Why Jira shows "Timesheets by Tempo" as the worklog author

If your team logs time in Tempo, open an issue's Work log tab in Jira and the author of each entry is not the person. It is the Tempo app, "Timesheets by Tempo - Jira Time Tracking". A JQL search such as worklogAuthor = currentUser() finds nothing, and Jira's own reports and other apps can't tell who did the work. This page explains why, what Tempo suggests, and the options if you need the person in Jira.

Why it happens

Tempo's own explanation: "Tempo acts as a "middleman" (a 3rd-party plugin user) that manages all worklogs." When Tempo syncs a worklog into Jira, the worklog is anonymized and its author is the Tempo app. Tempo says the purpose is to let you control, in Tempo, who sees time details. Source: Tempo, "Why do we see Timesheets as the worklog author?", https://help.tempo.io/kb/latest/why-do-we-see-timesheets-as-the-worklog-author , read on 2026-11-04.

On a test site on 2026-11-03, I logged time in Tempo as two different people. In Jira, each worklog had the right work item, date, start time and duration, the Tempo app as its author, and the comment "time-tracking" (Tempo's article says the default comment is "time tracking"). The description stayed in Tempo.

What it breaks

From the same Tempo article:

"Searching via JQL using worklogAuthor will not identify specific individuals."
"The Jira REST API will only return the anonymized "Tempo Timesheets" data."
The issue's History tab and the Activity feed gadget show that Tempo created or edited the worklogs.

In practice: Jira filters and dashboards built on worklogAuthor, scripts and automations that read worklogs through Jira's API, and other Marketplace apps that report on worklogs all see one author for everything logged through Tempo.

What Tempo suggests

Tempo's article points to Tempo's own views instead of Jira's: the Tempo panel in the issue view, the Logged Time report, and the Tempo REST API. To see full worklog details there, a user needs Tempo's permission to view other people's worklogs.

That works as long as every report you need lives inside Tempo. It does not fix Jira searches, Jira's API or other apps.

Options if you need the person in Jira

1. Read worklogs through Tempo's API

Point scripts and integrations at Tempo's REST API, which returns the real author. This keeps Tempo, and every integration needs a Tempo token and Tempo's permissions.

2. Log new time in Jira itself

Time logged with Jira's own Log work dialog is a normal worklog written as the person, so worklogAuthor finds it. You lose Tempo's timesheet and approval screens for that time, and old Tempo worklogs keep the Tempo app as their author.

3. Use a time tracking app that writes worklogs as the user

Saguaro Hours for Jira is the app I make. Its weekly grid and Log work panel (and, in the newer build, the timer) write each worklog through Jira as the signed-in person. Jira's Work log tab, worklogAuthor searches, Jira's API and other apps all see that person. Who can see a worklog follows Jira's own permissions: a user sees worklogs on issues they can browse. Other apps are compared in Jira time tracking apps compared.

What happens to your old Tempo worklogs

Switching apps does not change worklogs already in Jira: they keep the Tempo app as their author.

Saguaro Hours imports Tempo's Logged Time CSV export and stores the real author, the description, the account and work attributes next to each matching Jira worklog. Its reports, approvals, timesheets and dashboard gadget then count migrated hours for the person who logged them, marked "from Tempo". Jira itself still shows the Tempo app on those worklogs, because the import never edits Jira worklogs. Re-authoring them is not built. Tested on a real Tempo export on 2026-11-03: a report grouped by user matched Tempo's Logged Time report for the same dates. Step by step: move from Tempo guide. Getting the export: how to export Tempo worklogs to CSV.

See your own Tempo export laid out as timesheets, with the real authors, in your browser and without installing anything: Tempo data preview.

Status: Saguaro Hours was submitted to the Atlassian Marketplace on 2026-11-03 and is waiting for approval. The build under review writes worklogs as the user and has the Tempo import. Counting migrated hours under the real author was added on 2026-11-03, after the build under review.

Email me when it's live

Saguaro Hours is free for up to 10 users. Email me when it's live and I will send one email on the day the listing is approved.

Tempo and Timesheets by Tempo belong to Tempo Software. Saguaro Hours and LeDuc Systems LLC are not affiliated with Tempo.