A kanban dashboard in Jira is a dashboard page whose gadgets read saved JQL filters and show flow: what is in progress, what is stuck, what finished, and whether work arrives faster than it leaves. You build it from Jira's standard gadgets, and the filters and layout below are a starting point you can copy. Jira Cloud's interface now says "work items" for issues and "spaces" for projects, which is why some gadget names use the new words.
Step 1: save the filters
Replace WEB with your project key. Run each query in Jira's advanced search and save it as a filter with the name on the left:
WEB open work project = WEB AND statusCategory != Done WEB in progress project = WEB AND statusCategory = "In Progress" WEB aging project = WEB AND statusCategory = "In Progress" AND updated <= -7d WEB blocked project = WEB AND Flagged is not EMPTY AND statusCategory != Done WEB done this week project = WEB AND status CHANGED TO Done AFTER startOfWeek() WEB new this week project = WEB AND created >= startOfWeek() WEB open bugs project = WEB AND type = Bug AND statusCategory != Done
The aging filter counts any update, a comment included, so it errs toward missing an item rather than flagging too many. If your last column isn't called Done, use its name in the done filter.
Step 2: add the gadgets
Create a dashboard and add these gadgets in two columns. Put the blocked and aging lists at the top of the right column; those are the ones people should act on.
| Gadget | Filter | Settings | What it answers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Two Dimensional Filter Statistics | WEB open work | X axis: Status, Y axis: Assignee | Who holds what, in which column |
| Filter Results | WEB blocked | Columns: key, summary, assignee, updated | What is stuck, and who can clear it |
| Filter Results | WEB aging | Sorted by updated, oldest first | What has gone quiet |
| Created vs Resolved | Project WEB | Daily, last 30 days | Is work arriving faster than it leaves? |
| Average Age | WEB open work | Weekly | Is the backlog getting older? |
| Average Time in Status | WEB done this week | Default | Which column work waits in longest |
| Pie Chart | WEB in progress | Statistic: Assignee | Is work in progress piling up on one person? |
| Filter Results | WEB done this week | Columns: key, summary, resolved | What shipped, for the weekly update |
Step 3: pair it with the board reports
Kanban boards come with two flow reports. The cumulative flow diagram stacks a band for each column over time; a widening In Progress band means work is piling up. The control chart plots how long each item took from start to done; dots drifting upward mean cycle time is getting worse. Company-managed boards offer both, and team-managed boards offer a cumulative flow diagram and a cycle time report.
Set column constraints on the board too. They are Jira's WIP limits: the board flags a column that holds more items than you allowed, which the dashboard then explains.
Example: what the dashboard told one team
One week on a six-person web team's dashboard (numbers invented):
| Measure | This week | Last week |
|---|---|---|
| Open work items | 64 | 59 |
| In progress | 17 | 12 |
| Created / resolved | 23 / 18 | 19 / 21 |
| Blocked | 3 | 1 |
| Aging, no update in 7 days | 5 | 2 |
| Average time in In Review | 2.8 days | 1.6 days |
Read together: more work arrived than finished, work in progress rose from 12 to 17 against a WIP limit of 12, and review is where it waits. The fix is not more people starting work; it is clearing reviews before anyone pulls a new item. One dashboard view, one decision for Monday's standup.
What makes a Jira dashboard useful
- A question per gadget. If you can't say what a gadget answers, remove it.
- Lists you act on, near the top. Blocked and aging work beats a pie chart for daily use.
- The same filters everywhere. Gadgets, the board and any automation should share saved filters, so a number means the same thing in every place.
- Few enough gadgets to read in a minute. Eight is plenty for one team.
Get the summary without opening the dashboard
A dashboard helps only when someone looks at it. The same JQL can run on a schedule through an agent skill and arrive as a short report:
- Jira stale issues report lists To Do and In Progress items with no update for 14 days or more, oldest first, with their owners.
- Jira blocked issues alert checks flagged work twice a day and asks who clears it.
- Jira weekly status report turns done, in flight and blocked into a Friday update for people who never open Jira.
The agent reads Jira through Atlassian's Rovo MCP server at https://mcp.atlassian.com/v2/mcp, or through the REST API's GET /rest/api/3/search/jql with an API token. You can also hand it the filters above:
Run these JQL filters against Jira project WEB: [paste the filters]. Tell me how many items are in progress against our WIP limit of 12, list blocked and aging items with their owners and how long each has waited, and compare created with resolved for the last 7 days. Finish with the single change that would help flow most this week.
Each run posts its result to your Briefkin board as a card, so blocked work reaches the team even on days nobody opens Jira.
Questions
What is the difference between a Jira board and a Jira dashboard?
A board shows the work items themselves in columns, for the team doing the work. A dashboard shows gadgets with counts, charts and lists built from saved filters, for anyone who wants the state of the work at a glance.
Which Jira gadgets work best for kanban?
The ones about flow: Created vs Resolved, Average Age, Average Time in Status, and Filter Results lists for blocked and aging work. Sprint gadgets such as Sprint Burndown need sprints, so they add nothing to a kanban team's dashboard.
Does this work for team-managed projects?
Yes. Gadgets read saved JQL filters, and filters work for both company-managed and team-managed projects. The board reports differ between the two, so check which flow reports your board offers.