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Sidekick’s Jira tool connects through Atlassian’s Rovo Model Context Protocol (MCP) server, authenticated with a service account instead of a personal login. Atlassian defines a service account as an account that is not associated with a person, so the connection keeps working if the person who set it up leaves your team.

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Before you start

You need:
  • Org admin access to Atlassian Administration (admin.atlassian.com), to create the service account
  • Workspace Admin or Owner access in Plain, to connect the server in Sidekick’s settings

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Set up a service account in Atlassian

Do this in Atlassian Administration, before touching Sidekick’s settings.
1

Enable API token authentication

Go to Atlassian Administration → Rovo → Rovo MCP server. In the Authentication section, turn API token on.This is separate from creating the credential itself. Both steps are required.
2

Create or reuse a service account with Jira access

Go to Directory → Service accounts.
  • New service account: click Add service account, name it something identifiable such as Sidekick MCP, and select Jira as one of its apps.
  • Existing service account: open it, select Grant access, and select Jira.
3

Create an API key

On the service account’s page, select Create credentials → API token.Select these scopes:Set an expiration and copy the API key. Atlassian shows it once.

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Connect the server in Sidekick

With the service account and API key ready, add the server as a custom MCP server in Sidekick.
1

Open the Add MCP server form

Go to Plain AI → Sidekick → Integrations, then in Custom MCP servers click Add MCP server.
2

Fill in the server details

  • Name: Atlassian
  • Server URL: https://mcp.atlassian.com/v2/mcp
  • Authentication: API key
3

Add the Authorization header

Under Auth parameters, set:
  • Placement: Header
  • Name: Authorization
  • Value: Bearer followed by a space and the API key you copied, for example Bearer your_atlassian_service_account_api_key
4

Click Connect

Sidekick opens the connection and lists the tools Atlassian’s server makes available.

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Verify the connection

A successful connection only confirms Sidekick can list Atlassian’s tools, not that it can read your Jira data. Confirm both in a Sidekick chat: ask it to search Jira for issues in one of your real projects. Watch the tool call render in the chat. If it returns real issues, the connection works end to end.