Create a nested JQL query

[Eddie Hobart]

I have a kanban board that's been built to work on items from a specific epic. I'd like to make something of a nested query to show additional items however. Specifically, items that are linked to stories within that epic (relates to, blocked by, etc.)

These tickets aren't directly linked to the epic, but instead to the story that resides in the epic (the bugs and tasks that are linked). Is this possible without a plugin? I have a fairly large Jira instance and it won't be easy to get budget approval just to run a special query :)

[Trudy Claspill]

Hello @Eddie Hobart 

The options to query for linked issues natively are found her:

https://support.atlassian.com/jira-software-cloud/docs/jql-functions/#linkedWorkItem

Unfortunately the functions require you to provide a single explicit issue key for which you want to find the linked issues.

So with only native JQL functionality it is not possible to do what you want directly.

A work-around (but not a good work around) would be to add something to each of the linked issues, like a Labels value, that you could add to your JQL to retrieve the linked issues. You could use Automation Rule(s) to add/remove that extra value as links are added/removed to the issues within the target Epic.

[Vitalii Rybka]

Hi @Eddie Hobart,

Unfortunately, JQL doesn't natively support nested queries or transitive relationships, so you can't directly query "issues linked to stories that belong to epic X" in a single JQL statement without additional apps.

Here are your options:

Option 1: Manual JQL approach

1. First, get all stories in your epic:

   "Epic Link" = EPIC-123

2. Copy the resulting story keys
3. Create a second query for linked issues:

   issue in linkedIssues("STORY-1,STORY-2,STORY-3") OR issueFunction in linkedIssuesOf("project = PROJ AND 'Epic Link' = EPIC-123")

Option 2: Saved filters + Dashboard

• Create a saved filter for the epic stories
• Create another for issues linked to those specific stories
• Combine them on a dashboard for a unified view

Option 3: Structure for Jira (if budget allows) This is specifically designed for hierarchical views and can show these relationships easily.

Option 4: Automation workaround Use automation to automatically add a label or custom field to issues when they're linked to stories in specific epics, then filter by that field.

Quick question: Are you looking for a one-time query or an ongoing board that auto-updates? The automation approach might be worth the setup effort if it's ongoing.

The manual approach is your best bet for now - it's just a two-step process. Let me know if you need help refining the JQL!

Hope this helps!

[Trudy Claspill]

@Vitalii Rybka 

In Option 1, step 3, the filter you have specified is not available without acquisition of a third party app. issueFunction in linkedIssuesOf(<subquery>) is not a native JQL feature.