Generate a token at app.shortcut.com → Settings → API Tokens. Shortcut tokens have full member-level access — no scope restriction is available. Rotate or delete the token at any time from the same settings page.

If you prefer not to persist the token on disk, skip saving and export it for the session only: export SHORTCUT_API_TOKEN="<token>"

⚠️ JSON Construction Rule

Always use jq -n --arg / --argjson to build request bodies. Never interpolate user-supplied values directly into shell strings — this prevents shell injection from values containing quotes, backticks, or $().

# ✅ Safe — jq handles all escaping
DATA=$(jq -n --arg name "$TITLE" --arg desc "$DESCRIPTION" \
  '{name: $name, description: $desc}')
curl -s -X POST -H "Shortcut-Token: $SHORTCUT_API_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" -d "$DATA" "$BASE/stories"

# ❌ Unsafe — never do this
curl ... -d "{\"name\": \"$TITLE\"}"

Reading

Get a Story

curl -s -H "Shortcut-Token: $SHORTCUT_API_TOKEN" "$BASE/stories/<id>" | \
  jq '{id, name, story_type, description, workflow_state_id, estimate, epic_id, labels: [.labels[].name]}'

Strip the sc- prefix from IDs (use the number only).

Search Stories

curl -s -H "Shortcut-Token: $SHORTCUT_API_TOKEN" \
  "$BASE/search/stories?$(jq -rn --arg q "$QUERY" 'query=\($q|@uri)&page_size=10')" | \
  jq '.data[] | {id, name, story_type, estimate}'

List My Stories

ME=$(curl -s -H "Shortcut-Token: $SHORTCUT_API_TOKEN" "$BASE/member" | jq -r '.id')
curl -s -H "Shortcut-Token: $SHORTCUT_API_TOKEN" \
  "$BASE/search/stories?owner_id=${ME}&page_size=25" | \
  jq '.data[] | {id, name, story_type, workflow_state_id}'

List Workflows & States

curl -s -H "Shortcut-Token: $SHORTCUT_API_TOKEN" "$BASE/workflows" | \
  jq '.[] | {workflow: .name, states: [.states[] | {id, name, type}]}'

List Epics

curl -s -H "Shortcut-Token: $SHORTCUT_API_TOKEN" "$BASE/epics" | \
  jq '.[] | {id, name, state, total_stories: .stats.num_stories_total}'

Get Epic Stories

curl -s -H "Shortcut-Token: $SHORTCUT_API_TOKEN" "$BASE/epics/<epic_id>/stories" | \
  jq '.[] | {id, name, story_type, workflow_state_id, estimate}'

List Teams (Groups)

curl -s -H "Shortcut-Token: $SHORTCUT_API_TOKEN" "$BASE/groups" | \
  jq '[.[] | {id, name, mention_name}]'

Writing

All write operations build JSON with jq -n --arg to safely handle user-supplied strings.

Create Story

DATA=$(jq -n \
  --arg name "$STORY_TITLE" \
  --arg description "$STORY_DESCRIPTION" \
  --arg story_type "$STORY_TYPE" \
  --argjson estimate "$ESTIMATE" \
  --argjson workflow_state_id "$STATE_ID" \
  --arg group_id "$GROUP_ID" \
  --argjson epic_id "$EPIC_ID" \
  '{name: $name, description: $description, story_type: $story_type,
    estimate: $estimate, workflow_state_id: $workflow_state_id,
    group_id: $group_id, epic_id: $epic_id}')

curl -s -X POST \
  -H "Shortcut-Token: $SHORTCUT_API_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d "$DATA" "$BASE/stories" | jq '{id, name, app_url}'

Story types: feature, bug, chore

To add labels, extend the jq expression:

DATA=$(jq -n --arg name "$TITLE" --arg label "mobile" \
  '{name: $name, labels: [{name: $label}]}')

Create Epic

DATA=$(jq -n \
  --arg name "$EPIC_TITLE" \
  --arg description "$EPIC_DESCRIPTION" \
  --arg group_id "$GROUP_ID" \
  '{name: $name, description: $description, group_id: $group_id}')

curl -s -X POST \
  -H "Shortcut-Token: $SHORTCUT_API_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d "$DATA" "$BASE/epics" | jq '{id, name, app_url}'

Update Story (state, estimate, title, etc.)

DATA=$(jq -n --argjson state "$NEW_STATE_ID" '{workflow_state_id: $state}')

curl -s -X PUT \
  -H "Shortcut-Token: $SHORTCUT_API_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d "$DATA" "$BASE/stories/$STORY_ID" | jq '{id, name, workflow_state_id}'

Add Comment

DATA=$(jq -n --arg text "$COMMENT_TEXT" '{text: $text}')

curl -s -X POST \
  -H "Shortcut-Token: $SHORTCUT_API_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d "$DATA" "$BASE/stories/$STORY_ID/comments" | jq '{id, text}'

Wire Story Dependencies (blocker links)

DATA=$(jq -n \
  --argjson object_id "$BLOCKED_ID" \
  --argjson subject_id "$BLOCKER_ID" \
  '{object_id: $object_id, subject_id: $subject_id, verb: "blocks"}')

curl -s -X POST \
  -H "Shortcut-Token: $SHORTCUT_API_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d "$DATA" "$BASE/story-links" | jq '{id, verb}'

Workflow State Reference

Common default state IDs (verify with the workflows endpoint for your workspace):

State	Typical ID
Backlog	500000008
Ready for Development	500000007
In Development	500000006
Ready for Review	500000010
Completed	500000011

Always confirm state IDs by calling /workflows — they vary per account.

Bulk Story Creation

For creating full epics with multiple dependent stories, see references/create-stories.md.

Display Format

Stories:

🎯 sc-1234 — User Authentication Flow [feature, 5pts]
   Status: In Development | Epic: Auth & Onboarding
   Labels: backend, mobile

   > Users should be able to log in with email/password...

Backlog list (table format):

| ID      | Story                    | Type    | Pts | State   |
|---------|--------------------------|---------|-----|---------|
| sc-1234 | User Auth Flow           | feature | 5   | In Dev  |
| sc-1235 | Fix password reset email | bug     | 2   | Backlog |

Tips

Always check for API token before making requests
Strip sc- prefix from story IDs for API calls
Labels are auto-created by Shortcut if they don't exist — safe to pass new label names
Rate limit: 200 req/min — not a concern in normal usage
For exact story lookup always use /stories/<id> directly, not search

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Shortcut.com Skill 🎯

Auth Setup