.

The Repository Browser also surfaces commits without a linked Jira issue key, so you can manually associate orphaned commits to the appropriate ticket.

Team View

The Team view organizes Jira issues by assignee and overlays Jira and Git activity on a shared timeline. For engineering managers running sprint reviews or retrospectives, this gives a single screen that shows what each team member worked on and when, with no aggregation required.

Deep Links: Get Back to Your Tools Fast

One reason developers resist Jira is the friction of navigating to it and back. GIJ addresses this with deep links embedded throughout every screen where Git development information appears.

Anywhere you see commit, branch, or PR data in Jira, you’ll find direct links to open that context in:

• GitKraken Desktop for a full visual Git client experience
• GitLens in VS Code (or Cursor, Windsurf, and other supported IDEs) to jump straight to the code in your editor
• GitHub web interface for standard browser-based review

This means engineers can pull up a Jira issue, orient themselves on what’s happening, and jump directly into their preferred tool in one click.

Git Integration for Jira in an AI Coding Era

AI coding agents are changing how code gets written. Tools like GitHub Copilot, Cursor, and other agent-based workflows are generating commits faster than any human could review manually. That makes the visibility problem more acute, not less.

When agents are running in parallel, creating branches, writing code, and opening PRs, keeping Jira synchronized with what’s actually happening in your repository becomes harder with basic integrations and impossible with no integration at all.

GIJ is designed for this reality. Every commit, branch, and PR created by an AI agent (or any automated workflow) appears in Jira automatically, tied to the relevant issue. Project managers can see what agents shipped. Engineering leaders can track velocity across human and AI contributions. Developers can audit what changed and why without digging through GitHub logs.

This is why we built the Advanced Edition for high-scale teams. If your organization is running multiple development tracks, large repositories, or AI-assisted workflows at volume, the Advanced Edition is purpose-built for those demands with enhanced performance, additional analytics, and enterprise-grade controls.

Support for More Than GitHub

While this guide focuses on GitHub, Git Integration for Jira connects to all major Git hosting services. If your team uses a mix of providers or runs self-hosted infrastructure, GIJ supports:

• GitHub.com and GitHub Enterprise Server
• GitLab.com and GitLab CE/EE (self-managed)
• Azure DevOps Repos and Azure DevOps Server
• Bitbucket Cloud
• AWS CodeCommit
• Gerrit, Bonobo, Gitolite, and other self-hosted options

The same features (smart commits, branch and PR creation, development panels, webhook indexing) work across all supported providers. Teams that span multiple Git hosts can manage everything through a single integration app in Jira.

Get Started

If your team uses both Jira and GitHub, the missing link is a reliable integration that keeps both tools in sync without requiring developers to manually maintain either. Git Integration for Jira is available on the Atlassian Marketplace with a free 30-day trial.

Start your free trial of Git Integration for Jira