JQL "...AND NOT status CHANGED BEFORE -xd" Not Showing Expected Results

Question

I am attempting to return results for issues whose status have not changed for greater than 90 days. But each one I try includes issues within 90 days, instead of BEFORE 90 days.

Searching around I keep finding advice to use JQL to the effect of:

...AND NOT status CHANGED BEFORE -90d...

But the actual results are returning issues such as those created today and yesterday. They have not even existed for 90 days, why are they included in the results?

I've tried different combinations with CHANGED BEFORE and CHANGED AFTER, but it doesn't make sense.

How do I use JQL to return results for issues that have not had a status changed for more than 90 days? What is "CHANGED BEFORE" and "CHANGED AFTER" really targeting when combined with -xd or xd?

My goal is to create an automation that can send notifications for issues that have not been updated (have not had a status change) for more than 90 days. But I can't seem to even target the correct issues to begin.

Any help is most appreciated.

Bartek Szajkowski _ Orbiscend OU · Answer

Dear @Bob Bob

Sorry for late answer.

If you are open for third-party app, I would like to recommend to check our JQL Argon app.

Argon — timeInStatus() reads the changelog directly and lets you compare elapsed time with plain operators:

Example:

issue > timeInStatus("project = DEV", "done", "90d")

or

And for "any current status, quiet 90+ days" (the automation use case):

project = DEV AND status NOT IN (Done, Closed) AND (

(status = "To Do" AND issue > timeInStatus("project = DEV", "To Do", "90d"))

OR (status = "In Progress" AND issue > timeInStatus("project = DEV", "In Progress", "90d"))

OR (status = "done" AND issue > timeInStatus("project = DEV", "done", "90d"))

)

This reads as "for whatever status the issue is currently in, has it been there 90+ days" — which is what "hasn't had a status change" actually means in practice.

For your automation use case

Either query drops straight into a scheduled Jira Automation rule (JQL trigger, run daily/weekly) to notify the team — no exports, no separate reporting layer, and it stays live since timeInStatus re-evaluates the changelog on every run.

JQL Argon  you can find and try on Marketplace.

Enjoy!
Orbiscend Team (JQL Argon app provider)

Ivan Manolov _Appfire_ · Answer

Hello @Bob Bob,

Since the JQL side is sorted out with @Habib__Plugio__'s explanation, here is how to turn it into the notification automation you mentioned as your end goal:

* Go to Project settings > Automation (or Global automation if you want this across projects) and create a new rule.
* Choose the Scheduled trigger. Set a fixed rate (for example, once a week) or a Cron expression if you need a specific day and time.
* In the trigger, enter the JQL so the rule only processes matching work items: NOT status CHANGED AFTER -90d AND created <= -90d AND statusCategory != Done
* Add a Send email action. The rule runs the action once per matching work item, so you can address it with smart values like {{issue.assignee.emailAddress}} and include {{issue.key}} and {{issue.summary}} in the body.

Two things worth knowing:

* If "not updated" should eventually mean any activity rather than just status changes, swap the status clause for updated <= -90d.
* Scheduled rules that fail 10 times in a row disable themselves automatically, so check the rule's audit log occasionally.

Hope this helps,

Ivan

Bob Bob_8f5k08 · Answer

AAaaahhhh, I see! Okay, I think it clicked. Thank you very much for taking the time to explain it in straightforward terms.