Using the Percentage field

This guide describes how to work with a Percentage Field custom field that your administrator has already configured. If you don't see the field on your work item screens yet, check with your administrator: most likely it just needs to be added to the right screen.

Capture a value on the field

When the Percentage field is part of the Create, Edit or Transition screen, it appears as a numeric input.

1. Open the create, edit or transition form.
2. Locate the field (the exact name is set by your administrator, for example "Progress" or "Compliance").
3. Enter a number between 0 and 100.
4. Save your changes.

If the value is out of range, Jira shows "Value must be between 0 and 100." and blocks the save until you fix it.

You can leave it blank

If the field is not marked required in your space, you can leave it empty. The work item saves with no value and the work item view shows no bar.

Reading the progress bar

Once saved, the value is shown as a horizontal bar that fills proportionally to the percentage (0% to 100%). The bar colour reflects the situation:

• 🟢 Green: on-track value — the percentage reaches the desirable level your administrator defined.
• 🟡 Yellow: at-risk value — between the risk threshold and the on-track threshold.
• 🔴 Red: value below the risk threshold — critical situation.

Which thresholds apply?

Colours aren't fixed: they depend on the thresholds your administrator configured for the space and work type. The same value (65) can show in yellow in one space and in green in another, if thresholds differ. If you're unsure why a value is in a given colour, check with your administrator.

Searching work items by percentage or colour

You can use JQL to find work items by the field's numeric value:

"Progress" < 40

"Progress" >= 70 AND project = "ACME"

"Progress" is not EMPTY

Replace Progress with the exact name your administrator gave the field.

To search by colour, without knowing the thresholds, use the percentageBand function with "red", "yellow", or "green":

issue in percentageBand("red")

issue in percentageBand("red", "Progress") AND project = "ACME"

The second argument is optional and limits the search to one field. The function applies the thresholds your administrator configured for each space and work type, and it also works in saved filters and dashboards.

A few seconds' wait

If you just changed the field's value, the work item may take a few seconds to show up in the colour search: that's how long Jira takes to index the change. An empty field matches no colour.