Auditing in Jira: How to Track User and System Changes Effectively

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When working in teams, it is useful to be aware of what and when something has been changed. Auditing in Jira allows you to make everything transparent and under control, whether you are troubleshooting the problems, ensuring accountability, or preparing for an audit.

Jira has some built-in tracking functionality. And unless you like playing the role of a full-time Jira detective (pipe and magnifying glass not included 🕵️), you will probably need some better tools to do the job.

In this article, we'll explore native auditing in Jira and the apps that can help you audit everything without the mystery.

Who Needs Jira Auditing 

Let’s explore what Jira users need auditing the most:

• Jira Administrators

Monitor configuration modifications, assignment of permissions, and editing of workflow. Vital in handling big or increasing Jira environments.

• Project Managers and Team Leads

Track the progress, make sure that transitions are made correctly, and be the first to reveal some unintentional shifts in tasks or assignments.

• Compliance and Security Officers

Keep audit trails to comply with internal policies or external standards (ISO, SOC2, GDPR, etc.).

• Support Teams

When working on bug reports or quick fixes, check the entire history of the work item activity.

• External Auditors

View a clear log of user and system activity during periodic reviews.

Native Jira Auditing and Tracking Features

Audit Log 

One of the key built-in tools used for auditing in Jira is the Audit Log. 

To access it, choose the next: Settings → System → Audit Log.

Image source: Atlassian Support

It monitors changes at the admin level within your Jira instance, so it is a required feature to use in case you manage users, workflows, or project settings.

🔍 What it records:

• Updates to permissions
• Changes in workflow 
• User or group management operations
• Changes in global settings
• Installation and uninstallation of apps

✅ Why it’s useful:

Audit Log ensures that the Jira Admins are aware of any critical changes made to the system and are able to detect any unanticipated modifications that may result in changes in the system's behavior, performance, or security. It is also useful in incident resolution and compliance tracking, which provides a list of actions in chronological order at the system level.

⚠️ Limitations:

• There is no insight into field changes at the work item-level (e.g., status, assignee).

• No project or user filtering.
• Export is limited.

History Tab

Each Jira work item has a History Tab that records the changes made to that work item over time. It is one of the most easily available native auditing functions, yet one of the most limited.

🔍 What it shows:

• Field updates (e.g., status, priority, summary, assignee).
• Who did the change and when.
• Workflow transitions.

✅ Why it’s useful:

It is useful whenever you need to look back at the history of a particular work item, such as during a retrospective or when investigating an incident.

⚠️ Limitations:

• We can only track one work item at a time; no cross-project or bulk tracking.
• No user, date, or field filtering.
• When it comes to export, there are no available options.

Third-Party Apps for Auditing in Jira

Advanced Audit Log for Jira App

Advanced Audit Log for Jira app is explicitly designed for Jira admins and security teams who need to track every structural or system update in the instance easily.

🔍 What it records:

• Workflow changes.

• Screen configuration changes.

• Custom field modifications.

Each log entry includes:

• Who made the change.
• What was changed (before/after).
• When it happened.

✅ Why it’s useful:

• Assists in identifying the misconfigurations in advance.
• Helps to support compliance and audit processes (ISO, SOC2, internal policies).
• Makes complex admin processes easier to handle.

👤 Best for:

• Jira admins who have multiple projects or workflows to manage.
• Compliance and security officers who require quality audit logs.
• Large teams where admin activity needs to be tracked clearly.

Issue History for Jira (Work Item History) App

Issue History for Jira app is an app that expands Jira capabilities with a centralized and searchable history of all work item-level changes to your entire workspace.

🔍 What you can track:

• All the field changes of various work items (e.g., status changes, assignee changes, priority changes).
• By whom, and when, was the change made.
• Bulk updates.
• Deleted work items. 

To view specific reports of changes, you can use the app's filter for project, user, field, date, and more. You can also export the data in Excel or CSV formats. 

✅ Why it’s useful:

Rather than flipping through hundreds of work items, you will have one screen with complete visibility of what changed and who made the change.

👤 Best for:

• Team leads and project managers who need to monitor sprint changes and accountability.
• Support and QA teams to trace how work items have been handled over time.
• Jira admins to get insights into bulk edits.
• Project auditors need to access a user-friendly history of changes without having to delve into each work item. 

Summing Up

Auditing in Jira is what keeps things visible, accountable, and under control, whether it's about tasks or system settings. Although Jira provides such basic tools as History Tab and Audit Log, they are not always sufficient to go deeper.

You can enable complete transparency of both work item-level change and configuration-level change by adding tools, such as Issue History for Jira and Advanced Audit Log for Jira, which provide confidence, visibility, and a full audit trail to your team.

[Stephen_Lugton]

Thanks for this article @Natalia_Kovalchuk_SaaSJet_ it makes for an interesting read, especially since I have a meeting with our external auditors in 38 minutes!