How to Link Commits to Jira Tickets with N8n

Workflows > + New workflow

Create new N8n workflow

Start with a blank workflow to handle GitHub webhook events. This workflow will listen for push events and parse commit messages for Jira ticket keys.

1. 1Click the purple '+ New workflow' button on N8n dashboard
2. 2Delete the default 'When clicking 'Test workflow'' node
3. 3Click the gray '+' button to add your first node

Trigger Nodes > Webhook

Add GitHub webhook trigger

Configure the webhook node to receive push events from GitHub. This creates an endpoint URL that GitHub will call whenever someone pushes commits.

1. 1Search for 'Webhook' and select the 'Webhook' trigger node
2. 2Set HTTP Method to 'POST'
3. 3Set Path to '/github-commits'
4. 4Leave Authentication as 'None'
5. 5Click 'Execute Node' to generate the webhook URL

GitHub > Repository > Settings > Webhooks

Configure GitHub repository webhook

Tell GitHub to send push events to your N8n webhook. This happens in your repository settings, not in N8n.

1. 1Go to your GitHub repository and click Settings tab
2. 2Click 'Webhooks' in the left sidebar
3. 3Click 'Add webhook' button
4. 4Paste your N8n webhook URL into 'Payload URL'
5. 5Set Content type to 'application/json'
6. 6Select 'Just the push event'
7. 7Check 'Active' and click 'Add webhook'

Data Transformation > Code

Add code node for commit parsing

Extract individual commits and scan messages for Jira ticket patterns. GitHub sends all commits in a single webhook, so you need to loop through them.

1. 1Click the '+' button after the webhook node
2. 2Search for 'Code' and select 'Code' node
3. 3Rename it to 'Parse Commits'
4. 4Set Mode to 'Run Once for All Items'

Drop this into an n8n Code node.

// Enhanced regex for multiple ticket formats
const ticketRegex = /(?:^|\s)([A-Z]{2,10}-\d+)(?:\s|$|:)/gi;
const tickets = [];

// Enhanced regex for multiple ticket formats
const ticketRegex = /(?:^|\s)([A-Z]{2,10}-\d+)(?:\s|$|:)/gi;
const tickets = [];
let match;
while ((match = ticketRegex.exec(message)) !== null) {
  tickets.push(match[1]);
}
return [...new Set(tickets)]; // Remove duplicates

Parse Commits node > JavaScript Code

Write commit parsing logic

Add JavaScript code to extract commit data and find Jira ticket keys using regex. This handles the core logic of matching commit messages to tickets.

1. 1Paste the parsing code into the JavaScript Code field
2. 2Click 'Execute Node' to test with sample data
3. 3Verify the output shows parsed commits with ticket keys

Credentials > + Create Credential > Jira

Add Jira credentials

Connect N8n to your Jira instance using API tokens. You'll need this connection before adding Jira nodes to the workflow.

1. 1Click 'Credentials' in the left sidebar
2. 2Click 'Create Credential' and search for 'Jira'
3. 3Select 'Jira Software Cloud API'
4. 4Enter your Jira domain (company.atlassian.net)
5. 5Enter your email and Jira API token
6. 6Click 'Save' and test connection

Apps > Jira Software > Issue Comment > Add

Add Jira node for comments

Configure the Jira node to add comments to tickets. This node will run once for each commit that contains a valid ticket key.

1. 1Click '+' after the Parse Commits node
2. 2Search for 'Jira' and select 'Jira Software'
3. 3Set Resource to 'Issue Comment'
4. 4Set Operation to 'Add'
5. 5Select your Jira credentials from dropdown

Jira node > Issue Comment fields

Map Jira comment fields

Connect commit data to Jira comment fields using N8n expressions. This creates the actual comment content with commit details.

1. 1Set Issue Key to {{ $json.ticketKey }}
2. 2Click in Comment Body field and select 'Expression'
3. 3Enter the comment template with commit details
4. 4Test the expression to verify formatting

Jira node > Settings > Error handling

Add error handling

Configure what happens when Jira API calls fail. Without this, one invalid ticket key will stop the entire workflow.

1. 1Click the Jira node settings (three dots)
2. 2Select 'Settings' from dropdown
3. 3Set 'Continue On Fail' to true
4. 4Choose 'Add item to output' for error handling

Executions > Latest run

Test with real commit

Push a commit with a Jira ticket key to verify end-to-end functionality. This tests both GitHub webhook delivery and Jira comment creation.

1. 1Make a test commit with format 'PROJ-123: fix login bug'
2. 2Push to your connected GitHub repository
3. 3Check N8n executions log for webhook trigger
4. 4Verify comment appears on Jira ticket PROJ-123

Workflow > Save > Active toggle

Save and activate workflow

Enable the workflow to run automatically on future commits. Once active, it will process all pushes to your repository.

1. 1Click 'Save' button in top right
2. 2Name your workflow 'GitHub Commit to Jira'
3. 3Toggle the 'Active' switch to On
4. 4Verify webhook node shows 'Listening' status