---
name: "gh-search-issues"
section: "1"
platform: "linux"
package: "github-cli"
version: "2.102.1-1"
release: "Arch Linux 2026-11-01"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/gh-search-issues"
---

# gh-search-issues(1)

Search for issues

## NAME

gh-search-issues - Search for issues

## SYNOPSIS

**gh search issues \[\<query\>\] \[flags\]**

## DESCRIPTION

Search for issues on GitHub.

The command supports constructing queries using the GitHub search syntax, using the parameter and qualifier flags, or a combination of the two.

GitHub search syntax is documented at:

⟨https://docs.github.com/search-github/searching-on-github/searching-issues-and-pull-requests⟩

On supported GitHub hosts, advanced issue search syntax can be used in the **--search** query. Advanced search syntax, like boolean operators **OR**/**AND**, and parentheses for nesting, must be passed as separate arguments, rather than within a quoted multi-word string. This syntax is not supported with **--web**. For more information about advanced issue search, see:

⟨https://docs.github.com/en/issues/tracking-your-work-with-issues/using-issues/filtering-and-searching-issues-and-pull-requests#building-advanced-filters-for-issues⟩

Use **--search-type** to select semantic or hybrid (keyword + semantic) ranking instead of the default lexical search. Semantic and hybrid search are scoped to issues, are relevance-ranked (so **--sort** and **--order** cannot be used), return a single page of results, and are not available on GitHub Enterprise Server.

For more information on handling search queries containing a hyphen, run **gh search --help**.

## OPTIONS

- **--app** **\<string\>**

  Filter by GitHub App author

- **--archived**

  Filter based on the repository archived state {true\|false}

- **--assignee** **\<string\>**

  Filter by assignee

- **--author** **\<string\>**

  Filter by author (use --app to filter by a GitHub App)

- **--closed** **\<date\>**

  Filter on closed at date

- **--commenter** **\<user\>**

  Filter based on comments by user

- **--comments** **\<number\>**

  Filter on number of comments

- **--created** **\<date\>**

  Filter based on created at date

- **--include-prs**

  Include pull requests in results

- **--interactions** **\<number\>**

  Filter on number of reactions and comments

- **--involves** **\<user\>**

  Filter based on involvement of user

- **-q**, **--jq** **\<expression\>**

  Filter JSON output using a jq expression

- **--json** **\<fields\>**

  Output JSON with the specified fields

- **--label** **\<strings\>**

  Filter on label

- **--language** **\<string\>**

  Filter based on the coding language

- **-L**, **--limit** **\<int\> (default 30)**

  Maximum number of results to fetch

- **--locked**

  Filter on locked conversation status

- **--match** **\<strings\>**

  Restrict search to specific field of issue: {title\|body\|comments}

- **--mentions** **\<user\>**

  Filter based on user mentions

- **--milestone** **\<title\>**

  Filter by milestone title

- **--no-assignee**

  Filter on missing assignee

- **--no-label**

  Filter on missing label

- **--no-milestone**

  Filter on missing milestone

- **--no-project**

  Filter on missing project

- **--order** **\<string\> (default "desc")**

  Order of results returned, ignored unless '--sort' flag is specified: {asc\|desc}

- **--owner** **\<strings\>**

  Filter on repository owner

- **--project** **\<owner/number\>**

  Filter on project board owner/number

- **--reactions** **\<number\>**

  Filter on number of reactions

- **-R**, **--repo** **\<OWNER/REPO\>**

  Filter on repository, in OWNER/REPO format

- **--search-type** **\<string\> (default "lexical")**

  Type of issue search to perform: {lexical\|semantic\|hybrid}

- **--sort** **\<string\> (default "best-match")**

  Sort fetched results: {comments\|created\|interactions\|reactions\|reactions-+1\|reactions--1\|reactions-heart\|reactions-smile\|reactions-tada\|reactions-thinking\_face\|updated}

- **--state** **\<string\>**

  Filter based on state: {open\|closed}

- **--team-mentions** **\<string\>**

  Filter based on team mentions

- **-t**, **--template** **\<string\>**

  Format JSON output using a Go template; see "gh help formatting"

- **--updated** **\<date\>**

  Filter on last updated at date

- **--visibility** **\<strings\>**

  Filter based on repository visibility: {public\|private\|internal}

- **-w**, **--web**

  Open the search query in the web browser

## JSON FIELDS

**assignees**, **author**, **authorAssociation**, **body**, **closedAt**, **commentsCount**, **createdAt**, **id**, **isLocked**, **isPullRequest**, **labels**, **number**, **repository**, **state**, **title**, **updatedAt**, **url**

## EXIT CODES

0: Successful execution

1: Error

2: Command canceled

4: Authentication required

NOTE: Specific commands may have additional exit codes. Refer to the command's help for more information.

## EXAMPLE

```
# Search issues matching set of keywords "readme" and "typo"
$ gh search issues readme typo
# Search issues matching phrase "broken feature"
$ gh search issues "broken feature"
# Search issues using raw search qualifiers as separate arguments
$ gh search issues label:bug author:monalisa state:open
# Search issues and pull requests in cli organization
$ gh search issues --include-prs --owner=cli
# Search open issues assigned to yourself
$ gh search issues --assignee=@me --state=open
# Search issues with numerous comments
$ gh search issues --comments=">100"
# Search issues without label "bug"
$ gh search issues -- -label:bug
# Search issues only from un-archived repositories (default is all repositories)
$ gh search issues --owner github --archived=false
# Search issues using semantic (natural-language) ranking
$ gh search issues "feature broken on web" --search-type semantic
# Search issues using hybrid (keyword + semantic) ranking
$ gh search issues "feature broken" --search-type hybrid
```

## SEE ALSO

**[gh-search(1)](/gh-search/1.md)**