GitHub Action: Find Jira Issue Keys In GitHub Event

This action will find the issue keys in the GitHub event and return them as a comma separated list

Action Usage

- uses: bitflight-devops/github-action-jira-find-issue-keys@v1.1.16
  with:
    # GitHub token for reading commit history or updating pull requests; string,
    # branch, and title extraction do not require it
    token: ''

    # Find from predefined place. Can be 'branch', 'pull_request' (title), 'string',
    # 'commits', or 'all'; default is 'commits'
    # Default: commits
    from: ''

    # A string to search for issues
    # Default:
    string: ''

    # A comma separated list of project names to include in the results by, i.e.
    # DEVOPS,PROJECT1
    # Default:
    projects: ''

    # A comma separated list of project names to exclude from the results by, i.e.
    # INTERNAL,PROJECT2
    projects_ignore: ''

    # When parsing commit messages, include merge and pull messages. This is disabled
    # by default, to exclude tickets that may be included or fixed in other branches
    # or pull requests.
    # Default: false
    include_merge_messages: ''

    # The Git Head Ref to which commit messages will be collected up to. Overrides the
    # head reference from the GitHub event when provided.
    head_ref: ''

    # The Git Base Ref to which commit messages will be collected up from.
    base_ref: ''

    # Should the commit messages be ignored when looking for issues
    # Default: false
    ignore_commits: ''

    # The URL of the GitHub API to use. This allows those with GitHub Enterprise to
    # use the GitHub Enterprise API.
    github_api_url: ''

    # The version of the GitHub Enterprise Server to use. This allows those with
    # GitHub Enterprise to use the GitHub Enterprise API. Available versions to use:
    # 3.2, 3.3, 3.4, 3.5
    # Default: 3.5
    github_enterprise_server_version: ''

    # Jira base URL including protocol, or environment variable JIRA_BASE_URL.
    # Required only when update_pull_request is enabled on a pull request event.
    jira_base_url: ''

    # Jira Cloud email or Data Center Basic-auth username, or environment variable
    # JIRA_USER_EMAIL. Required only for pull request enrichment.
    jira_user_email: ''

    # Jira Cloud API token or Data Center Basic-auth password, or environment variable
    # JIRA_API_TOKEN. Required only for pull request enrichment; this is not a
    # Bearer/PAT input.
    jira_api_token: ''

    # Fail the step if extraction, Jira enrichment, or the GitHub update fails; enable
    # this for CI validation
    # Default: false
    fail_on_error: ''

    # Fetch Jira issue details and update the pull request title/body with the keys
    # found. Disabled by default; extraction alone does not contact Jira.
    # Default: false
    update_pull_request: ''

Extraction and Jira enrichment

The from input selects the source used for issue and issues. Keys are normalized to uppercase, deduplicated in encounter order, and filtered by projects and projects_ignore. Exclusions take precedence. Extraction recognizes issue-key syntax; it does not check whether an issue exists in Jira.

from	Source	Network access for extraction
string	The string input	None; no credentials required
branch	head_ref, the PR head branch, or the event ref	None; no credentials required
pull_request	The PR title	None; no credentials required
commits (default)	All pages of PR commits, or a push's before/after comparison	GitHub token required for API requests
all	String, PR title, branch, and commits in that order	GitHub for commits, unless ignore_commits: true

For a new branch, where GitHub supplies an all-zero before SHA, the action uses the commits supplied in the push event. For a deleted branch it reports no new commits. Explicit base_ref and head_ref select a comparison range for non-PR events. Outputs for unselected sources are empty strings, as are issue and issues when no key matches.

Set update_pull_request: true to fetch matching issues from Jira and update the PR title and linked-issues section of its body. This requires a GitHub token with pull-request write access and the Jira credentials listed below. The action waits for both the Jira lookups and the completed GitHub update. Non-PR events skip enrichment. For CI, set fail_on_error: true so missing issues, denied requests, and API failures fail the step; the legacy default is false.

The Jira client uses REST API v2 with Basic authentication. Jira Cloud uses an email and API token. The disposable Data Center E2E environment uses its test username/password in the same inputs. Bearer/PAT authentication is not implemented by these inputs.

Development and CI verification

Use Node.js 24 and the vendored Yarn release:

node .yarn/releases/yarn-3.3.0.cjs install --immutable
node .yarn/releases/yarn-3.3.0.cjs lint:source
node .yarn/releases/yarn-3.3.0.cjs test:ci --runInBand
node .yarn/releases/yarn-3.3.0.cjs build
node .yarn/releases/yarn-3.3.0.cjs test:packaged
node .yarn/releases/yarn-3.3.0.cjs test:release

CI also runs actionlint 1.7.12 and checks that rebuilding leaves the committed lib/ bundle unchanged. The bundle targets Node 24 and retains source maps without embedded dependency source text. Commit the rebuilt bundle with source changes.

The source tests and packaged-action tests use deterministic GitHub/Jira HTTP fixtures and no hosted credentials. The packaged tests execute the action.yml entry point in a child process, pass GitHub event/input files, inspect its actual output file and exit code, and assert that PR updates finish before success is reported.

The Jira Integration E2E workflow adds a disposable Jira Data Center instance. After Jira and project E2E have been initialized, its test can also be run locally:

E2E_JIRA_BASE_URL=http://127.0.0.1:8080 \
  node .yarn/releases/yarn-3.3.0.cjs test:e2e:jira

E2E_JIRA_USERNAME and E2E_JIRA_PASSWORD default to admin; E2E_JIRA_PROJECT defaults to E2E. The test creates its own Jira issue, executes the packaged action against real Jira and a local GitHub HTTP fixture, checks the completed PR update's real summary/status/link, deletes the issue, and verifies that a subsequent Jira 404 fails the action without updating GitHub. It cleans up its issue on failure. This lane validates Data Center behavior; it does not emulate Jira Cloud Enterprise.

The release workflow starts after successful Jira E2E testing of a push to main. It checks that the tested revision is still current, repeats the strict build and test gates, and prepares only version and documentation changes. The next release increments the patch component after the highest stable package version or existing vX.Y.Z tag. It publishes the metadata commit and its exact tag in one atomic push, then creates the GitHub release. It uses GITHUB_TOKEN; repository rules that prevent the push cause the workflow to fail.

GitHub Action Inputs

Input	Description	Default	Required
token	GitHub token for reading commit history or updating pull requests; string, branch, and title extraction do not require it		false
from	Find from predefined place. Can be 'branch', 'pull_request' (title), 'string', 'commits', or 'all'; default is 'commits'	commits	false
string	A string to search for issues		false
projects	A comma separated list of project names to include in the results by, i.e. DEVOPS,PROJECT1		false
projects_ignore	A comma separated list of project names to exclude from the results by, i.e. INTERNAL,PROJECT2		false
include_merge_messages	When parsing commit messages, include merge and pull messages. This is disabled by default, to exclude tickets that may be included or fixed in other branches or pull requests.	false	false
head_ref	The Git Head Ref to which commit messages will be collected up to. Overrides the head reference from the GitHub event when provided.		false
base_ref	The Git Base Ref to which commit messages will be collected up from.		false
ignore_commits	Should the commit messages be ignored when looking for issues		false
github_api_url	The URL of the GitHub API to use. This allows those with GitHub Enterprise to use the GitHub Enterprise API.		false
github_enterprise_server_version	The version of the GitHub Enterprise Server to use. This allows those with GitHub Enterprise to use the GitHub Enterprise API. Available versions to use: 3.2, 3.3, 3.4, 3.5	3.5	false
jira_base_url	Jira base URL including protocol, or environment variable JIRA_BASE_URL. Required only when update_pull_request is enabled on a pull request event.		false
jira_user_email	Jira Cloud email or Data Center Basic-auth username, or environment variable JIRA_USER_EMAIL. Required only for pull request enrichment.		false
jira_api_token	Jira Cloud API token or Data Center Basic-auth password, or environment variable JIRA_API_TOKEN. Required only for pull request enrichment; this is not a Bearer/PAT input.		false
fail_on_error	Fail the step if extraction, Jira enrichment, or the GitHub update fails; enable this for CI validation	false	false
update_pull_request	Fetch Jira issue details and update the pull request title/body with the keys found. Disabled by default; extraction alone does not contact Jira.		false

GitHub Action Outputs

**Output**	**Description**	**Default**	**Required**
projects_included	A comma separated list of projects from the 'projects' input provided	undefined	undefined
projects_excluded	A comma separated list of ignored projects from the 'projects_ignore' input provided	undefined	undefined
projects_found	A comma separated list of project names to include in the results by, i.e. DEVOPS,PROJECT1	undefined	undefined
issue	The first Jira issue key found in the event	undefined	undefined
issues	A comma separated list of all Jira Issues found	undefined	undefined
title_issues	A comma separated list of Jira Issues found in the pull_request title	undefined	undefined
commit_issues	A comma separated list of Jira Issues found in the commits provided	undefined	undefined
ref_issues	A comma separated list of Jira Issues found in the git ref	undefined	undefined
string_issues	A comma separated list of Jira Issues found in the input string	undefined	undefined