Troubleshooting SLA Issues in JSM Cloud
Platform Notice: Cloud Only - This article only applies to Atlassian apps on the cloud platform.
Summary
Learn to troubleshoot and analyze SLA configurations effectively.
Solution
Pre-requisites
At least have a basic understanding of how to use SLA in Jira Service Management. Please refer to Create service level agreements (SLAs) to manage goals for further information about this.
Here are some steps that help debug the cause
Identify what is wrong with your SLA on an issue.
Is it missing/incorrect/in the wrong state (completed/running/paused)?
Review your SLA configuration under Project settings > SLA.
START/PAUSE and STOP conditions: Are these aligned with your business needs? Are the same triggers used for multiple conditions?
For example, having the same conditions defined for START and STOP can trigger multiple cycles of SLA on the issue.
In such cases, you can see multiple cycles on the SLA for each START and STOP condition met in the issue history. Click on the tab "within 4h" to get a list of all completed cycles.
Now verify if these cycles match your configuration.
The target that is supposed to be displayed on the issue, you would need to match the JQL of each goal to figure it out.
For example, if the ticket is supposed to have 8h on TIme to first response SLA but shows 4 hrs then verify the goals to see if the issue matches any in the top-down order. The one that matches first is applied.
Check the SLA entries stored on the issue.
You can perform a GET API call to retrieve all SLA information
Using Postman or curl perform the below call to retrieve the SLA records on an issue
Using this response, we can see that there are two completed cycles and one ongoing cycle of Time to First response SLA. You can then use these times(startTime, stopTime, elapsedTime, etc) as reference to cross check for events in the issue history tab.
If you find a mismatch, that is, a wrong SLA on the issue or the SLA panel empty, then we would need to manually recalculate the SLA using the steps from SLAs in Jira Service Management that are missing or disappear.
Check if you need to modify your SLA (if the existing is causing issues) and perform a recalculation on the tickets
Modifying the SLA configuration will automatically re-index the ongoing cycles to match the new configuration. However, you might need to run the recalculation manually for the ones with completed cycles as shown in SLAs in Jira Service Management that are missing or disappear
Common Issues
Issue | Cause | Resolution |
|---|---|---|
SLA missing on issue | An inconsistent SLA state often causes missing SLAs. Sometimes, issues don't match SLA goals and default to "All remaining issues," leading to no target. Moving or importing issues between projects can lead to inconsistencies. | SLAs in Jira Service Management that are missing or disappear |
SLA incorrectly applied | Different start conditions can create multiple cycles when encountered. You might set conditions to roll back the SLA or track time for each ticket update. Such configurations can trigger incomplete cycles, leaving the SLA running and affecting reports. If an SLA matches multiple goals, it might show the wrong target. Cycles might accidentally trigger due to automation updates or events, leaving the SLA clock running. | Review the SLA configuration following steps 1-4 and fix the configuration as needed. You may have to manually trigger recalculation on issues where the SLA has been met already. |
SLA continues to tick even after the issue is closed/stopped condition is met | You might set conditions to roll back the SLA or track time for each ticket update. Such configurations can trigger incomplete cycles, leaving the SLA running and affecting reports. Sometimes, the SLA keeps running even after meeting the stop condition. If agents are in fields like Approvers or Request Participants, "Comment: For Customer" won't stop the SLA when they comment. Check if this is the issue. Sometimes, the SLA keeps running even if the issue is closed. Check if the stop conditions match the issue's history. | Review the SLA configuration and verify if it aligns with the issue activity. After making the necessary correction, a recalculation might be required to correct the SLA. |
Some Known Bugs
JSDCLOUD-5171 - SLA is not started when starting and pausing/stopping the SLA at the same time
JSDCLOUD-10626 - SLA calculations are delayed or do not appear on the UI timely.
JSDCLOUD-3562 - SLA disappears if the "Stop" condition refers to a past event
Other articles related to SLA
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