User Inactivity Indicators in Issue Context
Overview
User Inactivity Indicators provide visual badges that display when Jira users haven't been active on the platform for a configurable period. These badges help teams identify potentially unavailable colleagues before assigning work or expecting responses, complementing the Out-of-Office rules by catching informal absences or forgotten rule activations.
Key Benefits
Proactive awareness: Spot inactive users before assigning issues
Reduced delays: Avoid waiting for responses from absent users
Team visibility: Understand availability across your organization
Flexible configuration: Administrators set thresholds matching team patterns
How Inactivity Indicators Work
Visual indicators
When a user hasn't been active in Jira beyond the configured threshold:
An orange badge appears next to their avatar
The badge shows the number of inactive days
Hovering reveals the last activity date
Badges update automatically daily
Where indicators appear
Inactivity badges are visible in:
Issue view: Next to assignee, reporter, and watcher avatars
Comments: On user mentions and comment authors
User picker fields: When selecting assignees or participants
User profile hover cards: In the expanded user information
Team calendars: If integrated with team planning tools
Activity detection
The system considers a user active when they:
Create, edit, or transition issues
Add comments or attachments
Update their Out-of-Office status
Log work or update time tracking
Interact with Jira in any logged way
Administrator Configuration
Accessing settings
Navigate to Apps > Out-of-Office Assistant
Select Global Settings from the menu
Locate the Inactivity Settings section
Configure your preferences
Configuration options
Setting | Description | Default | Range |
|---|---|---|---|
Inactivity Threshold | Days before showing indicator | 4 days | 1-90 days |
User Experience
For regular users
No action required: Badges appear automatically
Privacy respected: Only shows Jira platform activity
No performance tracking: Not a productivity measure
Hover for details: See exact last activity date
Understanding the indicators
Orange badge: User inactive beyond threshold
Number shown: Days since last activity
No badge: User recently active
Grey avatar: User deactivated (different from inactive)
Integration with Out-of-Office
Complementary features
Inactivity indicators work alongside Out-of-Office rules:
Informal absences: Catch users who forgot to set rules
Pre-absence warning: See inactivity before vacations
Return verification: Confirm users are back and active
Coverage planning: Identify who needs coverage
Smart detection
Active Out-of-Office rules suppress inactivity badges
Badges reappear after rules expire if no activity
Helps identify expired rules needing update
Best Practices
For team leads
Monitor team indicators: Watch for unexpected inactivity
Proactive check-ins: Reach out to inactive team members
Adjust thresholds: Configure based on team working patterns
Educate team: Explain indicators aren't performance metrics
Privacy and Compliance
What we track
Last platform interaction: Date/time only
No detailed activity: No keystroke or page view logging
Platform-wide: All Jira activity counts
What we don't track
Individual productivity metrics
Specific actions or pages visited
Time spent on tasks
Activity outside Jira
Compliance notes
GDPR compliant: Minimal data collection
No PII storage: Only timestamps retained
User consent: Part of app permissions
Data retention: Follows Jira policies
Issue Context Assignment Status: ✅ COMPLETE
Next Step: Issue Context Assignment and Availability Display