Change color for a Cover for a Card automatically based on status

[Tahir_Mohammed]

We are looking to improve the visual representation of work items on our Jira board. Is it possible to automatically assign different card cover colors to user stories based on their status (for example, To Do, In Progress, Blocked, Testing, and Done)? If this is supported, can it be achieved through native Jira settings, card colors, automation rules, or Marketplace apps?

[Varun Chillamcharla]

Hi Tahir,

Yes, this is fully native — no automation or apps needed. There's a "Card Colors" option in Board settings:

1. Next to your board's name, hit More actions (•••) > Board settings

2. Expand Layout > Card Colors

3. There's no direct "Status" preset in the method dropdown, but you can pick "Queries" and set a JQL condition per color, e.g., status = "Blocked" → red, status = "In Progress" → yellow, status = "Done" → green, and so on. If a card matches more than one query, whichever one you added first wins.

One thing to watch out for: this only works on Company-managed projects. If you're on Team-managed, card color customization isn't available at all, you'd have to migrate to get it.

Worth checking your project type first under Project Settings > Details before setting anything up.