How do I track the duration of a ticket

[Williams_ Dave]

What fields do I use to track the duration of a ticket?
Date Created

Date Resolved

Date completed

Length of time it was open

[Rahul_RVS]

Hi @Williams_ Dave 

For detailed reporting for cycle times / time in status for your issues, if you would like to try out an alternate mktplace app, pls explore

Time in Status Reports 

With this app you generate time in each workflow status for multiple issues with multiple filter and grouping options. It works for current issues and closed ones as well.

The report below shows the cycle time of the issues. This can be achieved by the status grouping feature of the app, wherein you can define your own cycle/resolution times by grouping up specific statuses.

The calendar setting feature allows to define your working days and times. The app will calculate time in status based on this calendar only.

The app can be easily added as a dashboard gadget and can be shared with colleagues.

More details here.

Disclaimer : I am part of the app team for this add-on 

[Birkan Yildiz _OBSS_]

Hey @Williams_ Dave 

First, welcome to the Community!

While native Jira records the "Created" and "Resolved" dates, it doesn't natively provide a built-in "duration" field that easily calculates the exact elapsed time a ticket was open without relying on complex JQL or workarounds.

If you are open to using a Marketplace app, you can effortlessly track the exact lifespan of your tickets using Timepiece - Time in Status for Jira.

Here is how you can get this exact data instantly:

Total Time Open: Use the Duration Between Statuses report. Click the Metrics button, set Start At to "Issue Creation", and Stop At to your "Resolved" or "Completed" status. 

This will automatically calculate the exact total duration your ticket remained open.

Time per Status: You can also use the Status Duration report to see a breakdown of exactly how much time was spent in individual workflow stages, like "Analysis" or "Test"

Pro tip: You can apply Timepiece's Custom Calendars to automatically exclude weekends, nights, and public holidays from the ticket's total duration calculation, giving you a true business-hour metric.

Plus, with the built-in Timepiece Assistant, you can simply ask the AI to generate this exact duration report for you without needing to configure it manually.

You can find Timepiece - Time in Status for Jira on the Atlassian Marketplace.

Full disclosure: I'm on the team that makes Timepiece. Hope this helps you get the exact metrics you need!

[Khrystyna_Dzhus_SaaSJet_]

Hi @Williams_ Dave,

In Jira, you can use the Created and Resolved fields to see when a ticket was opened and resolved. Jira does not have a separate standard Date completed field, and for resolved tickets, the time the ticket was open is the difference between the Created and Resolved dates.

For more detailed tracking, Time in Status by SaaSJet shows the total time since ticket creation, including tickets that are still open, and breaks the duration down by each workflow status.

It lets you calculate lead or cycle time by grouping the relevant statuses.

You can also apply a working calendar to exclude weekends, holidays, and non-working hours, and view the data in reports, charts, Jira dashboard gadgets, or directly in the ticket activity.

Disclaimer: I’m part of the SaaSJet team.

[Bartek Szajkowski _ Orbiscend OU]

Dear @Williams_ Dave 

Thanks for your message.

If you are open for third-party app, I would like to recommend to check one from our 2 apps, which can solve this in different way.

Yes — two apps cover this better than native Jira, in different ways:

Argon (Powerful JQL Search) — adds duration tracking directly at the field/JQL level:

• Time in Status custom field — shows exact time spent in any status (e.g. "In Progress.time"), addable to any issue view, filter, or export
• JQL functions to query duration without manual date math, e.g.:
  • issue > timeInStatus("project = DEV", "In Progress", "2w") → tickets open in progress >2 weeks
  • "Time in Development.time" > timeExpression("5d") → filterable/sortable field-level duration

Spectra (Dashboards) — answers the "how long was it open" question visually, no JQL needed:

• Cycle time and lead time as first-class chart metrics (with control chart / p50-p85 lines)
• Time in status & WIP aging — average time per status, current aging, reopened issues
• Precomputed from changelog, so no manual "Resolved − Created" formulas or automation rules needed

Both - JQL Argon  and Spectra you can easily find on Atlassian Marketplace.

I hope my answers will help you to solve your issue.

Greetings
Bartek ((JQL Argon and Spectra app provider)

[Alexandre Pezzini]

In Jira Cloud, tracking the duration of a work item is primarily handled through system fields and built-in reports rather than manual custom fields.

1. Key System Fields for Duration

Jira automatically tracks the following timestamps for every work item:

• Created: The date and time the work item was first logged.

• Resolved: The date and time the work item's Resolution field was set (e.g., when it moved to a "Done" or "Closed" status).

• Updated: The last time any change was made to the work item.

Note on "Date Completed": In Jira, "Resolved" is typically used as the completion date. If your workflow has multiple "Done" statuses, the Resolved date is set the moment the work item enters any status that Jira recognizes as "Complete" (indicated by a green status category).

2. Tracking "Length of Time Open" (Cycle & Lead Time)

To see the "Length of time it was open" without manual calculations, Jira provides two powerful native reports:

• Control Chart (Company-managed spaces):

  • This report specifically measures Lead Time (time from creation to completion) and Cycle Time (time from when work actually started to completion).

  • It allows you to see the "Elapsed Time" for each work item as a dot on the chart.

• Cumulative Flow Diagram (CFD):

  • This provides a visual representation of how work items move through statuses over time, helping you identify how long items are "stuck" in specific stages (bottlenecks).

3. How to View These Metrics

You don't need to create new fields to see this data. You can find it here:

1. In the Work Item View: Look at the Dates section in the right-hand sidebar of a work item to see the Created and Updated dates.

2. In Issue Search (JQL): You can search for work items based on these durations using JQL, for example: created >= "-7d" or resolved is not EMPTY.

3. In Reports: Go to your project sidebar, select Reports, and then choose Control Chart or Cumulative Flow Diagram.

4. Advanced Tracking (Marketplace)

If you need to see the "Time in Status" (e.g., "How many days was this in 'In Review'?") directly on the work item or in a table format, there are several highly-rated apps like Time in Status or Custom Charts for Jira that can calculate and display these durations as dedicated fields.

Verified Documentation

• View and understand the control chart | Jira Cloud | Atlassian Support

• View and understand the cumulative flow diagram | Jira Cloud | Atlassian Support

• Generate a report | Jira Cloud | Atlassian Support

I hope this helps you accurately track your team's performance and work item durations!

[Bartek Szajkowski _ Orbiscend OU]

Dear @Alexandre Pezzini 

Thanks for your answer.

In referring  to your point 4th, our app JQL Argon provides exactly this function - TimeInStatus.
I hope you will find time slot in the future to check it :)

Have a good day
Bartek (from Orbiscend OU - JQL Argon app provider)

[James Gamble]

Hola Dave,

Jira already provides the Created and Resolved system fields. Created records when the work item was opened, and Resolved is populated when the workflow sets the Resolution field. There isn’t a separate standard Date Completed field unless your team creates one.

For the total time a completed ticket was open, use the difference between Created and Resolved. Jira has a Resolution Time report that shows this across a set of work items. Just make sure your workflow actually sets the Resolution field when work moves to Done; otherwise, Jira won’t consider the ticket resolved, and the Resolved date and related reports may be incorrect.

If you need the duration displayed as a field on each ticket or included in dashboards and exports, create a number field such as Resolution Time in Days and populate it with an automation rule when the ticket reaches its final status.

Note: Created to Resolved measures the ticket’s total elapsed lifetime. If you want active working time, excluding periods such as Waiting or On Hold, you’ll need cycle-time reporting or a separate time-in-status calculation instead.

Thanks,

James