Days in Current Status – Value Not Displaying in Issue View Despite Successful Automation

[Paul Singh]

Hi Atlassian Community,

I’ve created a custom number field called Days in Current Status to track how many days an issue has remained in its current status. I configured an automation rule that runs daily and updates this field using the smart value:

scss

CopyEdit

{{now.diff(issue.statuscategorychangedate).days}}

---

The automation rule runs successfully:

• Audit log shows status: SUCCESS

• Debug comment on the ticket shows correct values. Example:
  Debug: SP-25 – Status: In Progress, Days: 6

• The field is present on all relevant screens and visible in the issue detail panel

---

However:

The value for Days in Current Status still appears as None in the issue view, even though the field type is Number and editable.

---

I’ve already verified:

• Field is added to all required screens (7 screens across 2 projects)

• Rule actor has full permission

• No field context restriction

• Tried using both:
  {{now.diff(issue.statuscategorychangedate).days}}
  and
  {{now.diff(issue.status.lastChanged).days}}

---

Has anyone faced this issue before?

Is there a known limitation with setting number fields via smart values?

This is an important metric for tracking workflow aging, and I believe many teams would benefit from seeing this number clearly.

Thanks in advance!

[Iryna Komarnitska_SaaSJet_]

Hi @Paul Singh ,

If you're open to using apps, I'd love to recommend something we've built — it's called the Time in Status app.

One of the handy features is that it adds custom fields showing how long an issue has spent in each status, right on the issue card.

You can also use this data in basic automation and JQL searches, which makes tracking and reporting a lot easier.

Note: For Kanban boards, excluding the rightmost column ensures data relevance, focusing attention on actionable statuses.

Hope you find it helpful!

[Bill Sheboy]

Hi @Paul Singh -- Welcome to the Atlassian Community!

The field statuscategorychangedate is text when accessed inside of a rule; it must be converted with the toDate function before use in the date / time functions.

For an example of that to calculate the Age of WIP measure, please see this old post I wrote:

https://community.atlassian.com/forums/Automation-questions/Hi-community-nbsp-nbsp-How-about-Age-of-WIP-work-item-age-1/qaq-p/1561072/comment-id/12504#M12504

And, you describe "Days in Current Status", but the field statuscategorychangedate is when the Status Category last changes, not when the Status last changed.

When you want the duration in the current status, you would need to try one of these:

• add another custom field, setting it with another rule when a work item transitions status, using that in your calculation...or
• use the REST API endpoint to get the changelog entries to find the status change, and use the entry date / time in the calculation...or
• use a marketplace app to calculate / view the days in status...or
• use Atlassian's interpretation of a control chart to view the information

Kind regards,
Bill

[Aaron Williams]

Hey @Paul Singh 

Could you share some screenshots of your automation? Would be interesting to see it, as it'll help troubleshoot the issue. 

Seems like you've done a lot of work on it already. But one error in your logic is that the smart value only looks at the status category ie "to do" "in progress" "done". It doesn't take into account specific status names. 

I've got something working for you using custom fields but it would be difficult to back date, it'll be very useful for all new tickets though if you'd like to see it? 

Thanks

Aaron.