Get Started

What is Enhanced Search for Jira Cloud?

The Enhanced Search for Jira Cloud app provides advanced JQL function search capabilities, or queries, in Jira Cloud. You can modify or extend Enhanced Search for Jira Cloud's library of useful JQL functions. Alongside the JQL functions are JQL keywords that can be used within those JQL searches.

In essence, the terms Enhanced Search and JQL queries (which are advanced searches that are made up of JQL functions and keywords) mean the same thing.

Before you start

View our Enhanced Search overview video.

What are JQL Functions?

The Enhanced Search for Jira Cloud app provides advanced JQL function search capabilities, or queries, in Jira Cloud.

These extend Jira's built-in capabilities and enable you to conduct searches with greater granularity, including much more detailed information about what is happening in your instance and projects. For example, the linkedIssuesOf function will return issues of a certain type based on a subquery you give it. 

What are JQL Keywords?

JQL Keywords can be used within the advanced JQL searches.

Enhanced Search for Jira Cloud looks at each issue in your Jira instance and adds metadata to them for easier and faster searching. We call this metadata JQL Keywords. These keywords can be used within JQL queries to access this metadata and allow users to search for previously unavailable variables, such as the number of sub-tasks (numberOfSubtasks). 

Enhanced Search Syncing

JQL Keyword Sync

A JQL Keyword sync is required once only after installing Enhanced Search. As this sync needs to update every issue in your instance, it can take a significant amount of time if your instance contains a large number of issues.

The metadata saved to your issues allows for faster recall when searching because many searches will find the metadata instead of calculating it on the fly each time you search. You may search directly for these keywords, or you may search using JQL functions that use this metadata. Many Enhanced Search functions will use the metadata saved to your issues to run searches.

Issue Sync

When issues are updated (added or edited in some way) in Jira, the data stored in Enhanced Search needs to be updated so that your searches use the most updated information on your issues. The issue sync includes updating metadata and occurs every 1-5 minutes. 

Filter Sync

The results of a filter need to be accurate so ensuring that the Jira filter (results of ES search) has the latest information from the original Enhanced Search filter is necessary. The filter sync occurs every 1-10min and fetches all users who own ES filters and sends a message to synchronise.

How to use JQL Keywords & Functions

JQL Keywords

JQL Keywords can be used in both the Enhanced Search screen under Apps > Enhanced Search or within Jira's issue navigator.

Below are just some examples of how you can use Enhanced Search for Jira Cloud JQL Keywords:

  • Use numberOfAttachments to find issues that have a specified number of file attachments.
  • Use numberOfSubtasks to search for issues that have a specified number of subtasks.
  • Use commentedOn to find issues that have had a comment made on them on a specified date.

JQL Functions

Enhanced Search for Jira Cloud's out-of-the-box JQL functions are available to all users but can only be used on the Enhanced Search screen under Apps > Enhanced Search. 

Below are just some examples of how you can use Enhanced Search for Jira Cloud JQL functions:

  • Use epicsOf to query on epic links, such as finding all epics that have unresolved stories.

  • Use issuesinEpics to find all stories for open epics in a project, and then look specifically at the status of issues, such as ‘in progress.’

  • Use linkedIssuesOf to return linked issues, such as all unresolved issues that are blocked by open issues.

To find more information and purchase Enhanced Search for Jira Cloud, visit the Atlassian Marketplace. 

Installation

To install Enhanced Search for Jira Cloud, follow these steps: 

  1. Log into your Jira instance as an admin.
  2. Click Find new apps within the Atlassian Marketplace menu.
  3. Locate Enhanced Search (JQL & Subqueries) via search. 
    The appropriate app version appears in the search results.
  4. Click Try it Free to begin a new 30 day trial.
    Note that the info icon beneath this button highlights the end date of the free trial along with some pricing information.
  5. On the Add to Jira screen, click Start free trial. 
    A message displays to inform you of the status of the free trial installation followed by a 'Success' message once complete. 
  6. Click Manage apps to view full trial details.
  7. Click Get Started to begin using ScriptRunner Enhanced Search.

It is worth noting that you may need to check all project permissions before using Enhanced Search for Jira Cloud and you must perform an initial synchronization.

Scopes

Scopes for Connect apps enable an app to request a level of access to an Atlassian product. They are required when using Enhanced Search for Jira Cloud for the following:

  • read: access issues and filters

  • write: store metadata about issues for synchronising keywords

  • delete: remove metadata about issues or remove filters when they are removed from our UI

  • act as user: to run searches in the background as the filter owner

  • admin: so we can check project and issue permissions to highlight problems providing search functionality

On this page