Search Query Grammar

This page provides a BNF description of the YouTrack search query grammar.

Grammar

         <SearchRequest> ::= <OrExpression>
         <OrExpession> ::= <AndExpression> ('or' <AndExpression>)*
         <AndExpression> ::= <AndOperand> ('and' <AndOperand>)*
         <AndOperand> ::= '('<OrExpression>? ')' | Term
         <Term> ::= <TermItem>*
         <TermItem> ::= <QuotedText> | <NegativeText> | <PositiveSingleValue> | <NegativeSingleValue> | <Sort> | <Has> | <CategorizedFilter> | <Text>
         <CategorizedFilter> ::= <Attribute> ':' <AttributeFilter> (',' <AttributeFilter>)*
         <Attribute> ::= <name of issue field>
         <AttributeFilter> ::= ('-'? <Value> ) | ('-'? <ValueRange>) | <LinkedIssuesQuery>
         <LinkedIssuesQuery> ::= ( <OrExpression> )
         <ValueRange> ::= <Value> '..' <Value>
         <PositiveSingleValue> ::= '#'<SingleValue>
         <NegativeSingleValue> ::= '-'<SingleValue>
         <SingleValue> ::= <Value>
         <Sort> ::= 'sort by:' <SortField> (',' <SortField>)*
         <SortField> ::= <SortAttribute> ('asc' | 'desc')?
         <Has> ::= 'has:' <Attribute> (',' <Attribute>)*
         <QuotedText> ::= '"' <text without quotes> '"'
         <NegativeText> ::= '-' <QuotedText>
         <Text> ::= <text without parentheses>
         <Value> ::= <ComplexValue> | <SimpleValue>
         <SimpleValue> ::= <value without spaces>
         <ComplexValue> ::= '{' <value (can have spaces)> '}'
      

Grammar is case-insensitive.

For a complete list of search attributes, see Search Query Reference.
To see sample queries for common use cases, see Sample Search Queries.

Last modified: 21 April 2023