Time in Status (Forge) for Jira Cloud- What is a Stopwatch field?
- Step 1: Create the Jira custom field
- Step 2: Create a field setting
- Step 3: Bind the field context to the setting
- Step 4: Backfill existing issues
- Next steps
What is a Stopwatch field?
A Stopwatch field accumulates working time based on events you define. It starts, pauses, stops, and restarts automatically when specific changes happen on an issue - such as status transitions, assignments, comments, or custom field changes.
Unlike Time in Status fields (which track time per status), Stopwatch fields track a single running total controlled by event triggers.
States: Inactive → Running → Paused → Stopped
Step 1: Create the Jira custom field
- Go to Jira Settings > Issues > Custom fields
- Click Create custom field
- Select Stopwatch from the field type list (under “Time in Status” app)
- Enter a name for your field (e.g., “Response Time”, “Work Time”)
- Choose the field context - which projects and issue types this field applies to
- Click Create
Step 2: Create a field setting
Before the field can calculate values, you need a field setting that defines the events and calculation rules.
- Open the admin panel > Stopwatch tab > Field Settings
- Click Create
- Configure the setting (see Stopwatch field settings reference for all options):
- Name - a descriptive name (e.g., “Response Time Stopwatch”)
- Start Events - what starts the stopwatch (e.g., status changed to “In Progress”)
- Stop Events - what stops it (e.g., status changed to “Done”)
- Calendar - the work calendar for time calculation
- Time Format - how the time is displayed
- Click Save
Step 3: Bind the field context to the setting
- Go to Jira Settings > Issues > Custom fields
- Find your Stopwatch field > click … > Contexts and default value
- Click on the context name
- In the configuration panel, select the field setting you created in Step 2
- Click Save
The app will start processing new issue events for this context.
See Field context configuration for details.
Step 4: Backfill existing issues
For issues that already exist, the app needs to process their changelog history to calculate stopwatch values.
- Go to the admin panel > Recalculation tab
- Find your Stopwatch field and context
- Click Recalculate > select Full mode
- Monitor the batch job progress
See Recalculation for details.
Next steps
- Stopwatch field settings reference - all configuration options
- Event triggers reference - complete list of available triggers
- Stopwatch JQL search - search and sort by stopwatch values
- Stopwatch issue panel - display stopwatch on issue views
- Work calendars - configure business hours
