1. We are going to release a new interface for managing fields, which is going to include a multiselect for schemes. API is also available if you prefer to write a script.
2. The manual optimization includes a preview, a confirmation step; the administrator chooses which projects will be optimized and when. Because of this, the manual optimization can be more aggressive in removing fields.
You are correct about required fields being important. There is however also other configuration (work type screen scheme, custom field context) which can exclude this field from certain projects and make it optional anyway.
We have identified several projects that use a trick where a Read-only message field is put on a workflow transition screen (I imagine it's some sort of notice, or description). Such field is not going to have any field values (because it's read-only) and it's not present on any screens in the work type screen scheme so we added a new workflow rule to prevent disrupting that scenario.
I just got the message that "Add and remove fields from field configurations; new tools to optimize fields in your projects" is now generally available but for life of me I can't find this optimization tool.
We are rolling this out progressively so it may take a few days or weeks before it's available on your Jira. The experience may arrive in parts - for example the new field configuration page should be already available everywhere.
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This sounds mostly good. I'm not a fan of the automatic involuntary optimization. I'm very much a fan of the manually triggered optimization with approval steps.
I just saw this post today. As others have said, this absolutely needs to be communicated much better. Banners, emails to Product admins, and for f... sake give is a date of when it'll happen. This "Oh, it'll happen, eventually, probably" nonsense is getting really old. Does Atlassian now care enough to let their customers know about changes to their site, or are you incapable?
Questions:
For the automatic optimization, how can I turn it off for our site?
For the manual optimization, will there be a page where I can select/deselect which things to optimize, in case a bit too wide of a net has been cast? Or is it a "take it or leave it" kind of situation?
For the automatic optimization, how can I turn it off for our site?
Opt-out is not integrated in the UI. Please either create a support ticket (and include a link to this post so that it reaches the correct team quickly) or email me at pvanecek@atlassian.com and I can turn this off for your instance.
a page where I can select/deselect which things to optimize
There are several options for optimizing:
- Either use the Scheme optimizer tools which indeed are "all or nothing" kind of optimization
- Or use the Field configuration page and remove fields one by one
- Or use REST APIs which will allow you to fine-tune the removal
May I ask what rules would you follow when choosing which fields to select or deselect?
I fear that this change is severely limiting for those of us making use of the data in Google Sheets as well as actions taken via the Jira REST API:
1.) If I remove a field from the Project Field Configuration: The data for that field is unable to propagate to Google Sheets
2.) If I leave it in the Configuration but remove it from the Screen: I can't use that field to set values via the REST API
Can you please assist with how to hide a field in the UI but still be able to use it via Jira Cloud for Google Sheets, and set values via the Jira REST API?
Hello Pavel. I cannot see the entire chart that has Field, Automated Optimization, ... The rest of it is cut off. I've changed my resolution and it's not working.
Is the Field configuration scheme optimizer not working or has it not been rolled out to everyone yet? If I click on the Optimize scheme -button, I receive this error
I took a look at the Field Configuration Scheme Optimizer today. It initially looked as if it would be really useful. Unfortunately, though it identifies three unused fields, it doesn't tell me what they are! Clicking "Review actions" just displays counts of fields that will be removed and kept. Before I allow the optimizer to make changes, I want to know exactly what it will change!
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August 6, 2025 edited
Hi @Risto Majamaa, this looks like a bug on our side, I will look into it. If you have the option to create a support ticket and provide more information, that will speed things up.
@George Shaw yep I'm with you on this one. We are working on displaying a list of fields. Until that's ready, as a workaround, you can see the information if you open the response of "usagereport" API in your browser dev tools.
@DamCoder I am not sure I understand the problem. Do you have the option to create a support ticket so that we can look into it closer?
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August 18, 2025 edited
Hi @Jared Schmitt, thanks for your comment. You will find that the automatic optimizer is one-time activity and is already completed.
I checked my testing instance and I can see the list of fields being removed, and the field configuration affected, in my audit log. Is this the information you were looking for? Which other logs would you like to see?
Also we're planning to release some changes to make it more convenient to read the list of fields that are about to be removed so stay tuned!
With the upcoming changes, I would like to understand how we can hide a custom field from the user interface while still keeping it associated with the project and allowing data to be calculated or populated in the background, either through automation or via a ScriptRunner scripted field and whether this functionality is still supported, or if this option is being removed.
As I understand, app-specific fields are not impacted by this change. We currently have hidden custom fields and scripted fields , the data in these fields is calculated and populated through automation/script, and they are primarily used for reporting purposes such as dashboards and data exports.
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For the use-case you described, I typically do not use a Jira Custom Field, but instead use a `Property`.
Properties are visible to Automations and the APIs, but not visible to users.
If you need to use them in filters/dashboards then you need a custom field. I haven't done this in a while, but from memory, you can add them to a secondary tab on your screen to reduce clutter, which still makes them visible if a power user needs to see them. To protect from users changing them, you can use the field scheme to make the field read-only, which still allow them to be edited via automations and the APIs.
For use cases like this, we recommend keeping the field associated via the Field Configuration and for any fields you do not want visible, removed them from screens. This will hide the fields from issues, however it will not hide them from places like filters and issue searches. Achieving the latter is no longer possible right now.
With the field removed from the screen, but still associated, you can edit the fields by setting theoverrideScreenSecurityflag when using the Edit Issue API. This is currently limited to apps, so for this reason we recommend using Automation for Jira as it is able to edit such fields out of the box.
Please note that in future providingoverrideScreenSecurityto edit such fields will no longer be required (seeCHANGE-2527). This will help to achieve such use cases easier if you simply want to write a script to update some fields.
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