Short definition
A status category in Jira is one of three fixed groupings that every status belongs to: To Do, In Progress, or Done. Categories drive board column defaults, reporting (velocity, burndown), and JQL functions like `statusCategory = Done`. The category is set per status; misclassifying a custom status into the wrong category silently breaks reports.
The three categories
Jira has exactly three status categories. They cannot be renamed, added to, or removed:
- To Do (grey) - work hasn’t started. Default for new issues.
- In Progress (blue) - work is underway.
- Done (green) - work has finished.
Every status - whether built-in or custom - belongs to one of these three. The category is what reports and boards actually look at; the status name is just a label.
Why the category drives reports
Two examples:
- Velocity Chart. Counts story points of issues in the Done category at sprint end. A custom status
called
Awaiting Sign-offthat’s incorrectly categorised asDonewill inflate velocity - the work isn’t actually finished but Jira thinks it is. - Burndown Chart. Shows remaining work, computed as the sum of points for issues not yet in Done. Same risk: a wrongly-categorised status makes the burndown line drop too early.
The reverse mistake is also common: a Resolved status categorised as In Progress keeps closed work
visible on the active board, and the team wonders why the board never empties.
Checking status categories
In Jira admin -> Statuses, the table lists every status with its category. The fastest audit is to filter that table by category and verify the assignments still make sense. New statuses added by plugins or imported workflows are the most common offenders - check anything you didn’t create yourself.
Using statusCategory in JQL
statusCategory is the portable way to ask about issue state across projects:
statusCategory = "To Do"- not started yet.statusCategory = "In Progress"- active work.statusCategory = Done- finished (whatever the specific status is called).
Compare to status = "Done", which only matches that exact label. If one of your projects uses
Closed and another uses Done to mean the same thing, statusCategory = Done catches both and the
literal version only catches one. Shared dashboards and saved filters should always use the category
form.
Category vs. resolution
A finished issue has both a Done-category status and a resolution. The category answers “is this issue still being worked?” The resolution answers “why did it stop?” Mixing them up - or having one but not the other - is the source of many “where did that ticket go?” puzzles.
Common questions
What is a status category in Jira?
A status category is one of three fixed groupings that every Jira status belongs to: To Do, In Progress, or Done. Categories drive board column defaults, reporting (velocity, burndown), and JQL functions like `statusCategory = Done`. The category is set per status; misclassifying a custom status into the wrong category silently breaks reports.
Can I add a new status category?
No. The three status categories (To Do, In Progress, Done) are fixed by Jira and cannot be added to or renamed. You can add any number of statuses, but each must be assigned to one of the three categories. This intentional constraint keeps reports and boards consistent across the instance.
What happens if a status is in the wrong category?
Reports go wrong silently. A status meant to be 'in progress' that's categorised as 'Done' will count its issues as completed in velocity charts, mark them as resolved on boards, and exclude them from open-issue filters. Any unexpected velocity spike or backlog shrink is worth checking against status category assignments.
Why does Jira use statusCategory in JQL instead of status?
`statusCategory = Done` is portable: it works across projects with different status sets. `status = 'Done'` only matches that exact name and breaks if one project uses 'Closed' instead. For cross-project filters, dashboards, and shared reports, always prefer `statusCategory` over a literal status name.