📊 Version report for Jira: Track release progress beyond native limitations 🚀

[#1]

Planning releases in Jira requires clear visibility into version progress across your roadmap. Many Agile teams struggle with tracking multiple versions simultaneously and understanding how work is distributed across releases. Jira's native Version Report only displays one version at a time and lacks dashboard integration, making program-level planning difficult.

Version report addresses these gaps – part of the Agile Velocity Charts app by Broken Build, this dashboard gadget provides comprehensive visibility into release progress across all your versions.

👉 Explore this interactive Version report example 📊 to see the functionality in action.

Let's examine the specific limitations of Jira's native reporting that create these challenges.

The limitations of Jira's native chart

Jira provides a native Version Report in the Reports section of Scrum boards, designed for basic single-version tracking. While functional for simple scenarios, teams encounter significant constraints when managing multiple releases:

❌ Single version only – The native Version Report displays one version at a time. Program managers and release coordinators cannot visualize multiple releases simultaneously or compare progress across versions, limiting roadmap planning capabilities.

❌ No dashboard gadget availability – The report exists only in the Reports section and cannot be added to Jira dashboards. This prevents at-a-glance monitoring and restricts visibility for stakeholders who need quick access to release status.

❌ Limited breakdown options – You cannot segment progress by team, epic, issue type, or priority. The chart provides only high-level completion status without the dimensional analysis needed for detailed planning.

❌ No interactive exploration – The static view prevents drill-down into underlying issues. Teams cannot click through to investigate specific work items or understand what's driving release progress.

These limitations create inefficiencies in release coordination, particularly for teams managing complex roadmaps or cross-functional deliverables. A more comprehensive solution becomes essential.

Powerful alternative: Version report by Broken Build

The Version report gadget delivers advanced release tracking directly to your Jira dashboard. Unlike Jira's native approach, this solution enables simultaneous monitoring of multiple versions with configurable breakdowns by any Jira field that matters to your workflow.

The gadget addresses critical release management requirements: coordinating multi-version roadmaps, providing stakeholder visibility into release status, identifying work distribution patterns across versions, and enabling data-driven capacity planning. Whether managing a single product release or coordinating an entire release train, Version report provides the analytical depth that native Jira reporting cannot deliver.

The solution balances accessibility with analytical power – intuitive enough for quick status checks while sophisticated enough to support detailed release planning conversations.

Version report: Key features & JTBD

The Version report brings five powerful capabilities to your Jira dashboard. Here's how each feature addresses specific release management needs:

🚀 Release-based velocity tracking

Use fixed versions as your data source to build a velocity chart focused on releases rather than boards. Track throughput delivered toward one or multiple releases, analyzing completion trends based on past velocity patterns. Select versions from a single project or span across multiple projects for flexible release tracking.

The chart displays velocity by time intervals (sprints, weeks, or months), showing work completed toward each release during each period.

🎯 Why this helps:

• Track cross-project releases – Monitor versions spanning multiple projects from one unified chart

• Focus on delivery milestones – View velocity in terms of actual customer-facing releases

• Forecast completion – Use historical data to estimate release timelines

🔍 Breakdown and drill-down capabilities

Click any sprint or time interval to open a detailed breakdown showing how throughput is distributed. Compare contributions across releases, projects, or any dimension with fully customizable breakdown fields - group by assignee, board, label, component, issue type, or any custom Jira field.

Support multiple nesting levels: start with releases, drill down into projects, then teams, and finally individual contributors. At every level, view the actual issue list and edit directly from the report.

🎯 Why this helps:

• Identify contribution patterns – See which teams or individuals drive velocity toward shared releases

• Spot uneven distribution – Quickly recognize workload imbalances for rebalancing discussions

• Troubleshoot velocity changes – Drill down to understand if dips are isolated to specific teams or work types

📈 Benchmark and target lines

Display horizontal reference lines to put velocity data into context. Show benchmark lines representing the median or average velocity calculated over the chosen past sprints. Add custom target lines to track delivery goals or KPIs, making performance expectations instantly visible.

🎯 Why this helps:

• Visualize performance standards – See typical performance with deviations highlighted immediately

• Track against goals – Display target lines showing whether you're on pace for commitments

• Enable data-driven discussions – Compare current velocity to historical patterns objectively

⚙️ Custom calculations and display options

Tailor the chart to match your workflow with flexible calculation settings. Adjust estimation fields (Story Points, hours, issue count, custom fields), configure which statuses count as "Done," choose time intervals (sprint, week, biweek, month), and switch between bar and line chart views.

🎯 Why this helps:

• Align with team practices – Configure fields and statuses to match actual team workflows

• Choose optimal views – Use bar charts for interval comparison or line charts for trend analysis

• Support different needs – Product Managers track story points while Program Managers track issue counts

🔍 Filter, focus, and export

Narrow the chart scope by filtering work items through issue type, epic, priority, or custom JQL. Create focused views for specific stakeholder needs.

Export data to CSV for analysis, or generate PNG and PDF files for presentations and documentation.

🎯 Why this helps:

• Create targeted reports – Show only features for roadmap discussions or bugs for quality reviews

• Remove noise – Exclude items that distort velocity for cleaner metrics

• Support offline analysis – Export for custom calculations or integration with other tools

These five features provide comprehensive release velocity analytics that adapt to your team's workflow and reporting requirements.

How the Version report works in action (Interactive example)

Understanding the Version report's full capabilities requires hands-on exploration. We've built a fully interactive demo showing the gadget exactly as it appears on your Jira dashboard. In this live example, adjust settings, change filters, explore different breakdowns, and observe how the chart responds in real time.

👉 Version report 📊 interactive example – Experience the functionality firsthand!

The demo includes realistic project data spanning multiple versions, enabling you to test every feature discussed – from multi-version tracking to breakdown analysis to drill-down exploration. It's a complete working version of the gadget, not a static screenshot.

Version report: Pro tips

Maximize the value of your Version report implementation with these practical techniques:

💡 Layer multiple breakdowns strategically – Start with a release-level view, then add a project breakdown, followed by a team or issue type. This layered approach helps you navigate from high-level roadmap status to specific execution details efficiently.

💡 Set meaningful benchmark periods – When configuring benchmark lines, choose reference periods that represent stable team composition and processes. Avoid including sprints with major holidays, team changes, or unusual circumstances that would skew your baseline.

💡 Use line view for trend spotting – Switch to line chart mode when you need to identify velocity trends over longer periods. Line charts make it easier to spot acceleration, decline, or seasonal patterns that bar charts might obscure.

💡 Create role-specific filters – Save different JQL filters for various stakeholders: executive views showing only epics, development views including stories and bugs, or quality views focusing on defects. This makes the same gadget useful for multiple audiences.

These techniques transform the Version report from a monitoring tool into an active driver of improved release management practices.

Setting up the Version report on your Jira Dashboard

Version report is part of the Agile Velocity Charts app, available as a separate gadget or inside the Agile Reports & Gadgets bundle. Setup takes just minutes:

1️⃣ Go to your Jira dashboard – Navigate to the dashboard where you want release tracking, or create a new dashboard dedicated to roadmap visibility.

2️⃣ Click "Add gadget" – Use the dashboard menu to open the gadget directory, where you can browse available options.

3️⃣ Search for "Agile Velocity Charts" – In the search bar, type "Agile Velocity Charts" to find the app that includes Version report functionality.

4️⃣ Click "Add" and configure – Select the Version report option, then configure your data source (choose one or multiple boards, projects, or use custom JQL filters), select which versions to track, set up any desired breakdowns (such as by issue type or team), and customize display options.

Setup complete! 🎉 Your Version report now appears on your dashboard, automatically updating as work progresses.

🎯 It's time to transform your version tracking approach!

Stop piecing together fragmented release data from multiple reports. Version report centralizes velocity tracking across all your versions, giving you the unified visibility that Jira's native reporting can't deliver.

What you gain:

✅ Track release velocity across projects, not just board-based sprints

✅ Drill from high-level releases down to individual issue details

✅ Benchmark performance against historical averages and targets

✅ Configure calculations and filters to match your workflow

✅ Export insights for stakeholder presentations

👉 See it in action: Jira version report 📊 interactive example

Ready to implement? Version report is available as part of the Agile Velocity Charts app or bundled with Agile Reports & Gadgets (includes Velocity Chart, Cycle Time Chart, and Burnup Burndown Charts). Start with a 30-day free trial - no credit card required. Free for teams of up to 10 users.

🚀 Add the Version report to your dashboard and gain release velocity clarity today!