Quick question: Can we get past data from a custom field?

[Radia Dev]

Dear Community,

It is great to connect with you all again!

I am currently working on retrieving historical data and require assistance with a specific JQL query challenge.

The Goal: Historical Priority Tracking

I need to generate a list of all issues that were ever classified as P1 or P2 at any point during their lifecycle, even if their priority was subsequently decreased and the issue was ultimately resolved.

The Challenge

Since standard JQL queries only filter based on the current priority, they do not capture these historical changes.

Has anyone utilized a specific method, advanced JQL function (e.g., from an app like ScriptRunner), or a technique to successfully query the Issue History for past priority values?

Any guidance on how to extract this historical data for tickets that "had priority = P1 or P2" would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you for your insights.

[David Nickell]

priority was in (P1, P2)

Thats the JQL

Enjoy

[Bill Sheboy]

Hi @Radia Dev 

Adding to David's suggestion, here is the documentation for the WAS IN operator:

https://support.atlassian.com/jira-software-cloud/docs/jql-operators/#WAS-IN

Kind regards,
Bill

[Radia Dev]

Hi @David Nickell and @Bill Sheboy

The "WAS IN" operator is not working. This is the error message "History searches do not support the 'Priority' field."

Thanks!

[David Nickell]

I just ran this in the ecosystem instance (cloud based) without any issues.  Maybe I don't understand what an "Issue History" search is?  Are you running a query from some place other than the issue navigator ?.  

[David Nickell]

Check to see if someone created a custom field called "Priority".  This happens all too frequently -- that someone doesn't like the priority options and end up creatring a second field not realizing thet confusion that might occur.

you can run this REST endpoint in your browser if that helps to confirm which fields exist:

https://ecosystem.atlassian.net/rest/api/3/field

[Radia Dev]

Hi @David Nickell

I appreciate your help in this issue!

However, as previously stated, we are using a custom field to determine priority! (Which do not support the WAS IN operator),

Hence, I can't see any way to view the previous data for this field.

Thanks,
Dev Radia.

[Birkan Yildiz _OBSS_]

Hey @Radia Dev 

While, as mentioned in the other answers, your request could easily be met using the WAS IN operator in JQL, you noted that the field in question is a custom field.

In this case, I'd like to suggest a specific third-party app: Historian - History Explorer for Jira.

By using Historian, you can quickly view the historical changes for any field. Crucially, this functionality also applies to Custom Fields.

After generating your report, you can select the specific values you want to filter by, allowing you to see a list of issues that have ever held those values.

In the screenshots I've included (or, in my example), I created a custom field called "Internal Priority" and configured the report to only return issues whose value was updated to P1 or P2 at some point in their history. This way, you will be able to see a list of every issue whose specific custom field value has, at some point, been set to the requested value.

Hope this helps! To learn more about Historian - History Explorer for Jira, you can visit Atlassian Marketplace.

Full disclosure, I'm on the team that makes Historian.