View and understand the cumulative flow diagram | Jira Cloud | Atlassian Support (2024)

A Cumulative Flow Diagram (CFD) is an area chart that shows the various statuses of work items for an application, version, or sprint. The horizontal x-axis in a CFD indicates time, and the vertical y-axis indicates cards (issues). Each colored area of the chart equates to a workflow status (i.e. a column on your board).

The CFD can be useful for identifying bottlenecks. If your chart contains an area that is widening vertically over time, the column that equates to the widening area will generally be a bottleneck.

Viewing the Cumulative Flow Diagram

1. Go to theprojectwhere your board is located, then select yourboardfrom the Board menu.

2. ClickReports, then selectCumulative Flow Diagram.

   • To refine the data shown in the report, click Refine report, and select the desired filters.

   • To select a different timeframe, click the date range drop-down at the top of the chart.

   • To select a different date range, drag your cursor across the 'Overview' at the bottom of the chart.

Understanding the Cumulative Flow Diagram

Before you start using the CFD, you should get to know how it works. The following information will help you understand its key functionalities:

• The CFD is board-specific – thatis, it will only include issues that match your board's saved filter.

• It is based on your board's column mapping.An issue is considered to be 'To Do' when it is in a status that has been mapped to the left-most column of your board. Similarly, an issue is considered to be 'Done' when it is in a status that has been mapped to the right-most column of your board.SeeConfiguring columnsfor more information.

• It keeps track of how many issues are passing through each column of your board, helping you see which columns accumulate more issues than others.

For example:

1. If you start a sprint with 5 issues, all issues will begin in theTo Do column. If you view the CFD, it will show 5 issuesTo Do, 0 issuesIn Progress, and 0 issuesDone.

2. If you then move 2 issues toIn Progress, the CFD will display 5 issuesTo Do(because 5 have passed through that column), 2 issuesIn Progress,and 0 issuesDone.

3. If you then move 1 issue fromIn ProgresstoDone, the CFD will showTo Do= 5,In Progress= 2, andDone= 1.

4. If you then take that 1 issue out ofDoneand move it back toTo Do, theCFD will remove the 1 fromDone andremove 1 fromIn Progress,but the numbers inTo Do will remain the same, because no new issues have arrived. Therefore, the CFD will showTo Do= 5,In Progress= 1,Done= 0.