Top 20 JQL queries for Project Managers

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Remember your first encounter with Jira. Excited, nervous, and feeling like you're about to press something wrong and everything will disappear 😂.

Also, remember how you first got acquainted with JQL. For a non-technical person, it was like higher math multiplied by physics. Even the easiest combinations seemed so complicated. It was as if you had to not only find a task but at least launch the large hadron collider 😉.

To help newcomers, we wanted to collect the top 20 queries for PM beginners that would help them to efficiently operate the workflow and understand a little bit about the mysterious JQL. And offer some more useful tips.

Useful JQL queries for PM

Here are the useful and necessary queries for PMs that they should always have at hand:

1.  Show all issues in a project: project = "project name"
2. Show all issues created by a user: creator = username
3. Show all issues assigned to a user: assignee = username
4. Show all issues with a particular status: status = "status name"
5. Show all issues with a particular priority: priority = "priority name"
6. Show all issues with a particular issue type: issuetype = "issue type name"
7. Show all issues created during a certain date range: created >= startOfMonth() AND created <= endOfMonth()
8. Show all issues updated during a certain date range: updated >= startOfWeek() AND updated <= endOfWeek()
9. Show all issues that have a certain custom field value: cf[customfield_name] = "custom field value"
10. Show all issues that have been resolved: resolution is not empty
11. Show all issues that have not been resolved: resolution is empty
12. Show all issues with attachments: attachments is not empty
13. Show all issues with a particular label: labels = "label name"
14. Show all issues with a particular component: component = "component name"
15. Show all issues with a particular fix version: fixVersion = "version name"
16. Show all issues with a particular affected version: affectedVersion = "version name"
17. Show all issues that have been updated by a particular user: updatedBy = username
18. Show all issues that have been commented on by a particular user: comment ~ username
19. Show all issues with a certain issue key: key = "issue key"
20. Show all issues with a certain summary: summary ~ "search term"

These JQL queries can help project managers track and manage projects more efficiently by providing them with specific, filtered insights into their issues.

Some other tips

And now, some tips will help you "bypass" JQL and not suffer from its syntax. SaaSJet has previously released the Email&Tasks: Jira Cloud for Gmail app, which implemented Smart Search.  That is, you simply enter a query in a normal language, and the app converts your query to JQL using AI. It's that simple! It looks like ChatGPT, but it's already integrated into Jira.

And this is just a small part of the app's capabilities. It also allows you to convert your emails into Jira tasks and perform other manipulations with existing ones (commenting, editing, log time, etc.). 

As a package offer, users can also access a Chrome browser extension, which is like their own little Jira assistant, accessible from any browser tab. The Smart Search option is also available in this extension. Try it out and see how minimizing the cost of your usual activities can help you optimize your workflows. Enjoy!

P.S. If you're only interested in working with JQL, try our free Text to JQL dashboard gadget. We hope you find it useful.