JSM Business Project Search Index Broken — project = UM Returns 0 Results

[Healthspan Technical]

I'm experiencing a critical issue with our Jira Cloud Free plan instance where our Jira Service Management (JSM) business-type project (key: UM, User Management) appears completely empty in the board/list view.

Details:

• Project: User Management (UM) — JSM Business project with ~250 issues
• Issue started: Last Thursday (June 26, 2026)
• Symptom: Board shows "There's nothing matching your search"
• Root cause: JQL query project = UM returns 0 results
• Verification: Direct issue lookup works fine (UM-267 accessible directly)
• Board filter: Correctly configured — project = UM ORDER BY created DESC

What I've checked:

• ✓ Board filter JQL is correct
• ✓ Direct issue access works (UM-267 fetches fine)
• ✓ Project permissions are correct
• ✓ JSM queue/security settings look normal
• ✓ "Hide done work items" toggle doesn't fix it

Analysis:
This appears to be a search index inconsistency specific to JSM business-type projects. The index doesn't recognize any issues in the UM project despite them existing in the database.

Question:
Has anyone else experienced this with JSM business projects on Free plan? Is this a known issue? What are the next steps for resolution?

I'm on Jira Free plan with 5 users. I understand support is limited on Free, but any guidance would be appreciated.

Thanks!

[Trudy P Claspill]

Hello @Healthspan Technical 

When you say "Direct issue lookup works fine (UM-267 accessible directly)" exactly what steps are you taking to access the issue? Are you executing a JQL search? Are you typing the key into the Search field at the top of the Jira screen? Are you using a previously saved link directly to the issue?

Do you see the Space listed in the navigation bar on the left? If so, can you please click on the ellipsis next to the Space name and tell us what the last two lines in the pop-up say? It will be something like:

Service Space
Company-managed

I ask this because Service and Business projects are different project architectures, but you said it is a JSM business-type project. So I want to get confirmation on the project type.

Can you provide us with a screen image that shows your board where the message is displaying?

[Healthspan Technical]

Thanks for the follow-up questions! Here's the information:

1. How I access UM-267:
I'm using the Search field at the top of the Jira screen (typing "UM-267"). As you can see in the attached screenshot, the search returns the issue: "UM-267

Deactivate Jennifer Hagen on 2026-05-30" from User Management project, recently viewed.

2. Project Type Confirmation:
I clicked the ellipsis (...) next to "User Management" and the last two lines say:

• Business space
• Company-managed

So it is confirmed as a Business project, Company-managed.

3. Screenshot of the empty board:
As shown in my previous message, the board displays "There's nothing matching your search" even though UM-267 (and ~250 other issues) exist in the project.

Thank you,
-- Mia

[Trudy P Claspill]

Thank you for that additional information and the screen images Mia.

Can you confirm that you have tried going to Filters > Search work items (in the panel on the left) and executing a search for the issues either using the Basic search features or the explicit JQL?

[Healthspan Technical]

Basic search for "UM-267"

• Searching by issue key "UM-267" returns: "There's nothing matching your search"
• Even though I can access UM-267 directly via the top search box
• 
• 

Basic search with NO filters

• When I remove all filters and search without specifying any project, the results show 209 of 209 items
• Not a single item from the UM project
• 

Critical Finding:
The search index appears to be completely missing the entire UM project. When searching globally without filters, 209 items appear but none are from UM.

[Trudy P Claspill]

Thank you for that additional information.

While viewing your business space (i.e. the screens you initially shared) can you click on the "+" icon in the tab bar and look for Archived work items and click on it and click the Add to navigation button.

Can you then check that tab to see if the issues are listed there?

When on a Free subscription it should not be possible to archive issues. But, if you temporarily upgraded to a Trial of the Premium subscription then it would've been possible for issues to get archived. That removes them from the search index and from all normal displays of issues. But it is still possible to access them directly.

[Healthspan Technical]

I didn't do that, but my tickets are visible again! Thank you if you did it! And it is very concerning if it just happened on its own.

Thank you for your quick responses and for taking the time to help!


--Mia

[Dave Rosenlund _Trundl_]

Hi, Mia @Healthspan Technical 👋

The Atlassian Community is a community made up (largely) of Atlassian customers and partners.  We are your peers and we can't fix anything for you behind the scenes, in your system(s).

That said, on occasion, the Atlassian support team gets involved in a community post, but it's rare (because there are other/better channels for reaching them).

I hope that makes sense. 

-dave