How to automatically archive inactive Jira spaces (projects) (180+ days no activity)

[#1]

Tired of inactive Jira projects cluttering your instance? With 100+ projects, manually archiving them is time-consuming and error-prone. Here's a workflow you can build in Jira Automation to detect and archive inactive projects in a controlled way.

1. Trigger

Schedule the rule (e.g. weekly or monthly). No need to run it too often.

2. Fetch projects

Use Send web request to GET /rest/api/3/project/search (or your preferred project endpoint) with pagination. For large instances, use Branch rule / Branch at the same time to run batches in parallel (e.g. first 100, next 100) so the rule stays fast.

3. Check activity per space (project)

For each space (e.g. from {{webResponse.body.values}}), run a Lookup issues (or Advanced search) with JQL such as:

project = "{{project.key}}" AND updated >= -180d OREDER BY updated DESC

If the lookup returns no issues, the project has had no updates in the last 180 days — treat it as inactive for this workflow.

4. Optional but recommended: ask before archiving

Instead of archiving immediately, create an issue (e.g. assigned to the project lead or a specific team) asking: "This project has had no activity for 180+ days. Should it be archived?" Then use a separate rule (e.g. triggered when that issue is transitioned to "Approved" or "Archive") to perform the actual archive. That way stakeholders confirm before anything is archived.

5. Perform the archive

In the rule that does the archive, use an action that can archive the project(s). For example, Bulker (I work for MOY Apps, we build it) provides an "Archive Space" automation action that takes project key(s) and archives them—no need to maintain your own webhook or API auth; you only need the connection and the action. Actions run as the user associated with the rule's connection, so you're not granting the app extra permissions.

6. Integrate it into your service request process (optional)

You can also embed this logic into your team’s service request workflow.

For example, stakeholders can submit a request like “Archive project” or “Restore project,” and Jira Automation can automatically handle archiving or unarchiving using smart values and the project key provided in the request.

This allows controlled, on-demand project lifecycle management without manual admin work, while keeping everything auditable inside Jira.

If you want to try this approach, the app is on the Marketplace: Bulker – Bulk assign schemes, roles, users, archive projects.

You can also do the archive step with custom webhooks (calling the Jira archive API yourself), other Marketplace apps, or whatever fits your stack—this is just one way to do it.

Why this design helps

• You get a clear list of "inactive" projects (the 180d threshold is easy to change).

• Governance: you only archive after confirmation if you use the ticket step.

• One scheduled rule for detection + one rule for "archive after approval" keeps things simple and auditable.
  
  

If you've built something similar with other apps or native automation only, share your approach—would be useful to compare notes.