Jira Query Language (JQL) is a powerful tool that allows users to perform advanced searches in Jira. This post contains some of my tips and tricks for working with it.

Access

To get to the JQL editor from any Jira page, click on the “Filters” tab at the top.

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Query Structure

The structure of a JQL query is:

  • Field: The aspect of the issue you want to query on (e.g., status, assignee, duedate).
  • Operator: This defines the relationship between the field and the operand (e.g., =, !=, <, >, IN).
  • Operand: The value that is being compared against the field (e.g., “In Progress”, currentuser(), “Bug”).

You can also combine queries using the AND and OR operators.

Fields, Operators, and Operands

Jira provides a lot of different fields you can query on, as well as different operators and operand types. Here are a few examples:

  • Fields: project, issuetype, reporter, priority, comment
  • Operators: =, !=, <, >, ~ (approximately), IS, IS NOT, IN, NOT IN
  • Operands: Text strings (e.g., “In Progress”), functions (e.g., now()), lists (e.g., (HIGH, MEDIUM)), and more.

Examples

What are the most recent tickets?

created >= -30d order by created DESC

Searching by person

assignee = <type their name and a reference number will appear>.

What is X working on?

assignee = <hex_num> AND status not in (done) and created >= -100d

Search by board and title

project = MY_TEAM and summary ~ "my_topic*"

What did X do in the last year?

created >= -365d AND assignee = <X> AND status = Done order by created DESC

Searching by ticket number

issuekey = 'MY_TICKET_1234'

Works for any current user:

assignee = currentUser() AND status = Done AND updatedDate > "-90d" order by updated desc

What did this team do this year?

project = "Machine Learning" and status = Done AND updatedDate >= startOfYear()