How to get the issues in hierarchy using a JQL

[Ganeshkumar Meenakshisundaram]

We use Jira Data Center. I would like to get the list of child issues under a Theme.

We have 2 issues of Issue type Theme - say TH-1 andTH-2

Our hierarchy goes like Theme -> Initiative -> Epic

I would like to get the list of Initiatives and Epics that are child issues of TH-1 and TH-2. Is there a way I could get this using JQL?

Additional Info - We have Advanced Roadmaps and Script Runner

TIA

[Anandhi Arumugam _Cprime_ · Accepted solution]

Hello @Ganeshkumar Meenakshisundaram Welcome to the community!

issue in childIssuesOf("TH-1") AND issuetype in (Initiative, Epic)

This should get the Initiatives linked to TH-1 and Epics linked to those Initiatives.

Hope this helps!

[Ganeshkumar Meenakshisundaram]

This worked for me.

[Christian Bär]

Seems in November 2025 the correct jql function is 

portfolioChildIssuesOf.

childIssuesOf does not work anymore and has been renamed, I guess - did not find a notice on this.

So the correct jql in regards to the initial question should be:

issue in portfolioChildIssuesOf("TH-1") or issue in portfolioChildIssuesOf("TH-2")

[Sebastian Krzewiński]

Hi @Ganeshkumar Meenakshisundaram 

With standard JQL query it is not possible to get what you want. You can try to use "order by" but still I'm not sure that you will get right order.

Regards,

Seba

[Christian Bär]

I did not test wether the portfolio hierarchy is available in the jira standard plan, as portfolio itself is only available with premium, so I'm not 100% sure if 

portfolioChildIssuesOf()

is also available in standard plan, but in prmium it is for sure. See above