Review your custom field configuration
This recommendation is shown when we’ve detected that custom field configuration is likely contributing to slow page loads in Jira. In particular, it appears that issue (known as work item in Cloud) fields are taking longer than usual to load, and some specific custom fields may be causing delays.
Signals used
Details of how we detect this issue.
Conditions
The following conditions need to occur together:
At least one key experience, such as viewing or editing an issue, shows degraded page load times (RFU).
The RFU breakdown shows that issue field loading time is degraded over the same time window.
We detect slow custom field load events for one or more specific custom fields.
Optionally, we also consider whether the number of global custom fields in the instance is higher than recommended.
When these conditions are met together, we surface this recommendation and highlight the affected custom fields.
How we detect it
We use a combination of performance metrics and system events:
Signals | Details |
|---|---|
RFU degradation | We look for Ready for User (RFU) degradation - cases where key Jira experiences take significantly longer than their historical baseline. This helps us confirm that users are actually experiencing slower page loads, not just one-off spike. |
RFU breakdown - field loading | We break down RFU time into backend operations (for example, field loading vs. database access). We specifically track whether the issue fields loading portion is degraded. This tells us that time is being spent loading fields on the page, rather than in other parts of Jira. |
Slow custom field load events | We monitor system events that record slow field load events. From these events, we extract the custom field IDs that are consistently slow to load. This allows us to identify which specific fields are likely contributing to the degradation. |
Global custom field count | We retrieve the latest count of global custom fields configured in the Jira instance. A very high number of global fields can negatively affect performance, particularly when many of them appear on commonly used screens. |
Filters
When the issue occurs multiple times, we group occurrences under different time filters, for example a 24‑hour or 7‑day period. In this case:
For degraded experiences, we show the highest degradation from all occurrences in the selected time filter.
For identified custom fields, we show the fields that repeatedly appear in slow field load events during that period, along with a percentage indicating how often each field was involved.
This helps you see whether the problem is short‑lived or persistent, and which fields are most often involved.
Frequency chart
Similar to filters, the frequency chart shows how often this issue has occurred over time. This can help you identify patterns such as:
specific days or times when field loading gets worse
periods after configuration changes (for example, adding new custom fields, changing contexts, or updating screens) when performance starts to degrade
Recommended actions
How you address this issue will depend on how your custom fields are used and which projects rely on them. Here are some actions you can take:
Review the identified custom fields
Start by reviewing the list of custom fields highlighted in the recommendation. Check where they are used: projects, screens, and issue types (known as work item type in Cloud). Some fields might be rarely used but still appear on high-traffic screens.
Reduce the number of issues and where they appear
Try to remove the identified custom fields from commonly used screens, such as the issue view and edit screens. For more guidance on optimizing your custom fields, see Optimize field configuration schemes.
Optimize custom field context
Changing custom field context from global to project-specific is always a good idea, not only for the identified fields. You can use the custom field optimizer to identify global fields that are used in only a few projects and change them to project-specific ones. For details, see Optimize your custom fields.
Monitor for improvements
After you update your field configuration, keep monitoring RFU over the following days. If the recommendation stops appearing, it’s a good sign that your configuration changes reduced the impact on performance.
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