jira-search

Query and discovery operations for JIRA issues using JQL (JIRA Query Language).

Risk Levels

Risk Legend: - Safe, read-only | ! Caution, modifiable | !! Warning, destructive but recoverable | !!! Danger, irreversible

When to use this skill

Perfect for:

• Search by criteria: "Find all bugs assigned to me in the current sprint"
• Reporting: Export sprint results or metrics to CSV/JSON
• Bulk operations: Update labels, priority, or assignee on 50+ issues at once
• Automation: Create saved filters for monitoring or dashboards

Not ideal for:

• Single issue operations - Use jira-issue skill
• Workflow transitions on many issues - Use jira-lifecycle skill
• Complex issue relationships - Use jira-relationships skill
• Sprint/board management - Use jira-agile skill

Quick Start

# Find your open issues
jira-as search query "assignee = currentUser() AND status != Done"

# Find bugs in a project
jira-as search query "project = PROJ AND type = Bug AND status = Open"

# Export results to CSV
jira-as search export "project = PROJ" --output report.csv

# Save a filter for reuse
jira-as search filter create -n "My Bugs" -j "type = Bug AND assignee = currentUser()" -f

For detailed setup, see [docs/QUICKSTART.md](docs/QUICKSTART.md).

Available Commands

IMPORTANT: Always use the jira-as CLI. Never run Python scripts directly.

All commands support --help for full documentation.

What this skill does

1. JQL Search: Execute custom queries with sorting, pagination, field selection
2. JQL Builder: Build and validate queries interactively
3. Save Searches: Turn a query into a saved filter with --save-as
4. Saved Filters: Full CRUD on JIRA filters with sharing and favourites
5. Export Results: CSV or JSON files with auto-pagination (JSON keeps nested field objects)
6. Bulk Updates: Update multiple issues from search results

Common Options

Note: For search export, -o/--output is the output file path (required) and -f/--format selects csv or json.

Examples by Category

Search

# Basic search
jira-as search query "project = PROJ AND status = Open"

# With field selection
jira-as search query "project = PROJ" --fields key,summary,status,assignee

# With result limit
jira-as search query "project = PROJ" --max-results 50

# Large result sets: --max-results over 100 auto-paginates across API pages
jira-as search query "project = PROJ" --max-results 250

# Manual paging: --page-token fetches exactly one page (disables auto-pagination);
# the token is printed with the previous page's results
jira-as search query "project = PROJ" --page-token "TOKEN"

JQL Building

# Validate syntax (--show-structure shows parse tree, --output for format)
jira-as search validate "project = PROJ AND status = Open"
jira-as search validate "project = PROJ" --show-structure
jira-as search validate "project = PROJ" --output json

# Build JQL from clauses (--operator selects AND or OR between clauses)
jira-as search build --clause "project = PROJ" --clause "status = Open" --validate
jira-as search build --clause "status = Open" --clause "status = Closed" --operator OR
jira-as search build --clause "assignee = currentUser()" --order-by created --desc
jira-as search build --template sprint-backlog  # Use a predefined template
jira-as search build --list-templates           # List available templates

# Get field suggestions
jira-as search suggest --field status
jira-as search suggest --field status --prefix "In"
jira-as search suggest --field assignee --prefix "john"
jira-as search suggest --field priority --no-cache   # Skip cache
jira-as search suggest --field status --refresh      # Refresh cached values

# List available fields and operators
jira-as search fields
jira-as search fields --custom-only             # Only custom fields
jira-as search fields --system-only             # Only system fields
jira-as search fields --filter priority         # Filter by name

# List available JQL functions (-t is short for --type)
jira-as search functions
jira-as search functions -t list                # Only list-returning functions
jira-as search functions --list-only            # Only list-returning functions
jira-as search functions --with-examples        # Include usage examples

Saved Filters

# Create filter (use -n and -j options, or long forms --name and --jql)
jira-as search filter create -n "Sprint Issues" -j "sprint IN openSprints()" -f
jira-as search filter create -n "Team Filter" -j "project = PROJ" -d "Team issues" --share-project PROJ

# List filters
jira-as search filter list --favourites          # Your favourite filters
jira-as search filter list --my                  # Your own filters
jira-as search filter list --search "Sprint"     # Search by name
jira-as search filter list --owner self          # By owner (account ID or "self")
jira-as search filter list --project PROJ        # By project scope
jira-as search filter list --id 10042            # Get specific filter by ID

# Run filter (use --id or --name option)
jira-as search filter run --id 10042
jira-as search filter run --name "Sprint Issues"
jira-as search filter run --id 10042 --max-results 50  # Limit results

# Update filter
jira-as search filter update 10042 --name "New Name" --jql "updated JQL"
jira-as search filter update 10042 --description "New description"

# Toggle favourite status
jira-as search filter favourite 10042 --add
jira-as search filter favourite 10042 --remove

# Share filter
jira-as search filter share 10042 --project PROJ
jira-as search filter share 10042 --project PROJ --role Developers
jira-as search filter share 10042 --group jira-users
jira-as search filter share 10042 --global
jira-as search filter share 10042 --list         # View current permissions
jira-as search filter share 10042 --unshare 10100  # Remove permission by ID (use --list first)

# Delete filter (use --yes to skip confirmation, --dry-run to preview)
jira-as search filter delete 10042 --dry-run     # Preview deletion
jira-as search filter delete 10042 --yes         # Skip confirmation

Bulk Update

# Add labels to all matching issues (dry-run first!)
jira-as search bulk-update "project = PROJ AND status = Open" --add-labels needs-review --dry-run
jira-as search bulk-update "project = PROJ AND status = Open" --add-labels needs-review --yes

# Remove labels
jira-as search bulk-update "type = Bug AND labels = stale" --remove-labels stale --dry-run

# Change priority
jira-as search bulk-update "project = PROJ AND priority = Low" --priority Medium --dry-run

# Limit number of issues updated
jira-as search bulk-update "project = PROJ" --add-labels batch1 --max-issues 50 --dry-run

Export

# CSV export (objects flatten to their display name)
jira-as search export "project = PROJ" -o report.csv

# JSON export (keeps nested field objects: status, assignee, priority, ...)
jira-as search export "project = PROJ" -o data.json --format json

# Export specific fields
jira-as search export "project = PROJ" -o report.csv --fields key,summary,status,assignee

# Limit results (default: 1000; auto-paginates past the 100-issue API page size)
jira-as search export "project = PROJ" -o report.csv --max-results 500

Empty results are not an error: an export that matches zero issues still succeeds (exit 0) — CSV gets a header-only file, JSON gets {"issues": [], "total": 0}.

Using Filters in Queries

# Run a query using a saved filter ID
jira-as search query --filter 10042

# Combine filter with additional criteria
jira-as search query --filter 10042 --max-results 100

# Save search results as a new filter
jira-as search query "project = PROJ" --save-as "My New Filter"

Exporting Large Datasets

Prefer search export over search query --output json when pulling results to a file: it defaults to --max-results 1000 and auto-paginates past the 100-issue API page size, so one command collects the full result set. For large exports, optimize your query and field selection:

# Large export with minimal fields for speed
jira-as search export "project = PROJ" -o report.csv --fields key,summary,status,assignee

# Split by time periods for very large datasets
jira-as search export "project = PROJ AND created >= -30d" -o recent.csv
jira-as search export "project = PROJ AND created >= -60d AND created < -30d" -o older.csv

Exit Codes

Troubleshooting

Quick diagnostics:

jira-as search validate "your query"     # Check syntax
jira-as search fields                    # List available fields
jira-as search suggest --field status    # Get valid values for a field
jira-as search functions                 # List available JQL functions

For detailed troubleshooting, see [references/TROUBLESHOOTING.md](references/TROUBLESHOOTING.md).

Configuration

Requires JIRA credentials via environment variables (JIRASITEURL, JIRAEMAIL, JIRAAPI_TOKEN).

Documentation

Templates

Pre-configured JQL templates:

• assets/templates/jql_templates.json - Common search patterns
• assets/ERROR_SOLUTIONS.json - Error catalog

Related skills

• jira-issue: For creating and updating individual issues
• jira-lifecycle: For transitioning issues found in searches
• jira-collaborate: For bulk commenting on search results
• jira-agile: For sprint and board operations
• jira-relationships: For issue linking and dependencies
• jira-bulk: For large-scale bulk operations