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Entity Properties

This document describes the entity properties available for searching issues in Jira. These properties are automatically indexed and updated by the Argon app, providing powerful search capabilities for issue relationships and metadata.

Overview​

Entity properties are custom fields that are automatically populated and updated by the Argon app. They provide searchable metadata about issues, including link relationships, hierarchy information, and status details. These properties can be used directly in JQL queries without any special syntax.

Available Properties​

linksNumber​

Type: Number
Description: The number of issues that this issue links to (outgoing links)

Example:

linksNumber = 5

Finds all issues that link to exactly 5 other issues.

Example:

linksNumber > 3

Finds all issues that link to more than 3 other issues.

linkedByNumber​

Type: Number
Description: The number of issues that link to this issue (incoming links)

Example:

linkedByNumber = 2

Finds all issues that are linked to by exactly 2 other issues.

Example:

linkedByNumber >= 1

Finds all issues that are linked to by at least 1 other issue.

linkedByIssue​

Type: String
Description: The keys of issues that link to this issue (incoming links)

Example:

linkedByIssue = "PROJ-123"

Finds all issues that are linked to by issue PROJ-123.

Example:

linkedByIssue ~ "PROJ"

Finds all issues that are linked to by any issue with a key containing "PROJ".

linkedByStatus​

Type: String
Description: The status names of issues that link to this issue

Example:

linkedByStatus = "In Progress"

Finds all issues that are linked to by issues with "In Progress" status.

Example:

linkedByStatus ~ "Done"

Finds all issues that are linked to by issues with status containing "Done".

linkedByCategoryName​

Type: String
Description: The status category names of issues that link to this issue

Example:

linkedByCategoryName = "In Progress"

Finds all issues that are linked to by issues in the "In Progress" status category.

Example:

linkedByCategoryName = "To Do"

Finds all issues that are linked to by issues in the "To Do" status category.

linkedByPriority​

Type: String
Description: The priority names of issues that link to this issue

Example:

linkedByPriority = "High"

Finds all issues that are linked to by issues with "High" priority.

Example:

linkedByPriority ~ "Medium"

Finds all issues that are linked to by issues with priority containing "Medium".

linkedByIssueType​

Type: String
Description: The issue type names of issues that link to this issue

Example:

linkedByIssueType = "Bug"

Finds all issues that are linked to by issues of type "Bug".

Example:

linkedByIssueType ~ "Story"

Finds all issues that are linked to by issues with issue type containing "Story".

childrenNumber​

Type: Number
Description: The number of child issues (sub-tasks or issues with this issue as parent)

Example:

childrenNumber = 3

Finds all issues that have exactly 3 child issues.

Example:

childrenNumber > 0

Finds all issues that have at least 1 child issue.

childrenIssueIds​

Type: String
Description: The IDs of child issues

Example:

childrenIssueIds = "10001"

Finds all issues that have issue with ID 10001 as a child.

Usage Notes​

Property Updates​

  • Entity properties are automatically updated when issues are created, updated, or deleted
  • Link-related properties are updated when issue links are created or deleted
  • Hierarchy properties are updated when parent-child relationships change
  • Updates occur in real-time as changes are made to issues

Search Operators​

All properties support standard JQL search operators:

  • Number properties (linksNumber, linkedByNumber, childrenNumber): =, !=, >, >=, <, <=
  • String properties (linkedByIssue, linkedByStatus, etc.): =, !=, ~ (contains), !~ (does not contain)

Performance Considerations​

  • Entity properties are indexed for fast searching
  • Complex queries combining multiple properties may impact performance
  • Properties are updated asynchronously, so very recent changes might not be immediately searchable

Examples​

linksNumber > 5

Find issues that link to more than 5 other issues.

Finding Issues Linked by High-Priority Issues​

linkedByPriority = "High"

Find issues that are linked to by high-priority issues.

Finding Parent Issues with Many Children​

childrenNumber >= 3

Find issues that have 3 or more child issues.

linksNumber > 2 AND linkedByNumber > 2

Find issues that both link to many other issues and are linked to by many other issues.

Finding Issues Linked by Completed Work​

linkedByStatus = "Done"

Find issues that are linked to by completed issues.

linkedByIssueType = "Bug" AND childrenNumber = 0

Find issues that are linked to by bugs and have no child issues.

Best Practices​

  1. Use Specific Values: When possible, use exact matches rather than contains (~) for better performance
  2. Combine with Other Fields: Entity properties work well with standard Jira fields
  3. Consider Link Direction: Remember that linksNumber counts outgoing links while linkedByNumber counts incoming links
  4. Use for Analysis: These properties are excellent for analyzing issue relationships and dependencies

Error Handling​

  • Invalid property names will result in search errors
  • Properties that don't exist for an issue will be treated as null/empty
  • Very large result sets may impact performance

These entity properties work well with the following JQL functions:

  • linkedByQuery() - Find issues that are linked to by issues matching a query
  • linksQuery() - Find issues that link to issues matching a query
  • childrenOf() - Find child issues of issues matching a query
  • parentOf() - Find parent issues of issues matching a query