JQL for tickets updates by a certain user

[ckopanon]

I am trying to search for work items in the last 6 months that were updated by a specific user but I want it to include every update the user made to that ticket within those 6 months, not just the last update. When using issuekey IN updatedBy("username", "-180d") its not showing if there were multiple updates made to 1 work item. 

Part 2 of this is I don't want it to include if the work item update was just to log time in Tempo. I only want this to include if the update was a comment, field edited/updated, or status change.

[Gunjan Kumar · Accepted solution]

Hi @ckopanon

JQL cannot show multiple updates per ticket. It only tells you the user updated the issue at least once in that period.

Try this JQL: updated >= -180d AND updatedBy("username")

[ckopanon]

what about excluding updates that were just time being logged?

[Gunjan Kumar]

There isn’t a way to exclude updates that were only time logs (including Tempo) using regular JQL. Jira treats logging time the same as making a comment, changing a field, or moving a ticket to a new status, it all just counts as an update. Because of that, JQL can’t tell the difference between someone logging time and someone actually editing the issue. If you need to separate those, you would have to use an app like ScriptRunner or pull the data through the Jira REST API for more detailed reporting.

[Natalia_Kovalchuk_SaaSJet_]

Hi @ckopanon!

Unfortunately, JQL can't show every update that was made by a specific user. It only shows work items that were updated, not each change separately. It means that if the work item in Jira was edited a few times by the same user, JQL will still show it only once.

In your case, I can recommend you try Issue History for Jira (Work Item History) app provided by SaaSJet team. The app allows you to do the following:

• See every update as a separate entry

• Filter by specific user

• Filter by type of change (comment, field edit, status change)

• Ignore worklog-only updates

• Export everything to Excel, CSV, or PDF

For example:

So, if you need to search for work items updated in the last 6 months by a specific user, and you want it to include every update the user made to that ticket within those 6 months, the Issue History for Jira (Work Item History) app is the easiest and most accurate option.

Hope this helps.

[Rahul_RVS]

Hi @ckopanon 

You can use Jira Rest Api's to pull this information and build your own custom solution.

However if you need detailed reporting to track changes for multiple issues, you may want to have a look at a mktplace app for the same.

We have built an app to extract changelog data in a simple and easy to use interface. The data can be exported to a CSV file as well.

It provides complete details of who changed the data, what was changed and when.

Issue History Reports

Do give it a try.

Disclaimer : I am part of the app dev team

[Birkan Yildiz _OBSS_]

Hey @ckopanon

Native Jira cannot easily give you a report of every single update made by a user, nor can it filter out specific types of updates (like Tempo time logs) directly from your search results.
If you are open to using a 3rd party app, Historian - History Explorer for Jira can help you achieve this.
Here is how its features solve your specific requirements:

Work Item-Based View: Instead of just returning the issue, Historian generates an organized report where each work item appears as a row. You can expand it to see every individual field update related to that ticket chronologically, so you don't miss any multiple updates on the same issue.

Selecting Fields: This solves your Tempo time logging issue perfectly. You can explicitly select only the fields you care about, such as Status, Comments, or specific field edit, and completely exclude irrelevant updates like worklogs from your report.

Changed By & Changed At Filters: You can apply column filters to limit the history entries to only those made by your specific user, and set the time range specifically to the last 6 months.

You can check it out on the Atlassian Marketplace. Hope this helps you get the exact visibility you need!

Disclosure: I am part of the OBSS team, the creators of Historian.

Best,
Birkan

[Bartek Szajkowski _ Orbiscend OU]

Hello @ckopanon 

Hope my answer meets you well. I'm Bartek, from Orbiscend OU.
If you are open for the third-oparty app, I would like to recommend to check our app ARGON - which is now free on Marketplace.

ARGON Powerful JQL Search 

ARGON Powerful JQL Search can solve both parts of this. ARGON's changedBy function searches through the full changelog history of each issue — so every update within the date range is captured, not just the most recent one.

Example:
issue in changedBy("project = MYPROJECT", "", "2025/09/04", "2026/03/04", "john.smith")

This returns every issue where john.smith made any field edit or status change within the period, across all updates — not just the last one.

For Part 2, changedBy works on field-level changes (status, priority, description, etc.), and you can use commented separately for comments. Since neither function indexes Tempo worklog entries, time logging is naturally excluded.

Example:
issue in changedBy("project = MYPROJECT", "", "2025/09/04", "2026/03/04", "john.smith")
OR
issue in commented("project = MYPROJECT", "john.smith", "2025/09/04", "2026/03/04")

This covers all three activity types you care about — field edits, status changes, and comments — while Tempo worklogs remain excluded since they aren't tracked by either function.

Also if needed you can also use ARGON' function transitionedBy

I believe that my response will meet your expectations and prove useful.

Greetings
Bartek Orbiscend OU