For Agents
Create stories, manage epics and iterations, search the workspace, and update workflow states so an agent can run sprint planning and triage from outside the Shortcut UI.
Get started with Shortcut API in minutes using your preferred integration method.
# Add to your MCP client config (Claude Desktop, Cursor, Windsurf)
{
"jentic": {
"url": "https://api.jentic.com/mcp",
"auth": "oauth"
}
}
# Then ask your agent:
"create a shortcut story"
# → Jentic returns the GET /events tool with parameter schema, agent executes.What an agent can do with Shortcut API API.
Create and update stories via /api/v3/stories with workflow state and assignee fields
Manage epics, iterations, and milestones for higher-level planning
Search the workspace using Shortcut's filter language via /api/v3/search
Comment on epics and stories programmatically
Link repositories and external pull requests to stories
GET STARTED
Use for: I need to create a new story in Shortcut, Search for stories assigned to a specific member, Update a story workflow state to in-progress, List all open epics in a workspace
Not supported: Does not handle source code hosting, CI/CD, or chat messaging — use for managing Shortcut stories, epics, iterations, and search only.
Jentic publishes the only available OpenAPI document for Shortcut API, keeping it validated and agent-ready.
The Shortcut API gives engineering teams programmatic control over the issue tracker behind their planning workflow, covering stories, epics, iterations, milestones, objectives, projects, workflows, and members. The 123 endpoints span search, comment threads, custom fields, key results, repository links, and entity templates so external automations can drive sprint planning end to end. Authentication uses the Shortcut-Token header, and the API exposes a search operation that mirrors the in-app filter language.
Manage custom fields and entity templates for repeatable workflows
List groups and members to assign work and audit team load
Patterns agents use Shortcut API API for, with concrete tasks.
★ Inbound Bug Triage Automation
Convert customer-reported bugs into Shortcut stories automatically by calling POST /api/v3/stories with the bug description, label, and the right project ID. The triage agent watches the support inbox, dedupes against existing open stories via /api/v3/search, and assigns the new story to the on-call engineer through the workflow_state_id field. This removes the manual copy-paste from Zendesk or Slack into Shortcut.
On a new bug ticket, search Shortcut via POST /api/v3/search for matching stories, and if none exist call POST /api/v3/stories with the bug summary, label 'bug', and the on-call assignee
Iteration Planning Reports
Generate a weekly iteration plan report by listing /api/v3/iterations and walking each iteration's stories to summarise points, owners, and workflow states. The report can be posted to Slack at the start of the sprint so the team has a single canonical view of committed work, removing the need to browse Shortcut filters manually.
List active iterations via GET /api/v3/iterations, for each iteration enumerate stories via /api/v3/iterations/{id}/stories, and post a summary to the team's Slack channel
Repository and Deployment Linkage
Attach commit and deployment context to stories by creating external links via /api/v3/external-link/stories whenever a CI run completes. The agent reads the commit message for a story-id reference, calls the linkage endpoint, and posts a comment via /api/v3/stories/{id}/comments with the deployment status, giving PMs a single place to see whether a story has shipped.
Parse the story ID from the merge commit, call POST /api/v3/external-link/stories with the deploy URL, and add a comment confirming the deploy timestamp
Custom Field Workflow Enforcement
Enforce process rules by creating and validating custom fields on stories — for example, requiring a 'Customer Impact' selection on every bug. The agent reads /api/v3/custom-fields, then on every new story checks whether the required field is populated and posts a comment if it is missing, removing the need for human reviewers to police story hygiene.
List /api/v3/custom-fields, then for every newly created story confirm the 'Customer Impact' field is populated and otherwise add a comment requesting it
Agent-Driven Planning Assistant
Let an AI assistant create and update Shortcut stories from natural-language messages by searching Jentic for 'create a shortcut story', loading the operation schema, and executing. The agent never holds the Shortcut-Token header value, which matters because Shortcut tokens carry write access to the entire workspace.
Search Jentic for 'create a shortcut story', load POST /api/v3/stories schema, and execute with the title and description from the user's chat message
123 endpoints — the shortcut api gives engineering teams programmatic control over the issue tracker behind their planning workflow, covering stories, epics, iterations, milestones, objectives, projects, workflows, and members.
METHOD
PATH
DESCRIPTION
/api/v3/stories
Create a story
/api/v3/stories/{story-public-id}
Fetch a specific story
/api/v3/search
Search the workspace
/api/v3/epics
List epics
/api/v3/epics/{epic-public-id}/comments
Comment on an epic
/api/v3/iterations
List iterations
/api/v3/external-link/stories
Link external URLs to stories
/api/v3/workflows
List workflow definitions
/api/v3/stories
Create a story
/api/v3/stories/{story-public-id}
Fetch a specific story
/api/v3/search
Search the workspace
/api/v3/epics
List epics
/api/v3/epics/{epic-public-id}/comments
Comment on an epic
Three things that make agents converge on Jentic-routed access.
Credential isolation
Shortcut-Token API keys are stored encrypted in the Jentic vault (MAXsystem). Agents call operations through scoped tokens — the raw Shortcut workspace token never enters the agent's context, which matters because Shortcut tokens grant full workspace write access.
Intent-based discovery
Agents search by intent (e.g. 'create a story' or 'list iteration stories') and Jentic returns the matching stories, search, or iteration operations with input schemas, so the agent calls the right endpoint without learning Shortcut's filter language up front.
Time to first call
Direct Shortcut integration: 1-2 days for auth, search query construction, and pagination. Through Jentic: under 1 hour — search, load schema, execute.
Alternatives and complements available in the Jentic catalogue.
Linear API
Linear is a streamlined issue tracker focused on speed and keyboard workflows
Pick Linear when teams want minimal UI overhead; pick Shortcut for richer iteration and epic structure
Asana API
Asana focuses on cross-functional project tracking beyond engineering
Use Asana for marketing, ops, or general project workflows; use Shortcut when engineering planning is the primary need
GitHub API
GitHub holds the source code; Shortcut holds the planning context — link them via external-link/stories
Use GitHub for the code and PR truth; use Shortcut for the planning truth and connect them with external links
ClickUp API
ClickUp covers tasks, docs, and goals across the company beyond engineering
Pick ClickUp for company-wide work tracking; pick Shortcut for engineering-specific planning
Specific to using Shortcut API API through Jentic.
What authentication does the Shortcut API use?
API key in the Shortcut-Token header. Tokens are issued from the Shortcut user settings page. Through Jentic the token is stored encrypted in the vault (MAXsystem) and never enters agent context — agents receive scoped access only.
Can I create a story with the Shortcut API?
Yes. POST /api/v3/stories creates a story with title, description, project_id, workflow_state_id, and optional epic_id, iteration_id, and labels. The response returns the story's public ID for follow-up calls.
What are the rate limits for the Shortcut API?
The OpenAPI spec does not encode explicit rate limits. Shortcut publicly documents a 200-request-per-minute soft limit per token; sustained over-limit traffic returns HTTP 429. Inspect the X-RateLimit headers in responses for live state.
How do I create a story through Jentic?
Run pip install jentic, then search 'create a shortcut story'. Jentic returns POST /api/v3/stories with its input schema — load the schema, populate name and project_id, and execute. The agent never sees the Shortcut-Token value.
How do I search across the workspace?
POST /api/v3/search accepts a query string in Shortcut's filter language (e.g. 'is:story owner:foo state:in-progress') and returns matching stories, epics, and iterations. Search is the recommended way to dedupe before creating new stories.
Can I link external pull requests to a story?
Yes. POST /api/v3/external-link/stories registers an external URL against one or more stories. Combined with /api/v3/stories/{id}/comments this is the typical pattern for surfacing CI/CD status inside the story timeline.
/api/v3/iterations
List iterations
/api/v3/external-link/stories
Link external URLs to stories
/api/v3/workflows
List workflow definitions