I’m working with JIRA and trying to figure out how to search for subtasks in a specific way. I already have a saved filter that gives me parent issues based on certain conditions. This filter works fine when I use savedFilter = MyFilterName in regular searches.
Now I want to find all the subtasks that belong to those parent issues from my filter. I’m wondering if there’s a way to do something like parent IN (savedFilter = MyFilterName) in the search query.
Has anyone tried this before? Is there a workaround if this exact syntax doesn’t work? I need to avoid manually copying issue keys since the filter results change regularly.
JIRA doesn’t support nested filters like parent IN (savedFilter = MyFilterName) - I wish it did! Here’s what actually works though. Make a second saved filter for subtasks using parent in (KEY-1, KEY-2, KEY-3) format. Yeah, you’ll have to update it manually by copying results from your parent filter, but it beats running manual searches every time. Better option: use JIRA automation rules to auto-label subtasks when their parents match your criteria. Then just search by label. Way less maintenance, especially if your parent criteria stay pretty stable.
that syntax won’t work directly, but there’s a decent workaround. if you’ve got the Scriptrunner plugin, try this JQL: issueFunction in subtasksOf("project = YOUR_PROJECT AND your_filter_criteria_here"). no Scriptrunner? export your parent filter results and use parent in (PROJ-123, PROJ-456) in a new search.
JIRA’s JQL won’t let you reference saved filters in parent clauses - I’ve hit this wall tons of times. Here’s my workaround: create a dashboard with both filters side by side. One shows parent issues, the other uses those parent keys to pull up subtasks. When I need to update the subtask filter, I just copy the issue keys from the parent results and paste them into the subtask query. Not pretty, but it works every time. Pro tip: bookmark the parent filter URL so you can grab those keys fast. Takes maybe 30 seconds once you get the hang of it.