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Backlog cleanup for Jira Cloud

Clean up your Jira backlog

Zombie Hunter finds the tickets nobody is working on, scores your backlog, and closes the dead ones in one click. Planning gets faster, reports get honest and the team stays focused.

Get it on Atlassian Marketplace See how it works
Built on Atlassian ForgeJira Cloud appData stays in AtlassianEU-based companyDPA available

Your backlog is lying to you

Most Jira projects contain tickets that nobody plans to work on anymore.

  • Features abandoned months ago
  • Tickets stuck In Progress
  • Duplicate requests
  • Epics already finished
  • Sprint leftovers nobody owns

These tickets inflate your backlog, distort reporting, and waste time during planning.

Longer sprint planning meetingsEveryone scrolls past dead tickets, every sprint.
Misleading roadmap reportingCounts and charts include work nobody will do.
False backlog prioritiesDead tickets compete with real work for attention.
Reduced team focusPeople keep wondering what is still real.
Slower delivery velocityTime spent sorting is time not spent shipping.

The hidden cost of zombie tickets

Dead tickets do not look expensive, one at a time. Together they slow down every part of the way your team plans and reports.

Engineering managers, CTOs, product managers and Scrum Masters feel it first.

How it works

From install to a clean backlog in four steps

No setup project and no query to write.

Get it on Atlassian Marketplace
1

Add it from the Marketplace

Install Zombie Hunter from the Atlassian Marketplace. It appears in your Jira project sidebar.

2

It reads real activity

Zombie Hunter analyses your tickets and who really did something on them. It scans in the background and again every day.

3

See every zombie, with the reason

Each flagged ticket shows why it was flagged and how many days it has been idle. Filter by rule, sort by days idle.

4

Close with a comment

Close each ticket in one click. It moves to Done through your workflow and gets a comment that says why.

BeforeAfter
Open tickets347215
Stale tickets1325

An example project. Your numbers will differ.

Before and after

Clean up, and watch the backlog shrink

Close the tickets nobody will work on. The backlog gets smaller, and the count finally means something.

Screens

See it in action

Instant backlog health score

A single number. Actionable results.

  • 0 to 100 health score for each project
  • Warns when someone has too much In Progress
  • Daily scan, or one-click Rescan now
APAcme PlatformSoftware projectSummaryBoardBacklogTimelineAPPSZombie HunterOverviewSettings62/100NEEDS ATTENTION18 zombies out of 47 open ticketsRescan nowLast scanned todayAll: 18Stuck In Progress: 5Frozen: 7Contradiction: 2Carried over: 2Empty stub: 1Finished parent: 1KeySummaryStatusWhyDays idleAPP-45Legacy CSV importer cleanupTO DONo real activity for 211 days211CloseAPP-87Dark mode for settings pageTO DONo real activity for 128 days128CloseAPP-64Export dashboard to PDFTO DOLabeled "won't do" but still open96CloseAPP-112Migrate billing webhooks to v2IN PROGRESSIn Progress, no real activity for 41 days41CloseAPP-178Rate-limit the public APITO DOStill open after 3 closed sprints34CloseAPP-203Fix flaky login testIN PROGRESSIn Progress, no real activity for 23 days23Close
Smart rules for idle tickets

Target specific indicators of neglect.

  • Find tickets Stuck In Progress
  • Spot "won't do" labels on tickets still open
  • Catch carried-over and forgotten work
  • Bots and bulk edits do not count as activity
APAcme PlatformSoftware projectSummaryBoardBacklogTimelineAPPSZombie HunterOverviewSettings62/100NEEDS ATTENTION18 zombies out of 47 open ticketsRescan nowLast scanned todayAll: 18Stuck In Progress: 5Frozen: 7Contradiction: 2Carried over: 2Empty stub: 1Finished parent: 1KeySummaryStatusWhyDays idleAPP-112Migrate billing webhooks to v2IN PROGRESSIn Progress, no real activity for 41 days41CloseAPP-203Fix flaky login testIN PROGRESSIn Progress, no real activity for 23 days23CloseAPP-188Retry failed invoice emailsIN PROGRESSIn Progress, no real activity for 19 days19CloseAPP-196Audit log for admin actionsIN PROGRESSIn Progress, no real activity for 16 days16Close
Close zombies in one click

Cleanup is effortless.

  • Moves the ticket through your workflow to Done
  • Leaves a comment saying why on every ticket
  • Tickets that changed since the scan are left alone
APAcme PlatformSoftware projectSummaryBoardBacklogTimelineAPPSZombie HunterOverviewSettings63/100NEEDS ATTENTION17 zombies out of 46 open ticketsRescan nowLast scanned todayAll: 17Stuck In Progress: 5Frozen: 6Contradiction: 2Carried over: 2Empty stub: 1Finished parent: 1APP-45 closed.KeySummaryStatusWhyDays idleAPP-87Dark mode for settings pageTO DONo real activity for 128 days128Closing...APP-64Export dashboard to PDFTO DOLabeled "won't do" but still open96CloseAPP-112Migrate billing webhooks to v2IN PROGRESSIn Progress, no real activity for 41 days41CloseAPP-178Rate-limit the public APITO DOStill open after 3 closed sprints34CloseAPP-203Fix flaky login testIN PROGRESSIn Progress, no real activity for 23 days23Close
Automate your audit trail

Every closed ticket has a reason. Always.

  • Context from the rule that flagged it
  • Written as the person who clicked Close
  • No hidden bulk edits
APAcme PlatformSoftware projectSummaryBoardBacklogTimelineAPPSZombie HunterAcme Platform / APP-112Migrate billing webhooks to v2Move the billing provider webhooks to the v2 endpoint and retire thev1 handler once traffic is switched.ActivityALAna Limajust nowClosed in Zombie Hunter: In Progress with no real activity for 41 days.MRMarco RuizSeptember 23, 2026Picking this up after the pricing release.StatusDONEAssigneeMarco RuizReporterAna LimaSprintSprint 41CreatedAugust 12, 2026
Customize your thresholds

Set it to how your team operates.

  • Individual project settings
  • Define what "abandoned" means
  • No data leaves your Jira site
APAcme PlatformSoftware projectSummaryBoardBacklogTimelineAPPSZombie HunterOverviewSettingsStuck In Progress after (days)14Frozen after (days)60Carried over after (closed sprints)2Empty stub after (days)7In Progress limit per person5Labels that mean "abandoned" (comma-separated)wont-do, wontdo, duplicate, obsolete, cancelledScan every daySave
Backlog decay

Six signals of backlog decay

Every open ticket is checked against six rules. Admins can change every threshold.

See each rule in detail
1
Stuck In ProgressIn Progress, but nothing moves.Default: 14 days
2
FrozenOpen, and untouched for months.Default: 60 days
3
ContradictionLabelled wont-do or duplicate, but still open.Default labels: wont-do, duplicate, obsolete, cancelled
4
Carried overRolled through several closed sprints.Default: 2 closed sprints
5
Empty stubA title with no description.Default: 7 days
6
Finished parentAll subtasks done, parent still open.No threshold
FeatureJQLZombie Hunter
Activity Last updated only Human activity
Method Manual filters Automated scan
Scoring No scoring Health score
Cleanup No cleanup One-click cleanup
Over time No trend Backlog health
Why not a filter?

Why JQL is not enough

A filter on the updated date misses tickets that bots, automation and bulk edits keep looking fresh. Zombie Hunter looks at what people really did.

What dead tickets cost your team

Every sprint, someone reads past tickets that nobody will do. Put your own numbers in and see what that adds up to in a year.

An example with assumptions you can change. It is not a measurement.

20 × 15 min × 26 sprints = 130 hours a year
€9,100a year, at €70 an hour

Your data stays in Jira.

Zombie Hunter is built on Atlassian Forge and runs on Atlassian's infrastructure. We keep no copy on our own servers.

Scopes: read:jira-work, write:jira-work, read:jira-user, storage:app

Privacy policy Terms of service DPA

Leave Atlassian
It runs on Forge and keeps its data in Forge storage
Store ticket text
No descriptions, comments, attachments or email addresses
Close on its own
It changes Jira only when you click Close, as you
Outlive uninstall
Uninstalling deletes everything
FAQ

Questions before you install

Still unsure? The user guide explains every rule, or write to us at support@linexa.eu.

Read the user guide

Does it support team-managed projects?+
Yes. Zombie Hunter reads issues, their history and their workflow through Jira's standard APIs, which team-managed projects provide. The Carried over rule needs the Sprint field of Jira Software, so it only applies where sprints are used.
Does it support company-managed projects?+
Yes. It scans any Jira Cloud project the same way, and uses the project's own workflow to close tickets. The Carried over rule needs the Sprint field of Jira Software.
Can it close Epics?+
Yes. Epics are scanned like any other open ticket, and Close moves them to Done through the workflow. The Finished parent rule is meant for them: it flags an Epic whose child tickets are all done.
Can it close Stories?+
Yes. Every open ticket in the project is checked, whatever its type: Stories, Tasks, Bugs, Epics and subtasks. Close works the same way for all of them.
What happens if my workflow requires a transition screen?+
The app steps through your workflow to Done, but it does not guess values for required fields. If a transition needs a screen, the app sends you to the ticket in Jira so you can close it there.
Where is my data stored?+
In Atlassian Forge storage for your Jira site, on Atlassian's infrastructure. The app sends nothing outside Atlassian, and LineXa keeps no copy. The privacy policy lists exactly what is stored.

Wake up to a cleaner backlog.

Find your zombies in a few minutes, and close them with one click.

Get it on Atlassian Marketplace Read the user guide