Understanding Jira’s Mail Handler: Turning Emails into Actionable Issues

Friday, October 10, 2025
by Palak Chauhan

Understanding Jira’s Mail Handler: Turning Emails into Actionable Issues

For those of you who missed our Drop-In Session: Understanding Jira’s Mail Handler held on October 8, 2025, here’s a detailed recap of what we covered — along with step-by-step guidance and best practices to help you get started.

Managing communication across teams can quickly become overwhelming — especially when important requests, bug reports, or approvals get buried in long email threads. That’s where Jira’s Mail Handler comes in.

Jira’s Mail Handler bridges the gap between your inbox and your project management workflows. It enables you to create, update, and manage Jira issues directly via email, streamlining collaboration and reducing manual data entry.

In this post, we’ll walk through how to set it up, automate processes, and apply it effectively across your teams.

What Is a Mail Handler in Jira?

A Mail Handler is a Jira feature that processes incoming emails and performs automated actions such as:

  • Creating new issues

  • Adding comments to existing issues

  • Updating issue fields based on the email content

This allows teams to manage requests efficiently without leaving their inbox. Whether a customer emails your support address or an internal team member reports a bug via email, Jira can automatically log it for tracking and visibility.

Setting Up a Mail Handler in Jira

Configuring a mail handler may sound technical, but Jira makes it relatively straightforward. Here’s a step-by-step breakdown:

Step 1: Configure a Mail Server 

Reach out to IST Atlassian team - Atlassian - Information Systems and Technology - Jira Service Management 

Tip: Use a dedicated mailbox (e.g., support@yourcompany.com) instead of a personal one to ensure cleaner automation.

Step 2: Define Processing Rules

You can refine how Jira processes emails:

  • Set up subject line matching (to identify existing issues).

  • Define striped prefixes or keywords.

  • Configure security restrictions (who can create or comment via email).

Once configured, Jira will automatically check the mailbox at regular intervals and convert emails into issues or comments based on your settings.

Automating Issue Creation & Updates

The magic of mail handlers lies in automation. Here are some ways to make it more powerful:

  • Automatically Create Issues: Every new email sent to a specific mailbox becomes a new issue in your chosen project.

  • Add Comments to Existing Issues: If the email subject contains the issue key (e.g., “IST-123”), Jira will add the email body as a comment.

  • Use Custom Mail Handlers: Advanced teams can use Jira Automation or ScriptRunner to parse custom email formats and trigger more complex workflows.

Best Practices & Real-World Use Cases

To make the most of Jira’s mail handler, follow these best practices:

Best Practices

  • Use dedicated mailboxes for each team () or project.

  • Combine mail handlers with automation rules for additional actions (e.g., assign to a triage queue, tag with priority).

  • Regularly monitor and clean up mail queues to prevent message backlogs.

  • Educate your team on email formatting to improve parsing accuracy.

Common Use Cases

  • IT Support: Convert incoming support emails into tickets for tracking and SLA management.

  • Customer Requests: Centralize client emails into a structured issue queue.

  • Internal Requests: Allow employees to submit facilities or HR requests directly from their inbox.

Why It Matters

Even in 2025, email remains the backbone of business communication. Without a structured way to manage incoming messages, teams risk losing visibility and accountability.
By integrating Jira’s Mail Handler, you can:

Centralize all requests in one place
Improve transparency across departments
Reduce manual data entry and human errors
Boost responsiveness and productivity

Who Should Use Mail Handlers?

This feature is particularly valuable for:

  • Project Managers who want better request visibility

  • IT Service Teams managing support tickets

  • Administrators seeking to automate communication channels

Final Thoughts

Jira’s Mail Handler is a simple yet powerful feature that connects one of the most common tools — email — with the structured world of issue tracking.
By implementing it thoughtfully, your team can ensure that no request goes unnoticed, no follow-up slips through the cracks, and every communication becomes actionable.

If you missed the live session, this recap should help you catch up and start experimenting with Mail Handlers in your own Jira environment.

Stay tuned for more Atlassian tips, updates, and best practices — shared every Friday!