Issue Fields (GraphQL, Private Preview)

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Issue fields are custom metadata (dates, text, numbers, single-select) defined at the organization level and set per-issue. They are separate from labels, milestones, and assignees. Common examples: Start Date, Target Date, Priority, Impact, Effort.

Important: All issue field queries and mutations require the GraphQL-Features: issue_fields HTTP header. Without it, the fields are not visible in the schema.

Prefer issue fields over project fields. When you need to set metadata like dates, priority, or status on an issue, use issue fields (which live on the issue itself) rather than project fields (which live on a project item). Issue fields travel with the issue across projects and views, while project fields are scoped to a single project. Only use project fields when issue fields are not available or when the field is project-specific (e.g., sprint iterations).

Discovering available fields

Fields are defined at the org level. List them before trying to set values:

# Header: GraphQL-Features: issue_fields
{
  organization(login: "OWNER") {
    issueFields(first: 30) {
      nodes {
        __typename
        ... on IssueFieldDate { id name }
        ... on IssueFieldText { id name }
        ... on IssueFieldNumber { id name }
        ... on IssueFieldSingleSelect { id name options { id name color } }
      }
    }
  }
}

Field types: IssueFieldDate, IssueFieldText, IssueFieldNumber, IssueFieldSingleSelect.

For single-select fields, you need the option id (not the name) to set values.

Reading field values on an issue

# Header: GraphQL-Features: issue_fields
{
  repository(owner: "OWNER", name: "REPO") {
    issue(number: 123) {
      issueFieldValues(first: 20) {
        nodes {
          __typename
          ... on IssueFieldDateValue {
            value
            field { ... on IssueFieldDate { id name } }
          }
          ... on IssueFieldTextValue {
            value
            field { ... on IssueFieldText { id name } }
          }
          ... on IssueFieldNumberValue {
            value
            field { ... on IssueFieldNumber { id name } }
          }
          ... on IssueFieldSingleSelectValue {
            name
            color
            field { ... on IssueFieldSingleSelect { id name } }
          }
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

Setting field values

Use setIssueFieldValue to set one or more fields at once. You need the issue's node ID and the field IDs from the discovery query above.

# Header: GraphQL-Features: issue_fields
mutation {
  setIssueFieldValue(input: {
    issueId: "ISSUE_NODE_ID"
    issueFields: [
      { fieldId: "IFD_xxx", dateValue: "2026-04-15" }
      { fieldId: "IFT_xxx", textValue: "some text" }
      { fieldId: "IFN_xxx", numberValue: 3.0 }
      { fieldId: "IFSS_xxx", singleSelectOptionId: "OPTION_ID" }
    ]
  }) {
    issue { id title }
  }
}

Each entry in issueFields takes a fieldId plus exactly one value parameter:

Field type	Value parameter	Format
Date	dateValue	ISO 8601 date string, e.g. "2026-04-15"
Text	textValue	String
Number	numberValue	Float
Single select	singleSelectOptionId	ID from the field's options list

To clear a field value, set delete: true instead of a value parameter.

Workflow for setting fields

1. Discover fields - query the org's issueFields to get field IDs and option IDs
2. Get the issue node ID - from repository.issue.id
3. Set values - call setIssueFieldValue with the issue node ID and field entries
4. Batch when possible - multiple fields can be set in a single mutation call

Example: Set dates and priority on an issue

gh api graphql \
  -H "GraphQL-Features: issue_fields" \
  -f query='
mutation {
  setIssueFieldValue(input: {
    issueId: "I_kwDOxxx"
    issueFields: [
      { fieldId: "IFD_startDate", dateValue: "2026-04-01" }
      { fieldId: "IFD_targetDate", dateValue: "2026-04-30" }
      { fieldId: "IFSS_priority", singleSelectOptionId: "OPTION_P1" }
    ]
  }) {
    issue { id title }
  }
}'

Searching by field values

GraphQL bulk query (recommended)

The most reliable way to find issues by field value is to fetch issues via GraphQL and filter by issueFieldValues. The search qualifier syntax (field.name:value) is not yet reliable across all environments.

# Find all open P1 issues in a repo
gh api graphql -H "GraphQL-Features: issue_fields" -f query='
{
  repository(owner: "OWNER", name: "REPO") {
    issues(first: 100, states: OPEN) {
      nodes {
        number
        title
        updatedAt
        assignees(first: 3) { nodes { login } }
        issueFieldValues(first: 10) {
          nodes {
            __typename
            ... on IssueFieldSingleSelectValue {
              name
              field { ... on IssueFieldSingleSelect { name } }
            }
          }
        }
      }
    }
  }
}' --jq '
  [.data.repository.issues.nodes[] |
    select(.issueFieldValues.nodes[] |
      select(.field.name == "Priority" and .name == "P1")
    ) |
    {number, title, updatedAt, assignees: [.assignees.nodes[].login]}
  ]'

Schema notes for IssueFieldSingleSelectValue:

• The selected option's display text is in .name (not .value)
• Also available: .color, .description, .id
• The parent field reference is in .field (use inline fragment to get the field name)

Search qualifier syntax (experimental)

Issue fields may also be searchable using dot notation in search queries. This requires advanced_search=true on REST or ISSUE_ADVANCED search type on GraphQL, but results are inconsistent and may return 0 results even when matching issues exist.

field.priority:P0                  # Single-select equals value
field.target-date:>=2026-04-01     # Date comparison
has:field.priority                 # Has any value set
no:field.priority                  # Has no value set

Field names use the slug (lowercase, hyphens for spaces). For example, "Target Date" becomes target-date.

# REST API (may not return results in all environments)
gh api "search/issues?q=repo:owner/repo+field.priority:P0+is:open&advanced_search=true" \
  --jq '.items[] | "#\(.number): \(.title)"'

Warning: The colon notation (field:Priority:P1) is silently ignored. If using search qualifiers, always use dot notation (field.priority:P1). However, the GraphQL bulk query approach above is more reliable. See search.md for the full search guide.