Visualize lead time using Jira

This guide demonstrates how to track and visualize Jira lead time metrics in Port. Lead time measures the duration from when an issue is created until it reaches a "Done" state, giving you a clear signal of how quickly your teams deliver work.

By the end of this guide, you will have:

• A calculation property on each Jira issue that computes its lead time in days.
• Aggregation properties on Jira projects that surface average and median lead time.
• An optional setup to connect Jira issues to services for team-level lead time tracking.
• A dashboard with widgets showing weekly averages, monthly averages, lead time distribution, and resolved issue tables.

Common use cases

• Identify bottlenecks by comparing lead time across projects and teams.
• Track whether process improvements are reducing delivery times week over week.
• Give engineering managers a real-time view of team velocity without leaving Port.

Prerequisites

This guide assumes the following:

• You have a Port account and have completed the onboarding process.
• Port's Jira integration is installed and syncing issues.

Set up the data model

The Jira integration ships with a jiraIssue blueprint that already includes created and resolutionDate properties. We will build on this foundation by adding a calculation property for per-issue lead time, then aggregation properties on jiraProject for project-level averages.

Add a lead time calculation property to Jira issues

The default jiraIssue blueprint includes a handlingDuration calculation property that computes the number of days between issue creation and resolution. If you already have this property, you can skip this step.

If it is missing, add it:

1. Go to your Builder page.

2. Select the Jira Issue blueprint.

3. Click on {...} Edit JSON.

4. Add the following inside the calculationProperties object, then click Save:

   "handlingDuration": {
       "title": "Lead Time (Days)",
       "icon": "Clock",
       "description": "Days from issue creation to resolution",
       "calculation": "if (.properties.resolutionDate != null and .properties.created != null) then (((.properties.resolutionDate[0:19] + \"Z\" | fromdateiso8601) - (.properties.created[0:19] + \"Z\" | fromdateiso8601)) / 86400) else null end",
       "type": "number"
   }

Every resolved issue will now display its lead time in days.

Add aggregation properties to Jira projects

Next, add aggregation properties to the jiraProject blueprint so you can see average and median lead time per project.

1. Go to your Builder page.

2. Select the Jira Project blueprint.

3. Click on {...} Edit JSON.

4. Add the following inside the aggregationProperties object, then click Save:

   Lead time aggregation properties (click to expand)

   "avgLeadTimeDays": {
     "title": "Average Lead Time (Days)",
     "icon": "Clock",
     "type": "number",
     "target": "jiraIssue",
     "query": {
       "combinator": "and",
       "rules": [
         {
           "property": "resolutionDate",
           "operator": "isNotEmpty"
         }
       ]
     },
     "calculationSpec": {
       "func": "average",
       "averageOf": "total",
       "property": "handlingDuration",
       "calculationBy": "property"
     }
   },
   "medianLeadTimeDays": {
     "title": "Median Lead Time (Days)",
     "icon": "Clock",
     "type": "number",
     "target": "jiraIssue",
     "query": {
       "combinator": "and",
       "rules": [
         {
           "property": "resolutionDate",
           "operator": "isNotEmpty"
         }
       ]
     },
     "calculationSpec": {
       "func": "median",
       "property": "handlingDuration",
       "calculationBy": "property"
     }
   },
   "resolvedIssuesCount": {
     "title": "Resolved Issues",
     "icon": "DefaultProperty",
     "type": "number",
     "target": "jiraIssue",
     "query": {
       "combinator": "and",
       "rules": [
         {
           "property": "resolutionDate",
           "operator": "isNotEmpty"
         }
       ]
     },
     "calculationSpec": {
       "func": "count",
       "calculationBy": "entities"
     }
   }

Each Jira project entity will now show average lead time, median lead time, and a resolved issue count computed from its related issues.

Connect Jira issues to services

The Jira integration creates a service relation on the jiraIssue blueprint by default, but the relation is not populated automatically. To get team-level lead time metrics, you need to map each issue to its service through the integration configuration.

The recommended approach is to use Jira labels that match your service identifiers in Port. Prefix labels with a consistent term (e.g. port-) so they can be distinguished from other labels.

1. In Jira, add a label to your issues following the pattern port-<service-identifier>. For example, if your service in Port is identified as auth-service, label the issue with port-auth-service.

2. Go to your Data Sources page and select the Jira integration.

3. In the issue mapping, add the following service relation under relations:

   relations:
     project: .fields.project.key
     parentIssue: .fields.parent.key
     subtasks: .fields.subtasks | map(.key)
     service: .fields.labels | map(select(startswith("port-"))) | map(sub("port-"; ""; "g")) | .[0]

   This JQ expression filters labels that start with port-, strips the prefix, and uses the first match as the service identifier.

4. Click Save & Resync.

Issues with matching labels will now be linked to their respective service entities.

Automate labeling for new issues

To automatically add the port- label when creating issues from Port, see the Open Jira issue with automatic label guide. For a full walkthrough of the label-based connection, see Connect Jira issue to a service.

Add aggregation properties to services

Once issues are connected to services, you can surface lead time metrics at the service (and therefore team) level.

1. Go to your Builder page.

2. Select the Service blueprint.

3. Click on {...} Edit JSON.

4. Add the following inside the aggregationProperties object, then click Save:

   Service lead time aggregation properties (click to expand)

   "jiraAvgLeadTimeDays": {
     "title": "Avg Jira Lead Time (Days)",
     "icon": "Clock",
     "type": "number",
     "target": "jiraIssue",
     "query": {
       "combinator": "and",
       "rules": [
         {
           "property": "resolutionDate",
           "operator": "isNotEmpty"
         }
       ]
     },
     "calculationSpec": {
       "func": "average",
       "averageOf": "total",
       "property": "handlingDuration",
       "calculationBy": "property"
     }
   },
   "jiraMedianLeadTimeDays": {
     "title": "Median Jira Lead Time (Days)",
     "icon": "Clock",
     "type": "number",
     "target": "jiraIssue",
     "query": {
       "combinator": "and",
       "rules": [
         {
           "property": "resolutionDate",
           "operator": "isNotEmpty"
         }
       ]
     },
     "calculationSpec": {
       "func": "median",
       "property": "handlingDuration",
       "calculationBy": "property"
     }
   },
   "jiraResolvedIssues": {
     "title": "Resolved Jira Issues",
     "icon": "DefaultProperty",
     "type": "number",
     "target": "jiraIssue",
     "query": {
       "combinator": "and",
       "rules": [
         {
           "property": "resolutionDate",
           "operator": "isNotEmpty"
         }
       ]
     },
     "calculationSpec": {
       "func": "count",
       "calculationBy": "entities"
     }
   }

Since services relate to teams, you can now view lead time per team by navigating the service-to-team ownership chain in your catalog.

Ensure resolved issues are ingested

The default Jira integration mapping uses a JQL filter that limits ingested issues. To ensure resolved issues are available for lead time calculations, verify your JQL includes recently resolved items.

Go to your Data Sources page, select the Jira integration, and check the jql selector for the issue kind:

- kind: issue
  selector:
    query: "true"
    jql: "(statusCategory != Done) OR (created >= -4w) OR (updated >= -4w)"

Wider time range for historical data

To capture more historical lead time data, widen the JQL window. For example, change -4w to -12w or -26w to include issues resolved in the last 3 or 6 months. Keep in mind that a wider window increases the number of ingested entities.

Create a lead time dashboard

With the data model in place, create a dashboard to visualize lead time metrics.

1. Navigate to the Catalog page.
2. Click + New in the left sidebar.
3. Select New dashboard.
4. Name the dashboard Jira Lead Time.
5. Set the description to Track lead time from issue creation to resolution.
6. Select the Jira icon.
7. Click Create.

Add widgets

In the new dashboard, create the following widgets:

Weekly average lead time (click to expand)

1. Click + Widget and select Number Chart.
2. Title: Weekly Avg Lead Time.
3. Select Aggregate by property Chart type and choose Jira Issue as the Blueprint.
4. Select Lead Time (Days) for the Property and average for the Function.
5. Select total for Average of.
6. Add this filter to scope to issues resolved in the past week:

   
     {
       "combinator": "and",
       "rules": [
         {
           "property": "resolutionDate",
           "operator": "between",
           "value": {
             "preset": "lastWeek"
           }
         }
       ]
     }
   

7. Select custom as the Unit and input days as the Custom unit.
8. Click Save.

Monthly average lead time (click to expand)

1. Click + Widget and select Number Chart.
2. Title: Monthly Avg Lead Time.
3. Select Aggregate by property Chart type and choose Jira Issue as the Blueprint.
4. Select Lead Time (Days) for the Property and average for the Function.
5. Select total for Average of.
6. Add this filter to scope to issues resolved in the past month:

   
     {
       "combinator": "and",
       "rules": [
         {
           "property": "resolutionDate",
           "operator": "between",
           "value": {
             "preset": "lastMonth"
           }
         }
       ]
     }

7. Select custom as the Unit and input days as the Custom unit.
8. Click Save.

Issues resolved per week (click to expand)

1. Click + Widget and select Number Chart.
2. Title: Issues Resolved per Week (add the Jira icon).
3. Select Count entities Chart type and choose Jira Issue as the Blueprint.
4. Select count for the Function.
5. Add this filter:

   
     {
       "combinator": "and",
       "rules": [
         {
           "property": "resolutionDate",
           "operator": "isNotEmpty"
         },
         {
           "property": "resolutionDate",
           "operator": "between",
           "value": {
             "preset": "lastWeek"
           }
         }
       ]
     }
   

6. Select custom as the Unit and input issues as the Custom unit.
7. Click Save.

Lead time by project (click to expand)

1. Click + Widget and select Table.
2. Title: Lead Time by Project.
3. Choose the Jira Project blueprint.
4. Add this filter to show only resolved issues:

     {
       "combinator": "and",
       "rules": [
         {
           "value": 0,
           "property": "resolvedIssuesCount",
           "operator": "!="
         }
       ]
     }

5. Click Save.
6. Click the ... button on the widget and select Customize table.
7. Click Manage Properties and add:
   • Average Lead Time (Days).
   • Median Lead Time (Days).
   • Resolved Issues.
   • Project URL.
8. Click the save icon to save the customized table.

Lead time distribution by issue type (click to expand)

1. Click + Widget and select Pie chart.
2. Title: Lead Time by Issue Type (add the Jira icon).
3. Choose the Jira Issue blueprint.
4. Under Breakdown by property, select the Type property.
5. Add this filter to only include resolved issues:

   
     {
       "combinator": "and",
       "rules": [
         {
           "property": "resolutionDate",
           "operator": "isNotEmpty"
         }
       ]
     }
   

6. Click Save.

Summary

You now have a complete lead time tracking setup:

• Issue level: Each resolved Jira issue displays its lead time in days via the handlingDuration calculation property.
• Project level: Each Jira project shows average and median lead time through aggregation properties.
• Service and team level (optional): By connecting Jira issues to services, lead time metrics flow up through the service-to-team ownership chain.
• Dashboard: Weekly and monthly averages, project comparisons, and a sorted table of slowest issues give you actionable visibility.