IN JIRA cloud: JQL field Issuelink operator 'Not in' doesn't seem to work

[Anne-Mie Wauters]

I have following query

project = BAPP AND issuetype = Epic AND issueLink not in (BINIT-1, BINIT-2, BINIT-3, BINIT-4, BINIT-5, BINIT-6, BINIT-7, BINIT-9, BINIT-10, BINIT-11, BINIT-12, BINIT-14, BINIT-15, BINIT-16, BINIT-17, BINIT-18, BINIT-19, BINIT-21, BINIT-23, BINIT-24, BINIT-26, BINIT-27, BINIT-29, BINIT-31, BINIT-32, BINIT-33, BINIT-34, BINIT-36, BINIT-37, BINIT-38, BINIT-39, BINIT-40, BINIT-41, BINIT-42, BINIT-43, BINIT-44, BINIT-46, BINIT-47, BINIT-50, BINIT-51, BINIT-52, BINIT-53, BINIT-54, BINIT-55, BINIT-56, BINIT-57, BINIT-58, BINIT-59, BINIT-60, BINIT-61, BINIT-62, BINIT-64, BINIT-65, BINIT-66, BINIT-68, BINIT-70, BINIT-71, BINIT-72, BINIT-73, BINIT-74, BINIT-76, BINIT-77, BINIT-78, BINIT-79, BINIT-80, BINIT-81, BINIT-82, BINIT-83, BINIT-84, BINIT-86, BINIT-87, BINIT-88, BINIT-89, BINIT-91, BINIT-92, BINIT-93, BINIT-95, BINIT-96, BINIT-97, BINIT-98, BINIT-99, BINIT-103, BINIT-104, BINIT-105, BINIT-108, BINIT-109, BINIT-110, BINIT-111, BINIT-116, BINIT-118) ORDER BY key ASC, created DESC

that doesn't give any results although I know there are epic that satisfy this query

If I remove the 'not', so the query becomes

project = BAPP AND issuetype = Epic AND issueLink in (BINIT-1, BINIT-2, BINIT-3, BINIT-4, BINIT-5, BINIT-6, BINIT-7, BINIT-9, BINIT-10, BINIT-11, BINIT-12, BINIT-14, BINIT-15, BINIT-16, BINIT-17, BINIT-18, BINIT-19, BINIT-21, BINIT-23, BINIT-24, BINIT-26, BINIT-27, BINIT-29, BINIT-31, BINIT-32, BINIT-33, BINIT-34, BINIT-36, BINIT-37, BINIT-38, BINIT-39, BINIT-40, BINIT-41, BINIT-42, BINIT-43, BINIT-44, BINIT-46, BINIT-47, BINIT-50, BINIT-51, BINIT-52, BINIT-53, BINIT-54, BINIT-55, BINIT-56, BINIT-57, BINIT-58, BINIT-59, BINIT-60, BINIT-61, BINIT-62, BINIT-64, BINIT-65, BINIT-66, BINIT-68, BINIT-70, BINIT-71, BINIT-72, BINIT-73, BINIT-74, BINIT-76, BINIT-77, BINIT-78, BINIT-79, BINIT-80, BINIT-81, BINIT-82, BINIT-83, BINIT-84, BINIT-86, BINIT-87, BINIT-88, BINIT-89, BINIT-91, BINIT-92, BINIT-93, BINIT-95, BINIT-96, BINIT-97, BINIT-98, BINIT-99, BINIT-103, BINIT-104, BINIT-105, BINIT-108, BINIT-109, BINIT-110, BINIT-111, BINIT-116, BINIT-118) ORDER BY key ASC, created DESC

this works just fine

What is wrong with the first query?

[Trudy Claspill]

Hello @Anne-Mie Wauters 

"issueLink" is not a native Jira JQL function. Can you share with us which third party apps you have on your system that enhance JQL functionality?

Have you tried "not issueLink in..."?

[Anne-Mie Wauters]

We only have JIRA cloud.

Also this is in the JQL documentation: https://support.atlassian.com/jira-service-management-cloud/docs/advanced-search-reference-jql-fields/#Advancedsearchingfieldsreference-issuelinkIssuelink.

So I find your reaction that IssueLink is not part of standard JQL very surprising

[Anne-Mie Wauters]

Your suggestion gives "Error in the JQL Query: Expecting 'IN' but got '('. (line 1, character 55)" which is normal as the documentation clearly states the operation = not in

[Trudy Claspill]

Hello @Anne-Mie Wauters 

You post is in the Jira Software Questions community rather than the Jira Service Management community, and did not mention Jira Service Management, so I erroneously assumed you were using the Jira Software product. issueLink is not a function available with the Jira Software product as per this. Thank you for sharing the documentation for advanced searching in Jira Service Management. I don't work much with that product and am glad to learn there are some additional search functions available with it.

I'm not clear how you changed the filter when you moved the "not" but it shouldn't have given you an error. This doesn't give me an error:

not issueLink in (CS-135)

On my system I see that either location of the "not" operator in the statement is valid and both statements give me no matching issues.

I notice the documentation says:

• with linked issues but not linked to any of the issues you specify: issueLink not in (ABC-123, ABC-456)

So I note that with this syntax only issues that have a link of to some issue should be returned, but I did not get any issues while I know I have other issues in my system that have links.

I did a search of the Atlassian backlog to see if I could find a related issue, but did not find one about this.

I recommend that you open a support case directly with Atlassian about this, and please report back here what you learn.

https://support.atlassian.com/contact/#/