We really should have inverse operators for these bits of JQL

[User12345]

JQL supports field CHANGED TO X FROM Y

The following operators should have NOT support

AFTER

BEFORE

BY

DURING

FROM

ON

TO

Would be very helpful when doing filter queries against a bunch of tickets

[Bill Sheboy · Accepted solution]

Hi @User12345 

Please provide an example JQL where the NOT keyword does not work as expected with those additions to the CHANGED operator.

Here is an example where NOT is used with CHANGED AFTER:

project = MYPROJECT
 AND NOT status CHANGED AFTER -120d
 ORDER BY Key ASC

And, often a JQL query's logic may be inverted to provide the search results needed.

Of course...there are exceptions, such as when the changelog has errors preventing JQL from returning accurate results, with or without the NOT keyword.  A specific example is changelog errors in list fields, such as Fix Versions, when the values change too many times.

Kind regards,
Bill

[User12345]

project = MYPROJECT AND status CHANGED TO status1 NOT FROM status2 after "2026-06-15 00:00"

@Bill Sheboy 

[User12345]

Instead I'd have to do from ("Status1", "Status3", "Status4")

etc

[Bill Sheboy]

Inserting NOT within the CHANGED operator's clauses, or adding a list of values for FROM, TO, etc. is not supported.  There are lots of related suggestions in the JAC backlog which you may watch / vote for to see progress: 

https://jira.atlassian.com/secure/Dashboard.jspa

For the specific query you note, one workaround is to split the query to check each of the other possible status values the workflow supports other than "status2":

project = MYPROJECT
 AND (
          status CHANGED TO status1 FROM status1 AFTER "2026-06-15 00:00"
       OR status CHANGED TO status1 FROM status3 AFTER "2026-06-15 00:00"
       ...
     )
 ORDER BY Key ASC

Another possible workaround is to investigate marketplace apps which extend the features of JQL for changelog searches:

https://marketplace.atlassian.com/

[John Funk · Accepted solution]

Hi User,

Yes, that would probably be very helpful - but we are just a user community and can't control those types of things. You should submit a suggestion to Atlassian Support: 

https://support.atlassian.com/contact#/