JQL query for search issues based on substring as wildcard * can’t be used as first character

Stefano Astuti

The first screenshot shows the list of issues and their descriptions.

I’m trying to filter issues based on a substring inside text fields, but the JQL behavior seems limited. 

project = TEST AND textFields ~ "JIRA"

I only get issues where the text contains the exact word “JIRA”. (second screenshot)

If I run:

project = TEST AND textFields ~ "JIRA*"

I get issues where a word starts with “JIRA” (e.g., JIRACON). (third screenshot)

What I cannot do is search for issues where “JIRA” appears inside a longer word
(e.g., CONJIRATEST, ABJIRAXYZ), because JQL does not allow leading wildcards

Is this the expected behavior of Jira full-text search?
Is there any built-in way in Jira Cloud to filter issues where a substring (e.g., “JIRA”) is contained inside a word?

Jack Brickey

Hi @Stefano Astuti , to achieve this you would need a JQL search extension addon, e.g. JQL Search Extension or similar . Check the Marketplace and give one a try. Alternatively, if this is a frequent need, you can always export and search using Google sheets or excel