Workload, Cycle Time, and More: Custom Jira Reports Built with AI Apps Builder

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Jira offers strong built-in reports, but most teams eventually run into the same problem:
“This report works for one board… not across all our projects.” When work covers several projects, shared resources, and cross-team dependencies, reporting often means manual exports, spreadsheets, and duplicate dashboards.

In this article, you’ll learn about two practical reports that Jira teams often request in the Community, and how to build them as custom Jira gadgets with AI Apps Builder. 

1️⃣ Workload Usage Report

The Problem

Teams want to know who is overloaded and how time is spent across all projects, not just on one board. Jira has worklogs, but there isn’t a simple, interactive way to see each user’s workload across projects in one place.

The Solution

With AI Apps Builder, you can create a Workload Usage dashboard gadget that displays total hours logged per user for any date range you choose.
The gadget should:

• Include multi-select filters for project and assignee.
• List only users who logged time during the selected period.
• Allow users to click on a name to open a table showing the issue key, summary, and hours logged.

This brings scattered worklog data together into one actionable view that Jira leaders can use right away.

Why This Report Matters

A structured workload gadget helps you do the following:

• Spot uneven workload distribution and overloaded contributors at a glance.
• Support resource planning discussions with concrete, per-user data.
• Swap out manual CSV exports and pivot tables for a reusable report built right into Jira.

Example Prompt

Create a “Workload Usage” dashboard gadget that shows total hours logged per user within a selected date range. Add multi-select filters for project and assignee, and show only users who logged time in the selected period. When I click a user, open a table with issue key, summary, and hours logged for each issue.

After this, AI Apps Builder generates the custom gadget. You deploy it and add it to any Jira dashboard.

2️⃣ Cycle Time Tracker

The Problem

Teams need clear answers to:

• How long does work actually take from “In Progress” to “Done”?
• Which issues take much longer than others?
• What is our average delivery speed?

Jira’s Control Chart is helpful, but it’s board-based and visual. It doesn’t provide a simple project-wide table showing cycle time for each issue in one place.

The Solution

With AI Apps Builder, you can create a Cycle Time Tracker gadget that displays a project-level table with cycle time for each issue.
The gadget should include:

• A project selector (dropdown).
• A summary panel with:
  • Total issues.
  • Issues with calculated cycle time.
  • Average cycle time in days.
• A table where each row contains: issue key, summary, type, status, cycle time in days.

This way, you get both the overview and the details in one Jira view.

Why This Report Matters

A project-wide cycle time table helps you do the following:

• Compare delivery speed across issues and releases.
• Identify outliers with unusually long cycle times.
• Spot workflow inconsistencies and feed them into retrospectives or SLAs.

Example Prompt

Create a “Cycle Time Tracker” dashboard gadget. Add a dropdown to select a project. For the selected project, show a summary with total issues, number of issues with cycle time, and average cycle time in days. Below, list all issues in a table with columns: key, summary, issue type, status, cycle time from “In Progress” to “Done.”

After you submit this prompt, AI Apps Builder generates and deploys custom Forge app as a gadget that you can add to any dashboard.

Read more examples in the article: “Tired of Manual Reports? Let AI Create Custom Jira Dashboards With AI Apps Builder".

Why Custom Reports Matter Now

As organizations grow:

• Work spans multiple projects and boards.
• Teams share resources across products and programs.
• SLAs and stakeholder expectations keep getting stricter.

Custom reports let you:

• Match your metrics to your actual workflows, statuses, and what “done” means for your team.
• Reduce manual reporting and spreadsheet work.
• Make decisions faster while keeping everything within Jira.

Where AI Apps Builder Fits

With AI Apps Builder, you don’t need any of the following:

• JavaScript skills.
• Forge boilerplate knowledge.
• Developer backlog time for every new report idea.

You describe what you need in plain English. The agent plans, creates, and checks a Forge app, whether it’s a gadget, dashboard, or panel. You deploy it to Jira, add it to a dashboard, and update it as your reporting needs change.

If your team is already exporting data to spreadsheets for workload or cycle time analysis, try turning one of those manual reports into a custom Jira gadget with AI Apps Builder for Jira.