gh issue list: Usage, Options & Common CI Errors

List and filter issues - readable, or as JSON for automation.

gh issue list shows issues in a repository with filters for state, label, assignee, and author, plus a --json flag for scripted output.

What it does

gh issue list prints a table of issues. Filters narrow by state (open/closed/all), label, assignee, author, and milestone; --search accepts a full GitHub search query. With --json and --jq you get structured, filterable output for automation.

Common usage

# Open issues
gh issue list

# Filter by state, label, assignee
gh issue list --state all --label bug --assignee "@me"

# Search syntax + JSON output
gh issue list --search "is:open no:assignee" --json number,title

Common error in CI: issues disabled / unknown JSON field

gh issue list can fail with "the \"owner/repo\" repository has disabled issues" when Issues are turned off, or "Unknown JSON field" for a mistyped field. Fix: confirm Issues are enabled in repo settings; run gh issue list --json with no value to list valid fields, then request only those. Pass --repo owner/name when not inside a clone, and ensure the token can read the repo.

Key options

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