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How to use Time Tracking Customfield and Duration fields in JQL, dashboards, automation, and exports.

The app provides two field types, each with its own set of JQL aliases.

Time Tracking fields (for example "QA Estimate", "Contract Hours") store three logical values — original estimate, time spent, and remaining estimate — and expose each of them in two searchable forms: a numeric value in seconds and a formatted string value.

Duration fields (for example "SLA Limit", "Meeting Duration") store a single duration value and expose it as a numeric value in seconds and a formatted string.

All aliases are available in JQL.

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Time Tracking field

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JQL aliases

If your custom field is called QA Estimate, you can use these aliases in JQL:

Numeric (seconds)

  • "QA Estimate".OriginalEstimateSeconds

  • "QA Estimate".TimeSpentSeconds

  • "QA Estimate".RemainingEstimateSeconds

Formatted string

  • "QA Estimate".OriginalEstimate

  • "QA Estimate".TimeSpent

  • "QA Estimate".RemainingEstimate

Use the *Seconds aliases when you need exact numeric comparison; use the string aliases when you want to match on human-readable fragments like "2w" or "1d".

The same pattern applies to any field name you configure (for example "SLA Budget", "Contract Hours", "Dev Estimate").

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Practical JQL examples

Below are ready-to-use JQL snippets that show different ways to work with a single time tracking field, for example "QA Estimate".

Filter: estimate is set Returns issues where any QA estimate has been entered.

Filter: high remaining time Returns issues where the remaining QA estimate is more than 4 hours (14 400 seconds).

Filter: low remaining time (at risk) Returns issues where the remaining QA estimate is less than 1 hour (3 600 seconds).

Filter: estimate around two weeks Returns issues where the original QA estimate contains roughly two weeks.

Filter: time fully consumed Returns issues where some QA time was logged and the remaining time is already zero.

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Duration field

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JQL aliases

If your Duration field is called SLA Limit, you can use these aliases in JQL:

Numeric (seconds)

  • "SLA Limit".DurationSeconds

Formatted string

  • "SLA Limit".Duration

The same pattern applies to any Duration field name you configure (for example "Meeting Duration", "Time Budget").

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Practical JQL examples

Below are ready-to-use JQL snippets for a Duration field, for example "SLA Limit".

Filter: duration is set Returns issues where a duration value has been entered.

Filter: duration exceeds a threshold Returns issues where the SLA limit is more than 4 hours (14 400 seconds).

Filter: exact duration match Returns issues where the duration is exactly 1 hour (3 600 seconds).

Filter: duration contains a specific unit Returns issues where the duration string contains "2w".

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Dashboards, automation, and exports

The sections below apply to both Time Tracking and Duration fields.

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Dashboards and gadgets

Because all aliases are fully indexed, you can use them in dashboards:

  • Build filters using conditions like "QA Estimate".RemainingEstimateSeconds > 14400 or "SLA Limit".DurationSeconds < 3600.

  • Use those filters in gadgets such as Filter Results or statistics gadgets to show or group issues.

In filters that power dashboards you'll usually:

  • use the *Seconds aliases in the JQL, and

  • show the field itself as a column, which will display the formatted text — for example Logged: 2h, Remaining: 1h (Total: 3h) for Time Tracking fields, or 2d 4h for Duration fields.

This gives you numeric precision in the query and a human-friendly view in the gadget.

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Automation rules

The *Seconds aliases (for both Time Tracking and Duration fields) are ideal for Jira automation conditions, because they avoid any need to parse text:

Example: notify when QA remaining time is below one hour and the issue is not done:

Example: notify when an SLA limit exceeds 8 hours:

You can use this JQL in:

  • scheduled rules (run every X minutes/hours), or

  • transition-based rules with an extra JQL condition.

Typical actions:

  • add a comment ("QA remaining time is below 1 hour"),

  • send a Slack/Teams/email notification,

  • add a label (for example qa-low-remaining),

  • adjust priority.

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Always use the numeric (*Seconds) aliases in automation — they give you exact comparisons without text parsing.

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CSV export and external reporting

When exporting to CSV or integrating with external tools:

  • Time Tracking fields: the display value comes from the formatter (Logged: X, Remaining: Y (Total: Z)), and the numeric values are OriginalEstimateSeconds, TimeSpentSeconds, RemainingEstimateSeconds.

  • Duration fields: the display value is the formatted duration (e.g. 2d 4h), and the numeric value is DurationSeconds.

Recommended usage:

  • treat the seconds aliases as primary metrics (for aggregations and charts),

  • use the formatted values only for display and quick verification.

This way, you can reliably compare dev vs QA vs SLA vs contract time across issues, projects, or customers without extra parsing.

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Summary

Both field types expose a clean, predictable schema to JQL:

  • OriginalEstimateSeconds, TimeSpentSeconds, RemainingEstimateSeconds

  • OriginalEstimate, TimeSpent, RemainingEstimate

By using these aliases consistently:

  • filters stay simple,

  • dashboards are accurate,

  • automation rules are easy to express,

  • external reports can rely on numeric values instead of fragile text parsing.

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See also

clockUse Time Tracking fieldschevron-righthourglassUse Duration fieldschevron-right
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