jql-syntax

JQL Syntax Skill

Complete JQL (Jira Query Language) syntax reference for searching issues in Jira Cloud.

Basic Syntax

field operator value [AND|OR field operator value] [ORDER BY field [ASC|DESC]]

Operators

Comparison Operators

Operator	Description	Example
=	Equals	status = "In Progress"
!=	Not equals	status != Done
>	Greater than	priority > Medium
>=	Greater than or equal	created >= "2026-01-01"
<	Less than	due < now()
<=	Less than or equal	updated <= -7d
~	Contains (text search)	summary ~ "login error"
!~	Does not contain	summary !~ "test"

Membership Operators

Operator	Description	Example
IN	In list	project IN ("PROJ", "DEV", "OPS")
NOT IN	Not in list	status NOT IN ("Done", "Closed")

Null Operators

Operator	Description	Example
IS EMPTY	Field has no value	assignee IS EMPTY
IS NOT EMPTY	Field has a value	due IS NOT EMPTY
IS NULL	Alias for IS EMPTY	fixVersion IS NULL
IS NOT NULL	Alias for IS NOT EMPTY	resolution IS NOT NULL

Logical Operators

Operator	Description
AND	Both conditions must match
OR	Either condition must match
NOT	Negates a condition

Precedence: NOT > AND > OR. Use parentheses to control grouping.

Fields

Standard Fields

Field	Type	Notes
project	Project	Key or name
issuetype	Issue Type	Name (e.g., "Bug", "Story")
status	Status	Name (e.g., "In Progress")
statusCategory	Status Category	"To Do", "In Progress", "Done"
resolution	Resolution	Name or Unresolved
priority	Priority	Name (e.g., "High", "Medium")
assignee	User	accountId, currentUser(), or EMPTY
reporter	User	accountId or currentUser()
creator	User	accountId or currentUser()
summary	Text	Supports ~ operator
description	Text	Supports ~ operator
comment	Text	Searches comment bodies
text	Text	Searches summary, description, comments
labels	Label	Exact match
component	Component	Name or ID
fixVersion	Version	Name (e.g., "v1.0.0")
affectedVersion	Version	Name
sprint	Sprint	Name, ID, or function
epic	Epic	Key (e.g., "PROJ-50")
parent	Issue	Key (for subtasks and child issues)
created	Date	ISO date or relative
updated	Date	ISO date or relative
due	Date	ISO date or relative
resolved	Date	ISO date or relative
lastViewed	Date	ISO date or relative
originalEstimate	Duration	Minutes or time string
remainingEstimate	Duration	Minutes or time string
timeSpent	Duration	Minutes or time string
workRatio	Number	Percentage (0-100+)
voter	User	currentUser()
watcher	User	currentUser()
level	Security Level	Name
key	Issue Key	e.g., "PROJ-123"
id	Issue ID	Numeric ID
type	Issue Type	Alias for issuetype

Custom Fields

Reference by name or ID:

"Team Name" = "Backend"
cf[10001] = "Backend"

Functions

Date Functions

Function	Description	Example
now()	Current date/time	created > now()
currentLogin()	When user last logged in	updated > currentLogin()
startOfDay()	Start of today	created >= startOfDay()
endOfDay()	End of today	due <= endOfDay()
startOfWeek()	Start of current week	created >= startOfWeek()
endOfWeek()	End of current week	due <= endOfWeek()
startOfMonth()	Start of current month	created >= startOfMonth()
endOfMonth()	End of current month	due <= endOfMonth()
startOfYear()	Start of current year	created >= startOfYear()
endOfYear()	End of current year	due <= endOfYear()

Date functions accept offset parameters:

startOfDay(-1)     -- Start of yesterday
endOfWeek(1)       -- End of next week
startOfMonth(-2)   -- Start of two months ago

Relative Dates

Format	Meaning
-30m	30 minutes ago
-4h	4 hours ago
-7d	7 days ago
-2w	2 weeks ago
-3M	3 months ago (uppercase M)
-1y	1 year ago

User Functions

Function	Description
currentUser()	The logged-in user
membersOf("group")	All members of a group

Sprint Functions

Function	Description
openSprints()	Currently active sprints
closedSprints()	Completed sprints
futureSprints()	Planned sprints

Issue Link Functions

Function	Description
linkedIssues(key)	All issues linked to the given issue
linkedIssues(key, "link type")	Issues linked with specific type

List Functions

Function	Description
issueHistory()	Issues you have recently viewed
votedIssues()	Issues you have voted for
watchedIssues()	Issues you are watching
updatedBy(user, dateRange)	Issues updated by user in range

ORDER BY

ORDER BY created DESC
ORDER BY priority DESC, created ASC
ORDER BY rank ASC               -- Board rank order
ORDER BY lastViewed DESC        -- Recently viewed
ORDER BY key ASC                -- Stable ordering

Sortable fields: key, summary, assignee, reporter, priority, status, resolution, created, updated, due, resolved, rank, lastViewed, plus most custom fields.

Escaping and Quoting

• Wrap multi-word values in double quotes: status = "In Progress"
• Escape special characters in values: summary ~ "can\'t login"
• Reserved words must be quoted when used as values
• Custom field names with spaces must be quoted: "Story Points" > 5

Reserved characters: + - & | ! ( ) { } [ ] ^ ~ * ? \ :

Common Query Patterns

By Assignment

-- My open issues
assignee = currentUser() AND resolution = Unresolved

-- Unassigned issues
assignee IS EMPTY AND resolution = Unresolved

-- Issues assigned to my team
assignee IN membersOf("dev-team") AND resolution = Unresolved

By Date

-- Created this week
created >= startOfWeek()

-- Updated in the last 24 hours
updated >= -24h

-- Overdue issues
due < now() AND resolution = Unresolved

-- Due this week
due >= startOfWeek() AND due <= endOfWeek()

By Status

-- All in-progress work
statusCategory = "In Progress"

-- Blocked issues (using label convention)
labels = blocked AND resolution = Unresolved

-- Recently resolved
resolved >= -7d

By Version

-- Issues fixed in a release
fixVersion = "v1.0.0"

-- Issues affecting a version
affectedVersion = "v0.9.0" AND resolution = Unresolved

Sprint Planning

-- Current sprint
sprint in openSprints()

-- Backlog items ready for sprint
sprint IS EMPTY AND status = "Ready" AND type IN (Story, Task, Bug)

-- Sprint carryover
sprint in closedSprints() AND resolution = Unresolved

Cross-Project

-- All bugs across projects
issuetype = Bug AND resolution = Unresolved ORDER BY priority DESC

-- Issues from multiple projects
project IN ("PROJ", "DEV") AND updated >= -7d