How to Auto-Close Issues Left in the "Resolved" Status Based on Time in Status Data

Business Need

You need an automated process that automatically closes work items that have remained in the Resolved status for more than 5 days, ensuring that resolved items are regularly cleaned up and the work list stays up to date.

Solution

“STATUS DURATION” report type of Timepiece, combined with Jira Automation, can be used for this purpose.

Step 1: Configure and Save the Timepiece Report

First, create a Timepiece report...

Open the Timepiece reporting page.
Select Custom JQL filter type and set a JQL query like project = "ABC Project" AND status = Resolved AND resolved <= -5d
- This query makes sure Timepiece returns results for issues that are in the Resolved status and were resolved earlier than 5 days ago.
Switch to the “STATUS DURATION” report type.
(Optional) Select your business calendar if you have one.
Filters issues that have a "Resolved" status value for more than 5 days.
- Based on the JQL query above, the report is already set to only process issues resolved earlier than 5 days. But if you selected a custom calendar, the results will also include issues with Resolved status times less than 5 days. This filter ensures that we only get results for issues that have spent more than 5 days in the Resolved status.

Timepiece report interface highlighting a Custom JQL search field

Go to settings and save it via "Save report parameters".
- The parameter set name should be like "Auto Closed Resolved Issues".
- Make sure you select the "Share with everyone" option so others can use the param set as well.

A Timepiece Status Duration report view displaying a filtered list of 10 resolved ABC Project issues along with duration tracking data for To Do, In Progress, and Resolved statuses

Step 2: Create a Jira Automation & Set General Flow Details

Navigate to Jira Automation and start a new rule.
Before configuring the automation logic, you must define the administrative settings in the Flow Details section.

Step 3: Define the Trigger

Use the "Scheduled" trigger to run the automation on a recurring basis. This step ensures the automation runs every morning and scans all relevant issues automatically.

a scheduled trigger set for 8 00 AM to run a Timepiece report

Start date: Set your desired start date.
Time: Set the time as you prefer.
End date: Set your desired end date.
Occurrence: Run flow every 1 Day(s) at 8:00 AM

Step 4: Add Action - Timepiece: Run Report

After defining the trigger and conditions, add a “Timepiece: Run Report” action that will fetch the required data from Timepiece.

Add a step menu to choose an Action Condition Branch or Controls

Add an action configuration window with Timepiece Run Report selected as the action

Select the report (Parameter Set) you created for this automation in the Report Settings field.

Timepiece Run Report action settings with Parameter Overrides JSON field configured for a custom JQL filter

Step 5: Add Log Action (Optional)

Add a Log Action to your flow. This step is necessary if you want to monitor the automation and is helpful for debugging in the event of an error.
This action writes the entire dataset returned from the report as a log output, allowing you to see all available data at once.

Log Message: resultList: {{fetchedTimepieceResultList}}

configuring a Log action step to record the report list results to the audit log

Note: For more details about the logging and debugging, see the documentation.

Step 6: Add Size Log Action (Optional)

Add a second Log Action to your flow. This step is useful to monitor the total count of items returned by the report, allowing you to see the dataset's volume at a glance in the audit log before the comparison condition runs.

Log Message: Size: {{fetchedTimepieceResultList.size}}

configuring a Log action step to write the size of the fetchedTimepieceResultList to the audit log

Step 7: Check if the report contains any issues

Add a condition to verify if the report contains any data before executing subsequent steps; if no data is found, the automation ends there.

First Value: {{fetchedTimepieceResultList.size}}

Condition: Greater Than

Second Value: 0

configuring a Smart values condition step to verify if the fetchedTimepieceResultList size is greater than 0 before proceeding to the branch

Step 8: Add Action - Branch / For: JQL Loop

Add a Branch block and define a “For: JQL” loop within it to iterate over each issue returned from the Timepiece report.

configuring a Branch flow related work items step

key in ({{fetchedTimepieceResultList.Key.join(",")}})

Step 9: Add Action - Add Comment to Work Item

Using the “Comment on work item” action, the automation flow adds a comment directly to the issue. By using this action, the information about the issue being in Resolved status for more than 5 days is added to the work item.

Add a comment for this automation:

The work item has been in the **Resolved** status for more than 5 days and will be updated to **Closed**.

configuring a Comment on work item action with a status closure notification message

Make sure these statuses exist in your project, or replace them with the statuses available in your project.

Step 10: Transition the Work Item to Closed

Add a "Transition work item" action inside the loop. In this step, the automation transitions the work item from Resolved to Closed status.

Destination status: CLOSED

configuring a Transition work item action to change the destination status to CLOSED

Step 11: Enable the Rule

Click the "Turn on rule" button to activate the automation. From this point forward, every morning at 08:00, the automation will automatically find issues that have remained in Resolved status for over 5 days, add a comment, and transition them to Closed.

A Jira work item detail view showing an automated comment