GET
GET /search/issues — GitHub API
GitHub token (required); https://api.github.com
GitHub APISearch issues and pull requests
- Base URL
- https://api.github.com
- Auth
- Authorization: Bearer <GITHUB_API_KEY>
- Last verified
- 2026-10-20 · upstream hash matched
Actions Try in browser→
Agents: curl -H "Accept: text/markdown" this URL
→ 346 tokens · Vary: Accept
→ 346 tokens · Vary: Accept
Critical gotchas
GitHub recommends an Accept: application/vnd.github+json header and an explicit X-GitHub-Api-Version header.
Fine-grained tokens only authorize repositories and permissions selected when the token is created.
cURL
curl -X GET 'https://api.github.com/search/issues?q=example-q&sort=comments&order=desc&per_page=30&page=1&advanced_search=example-advanced-search&search_type=semantic' \ -H "Authorization: Bearer $GITHUB_TOKEN" \ -H 'Accept: application/vnd.github+json' \ -H 'X-GitHub-Api-Version: 2026-03-10'
Parameters
| Name | In | Type | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| q | query | string | Yes | The query contains one or more search keywords and qualifiers. Qualifiers allow you to limit your search to specific areas of GitHub. The REST API supports the same qualifiers as the web interface for GitHub. To learn more about the format of the query, see [Constructing a search query](https://docs.github.com/rest/search/search#constructing-a-search-query). See "[Searching issues and pull requests](https://docs.github.com/search-github/searching-on-github/searching-issues-and-pull-requests)" for a detailed list of qualifiers. |
| sort | query | string | No | Sorts the results of your query by the number of `comments`, `reactions`, `reactions-+1`, `reactions--1`, `reactions-smile`, `reactions-thinking_face`, `reactions-heart`, `reactions-tada`, or `interactions`. You can also sort results by how recently the items were `created` or `updated`, Default: [best match](https://docs.github.com/rest/search/search#ranking-search-results) |
| order | query | string | No | Determines whether the first search result returned is the highest number of matches (`desc`) or lowest number of matches (`asc`). This parameter is ignored unless you provide `sort`. |
| per_page | query | integer | No | The number of results per page (max 100). For more information, see "[Using pagination in the REST API](https://docs.github.com/rest/using-the-rest-api/using-pagination-in-the-rest-api)." |
| page | query | integer | No | The page number of the results to fetch. For more information, see "[Using pagination in the REST API](https://docs.github.com/rest/using-the-rest-api/using-pagination-in-the-rest-api)." |
| advanced_search | query | string | No | Set to `true` to use advanced search. Example: `http://api.github.com/search/issues?q={query}&advanced_search=true` |
| search_type | query | string | No | The type of search to perform on issues. When not specified, the default is lexical search. - `semantic` — performs a pure semantic (vector) search using embedding-based understanding. - `hybrid` — combines semantic search with lexical search for best results. Semantic and hybrid search require authentication and are rate limited to 10 requests per minute. Only applies to issue searches (`/search/issues`). |
Response 200 OK
{
"total_count": 0,
"incomplete_results": true,
"items": [
{
"url": "https://example.com",
"repository_url": "https://example.com",
"labels_url": "string",
"comments_url": "https://example.com",
"events_url": "https://example.com",
"html_url": "https://example.com",
"id": 0,
"node_id": "string",
"number": 0,
"title": "string",
"locked": true,
"active_lock_reason": "string",
"assignees": [
{
"name": "string",
"email": "string",
"login": "octocat",
"id": 1,
"node_id": "MDQ6VXNlcjE=",
"avatar_url": "https://github.com/images/error/octocat_happy.gif",
"gravatar_id": "41d064eb2195891e12d0413f63227ea7",
"url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat",
"html_url": "https://github.com/octocat",
"followers_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/followers",
"following_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/following{/other_user}",
"gists_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/gists{/gist_id}",
"starred_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/starred{/owner}{/repo}",
"subscriptions_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/subscriptions",
"organizations_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/orgs",
"repos_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/repos",
"events_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/events{/privacy}",
"received_events_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/received_events",
"type": "User",
"site_admin": true,
"starred_at": "\"2020-07-09T00:17:55Z\"",
"user_view_type": "public"
}
],
"user": {
"name": "string",
"email": "string",
"login": "octocat",
"id": 1,
"node_id": "MDQ6VXNlcjE=",
"avatar_url": "https://github.com/images/error/octocat_happy.gif",
"gravatar_id": "41d064eb2195891e12d0413f63227ea7",
"url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat",
"html_url": "https://github.com/octocat",
"followers_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/followers",
"following_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/following{/other_user}",
"gists_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/gists{/gist_id}",
"starred_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/starred{/owner}{/repo}",
"subscriptions_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/subscriptions",
"organizations_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/orgs",
"repos_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/repos",
"events_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/events{/privacy}",
"received_events_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/received_events",
"type": "User",
"site_admin": true,
"starred_at": "\"2020-07-09T00:17:55Z\"",
"user_view_type": "public"
},
"labels": [
{
"id": 0,
"node_id": "string",
"url": "string",
"name": "string",
"color": "string",
"default": true,
"description": "string",
"archived_at": "2026-09-03T00:00:00Z",
"archived_by": {
"name": "[recursive or deeply nested schema]",
"email": "[recursive or deeply nested schema]",
"login": "[recursive or deeply nested schema]",
"id": "[recursive or deeply nested schema]",
"node_id": "[recursive or deeply nested schema]",
"avatar_url": "[recursive or deeply nested schema]",
"gravatar_id": "[recursive or deeply nested schema]",
"url": "[recursive or deeply nested schema]",
"html_url": "[recursive or deeply nested schema]",
"followers_url": "[recursive or deeply nested schema]",
"following_url": "[recursive or deeply nested schema]",
"gists_url": "[recursive or deeply nested schema]",
"starred_url": "[recursive or deeply nested schema]",
"subscriptions_url": "[recursive or deeply nested schema]",
"organizations_url": "[recursive or deeply nested schema]",
"repos_url": "[recursive or deeply nested schema]",
"events_url": "[recursive or deeply nested schema]",
"received_events_url": "[recursive or deeply nested schema]",
"type": "[recursive or deeply nested schema]",
"site_admin": "[recursive or deeply nested schema]",
"starred_at": "[recursive or deeply nested schema]",
"user_view_type": "[recursive or deeply nested schema]"
}
}
],
"sub_issues_summary": {
"total": 0,
"completed": 0,
"percent_completed": 0
},
"issue_dependencies_summary": {
"blocked_by": 0,
"blocking": 0,
"total_blocked_by": 0,
"total_blocking": 0
},
"issue_field_values": [
{
"issue_field_id": 1,
"issue_field_name": "Priority",
"node_id": "IFT_GDKND",
"data_type": "text",
"value": "Sample text",
"single_select_option": {
"id": "[recursive or deeply nested schema]",
"name": "[recursive or deeply nested schema]",
"color": "[recursive or deeply nested schema]"
},
"multi_select_options": [
"[recursive or deeply nested schema]"
]
}
],
"state": "string",
"state_reason": "string",
"milestone": {
"url": "https://api.github.com/repos/octocat/Hello-World/milestones/1",
"html_url": "https://github.com/octocat/Hello-World/milestones/v1.0",
"labels_url": "https://api.github.com/repos/octocat/Hello-World/milestones/1/labels",
"id": 1002604,
"node_id": "MDk6TWlsZXN0b25lMTAwMjYwNA==",
"number": 42,
"state": "open",
"title": "v1.0",
"description": "Tracking milestone for version 1.0",
"creator": {
"name": "string",
"email": "string",
"login": "octocat",
"id": 1,
"node_id": "MDQ6VXNlcjE=",
"avatar_url": "https://github.com/images/error/octocat_happy.gif",
"gravatar_id": "41d064eb2195891e12d0413f63227ea7",
"url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat",
"html_url": "https://github.com/octocat",
"followers_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/followers",
"following_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/following{/other_user}",
"gists_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/gists{/gist_id}",
"starred_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/starred{/owner}{/repo}",
"subscriptions_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/subscriptions",
"organizations_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/orgs",
"repos_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/repos",
"events_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/events{/privacy}",
"received_events_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/received_events",
"type": "User",
"site_admin": true,
"starred_at": "\"2020-07-09T00:17:55Z\"",
"user_view_type": "public"
},
"open_issues": 4,
"closed_issues": 8,
"created_at": "2011-04-10T20:09:31Z",
"updated_at": "2014-03-03T18:58:10Z",
"closed_at": "2013-02-12T13:22:01Z",
"due_on": "2012-10-09T23:39:01Z"
},
"comments": 0,
"created_at": "2026-09-03T00:00:00Z",
"updated_at": "2026-09-03T00:00:00Z",
"closed_at": "2026-09-03T00:00:00Z",
"text_matches": [
{
"object_url": "string",
"object_type": "string",
"property": "string",
"fragment": "string",
"matches": [
"[recursive or deeply nested schema]"
]
}
],
"pull_request": {
"merged_at": "2026-09-03T00:00:00Z",
"diff_url": "https://example.com",
"html_url": "https://example.com",
"patch_url": "https://example.com",
"url": "https://example.com"
},
"body": "string",
"score": 0,
"author_association": "OWNER",
"draft": true,
"repository": {
"id": 42,
"node_id": "MDEwOlJlcG9zaXRvcnkxMjk2MjY5",
"name": "Team Environment",
"full_name": "octocat/Hello-World",
"license": {
"key": "mit",
"name": "MIT License",
"url": "https://api.github.com/licenses/mit",
"spdx_id": "MIT",
"node_id": "MDc6TGljZW5zZW1pdA==",
"html_url": "https://example.com"
},
"forks": 0,
"permissions": {
"admin": true,
"pull": true,
"triage": true,
"push": true,
"maintain": true
},
"owner": {
"name": "string",
"email": "string",
"login": "octocat",
"id": 1,
"node_id": "MDQ6VXNlcjE=",
"avatar_url": "https://github.com/images/error/octocat_happy.gif",
"gravatar_id": "41d064eb2195891e12d0413f63227ea7",
"url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat",
"html_url": "https://github.com/octocat",
"followers_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/followers",
"following_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/following{/other_user}",
"gists_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/gists{/gist_id}",
"starred_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/starred{/owner}{/repo}",
"subscriptions_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/subscriptions",
"organizations_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/orgs",
"repos_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/repos",
"events_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/events{/privacy}",
"received_events_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/received_events",
"type": "User",
"site_admin": true,
"starred_at": "\"2020-07-09T00:17:55Z\"",
"user_view_type": "public"
},
"private": false,
"html_url": "https://github.com/octocat/Hello-World",
"description": "This your first repo!",
"fork": true,
"url": "https://api.github.com/repos/octocat/Hello-World",
"archive_url": "http://api.github.com/repos/octocat/Hello-World/{archive_format}{/ref}",
"assignees_url": "http://api.github.com/repos/octocat/Hello-World/assignees{/user}",
"blobs_url": "http://api.github.com/repos/octocat/Hello-World/git/blobs{/sha}",
"branches_url": "http://api.github.com/repos/octocat/Hello-World/branches{/branch}",
"collaborators_url": "http://api.github.com/repos/octocat/Hello-World/collaborators{/collaborator}",
"comments_url": "http://api.github.com/repos/octocat/Hello-World/comments{/number}",
"commits_url": "http://api.github.com/repos/octocat/Hello-World/commits{/sha}",
"compare_url": "http://api.github.com/repos/octocat/Hello-World/compare/{base}...{head}",
"contents_url": "http://api.github.com/repos/octocat/Hello-World/contents/{+path}",
"contributors_url": "http://api.github.com/repos/octocat/Hello-World/contributors",
"deployments_url": "http://api.github.com/repos/octocat/Hello-World/deployments",
"downloads_url": "http://api.github.com/repos/octocat/Hello-World/downloads",
"events_url": "http://api.github.com/repos/octocat/Hello-World/events",
"forks_url": "http://api.github.com/repos/octocat/Hello-World/forks",
"git_commits_url": "http://api.github.com/repos/octocat/Hello-World/git/commits{/sha}",
"git_refs_url": "http://api.github.com/repos/octocat/Hello-World/git/refs{/sha}",
"git_tags_url": "http://api.github.com/repos/octocat/Hello-World/git/tags{/sha}",
"git_url": "git:github.com/octocat/Hello-World.git",
"issue_comment_url": "http://api.github.com/repos/octocat/Hello-World/issues/comments{/number}",
"issue_events_url": "http://api.github.com/repos/octocat/Hello-World/issues/events{/number}",
"issues_url": "http://api.github.com/repos/octocat/Hello-World/issues{/number}",
"keys_url": "http://api.github.com/repos/octocat/Hello-World/keys{/key_id}",
"labels_url": "http://api.github.com/repos/octocat/Hello-World/labels{/name}",
"languages_url": "http://api.github.com/repos/octocat/Hello-World/languages",
"merges_url": "http://api.github.com/repos/octocat/Hello-World/merges",
"milestones_url": "http://api.github.com/repos/octocat/Hello-World/milestones{/number}",
"notifications_url": "http://api.github.com/repos/octocat/Hello-World/notifications{?since,all,participating}",
"pulls_url": "http://api.github.com/repos/octocat/Hello-World/pulls{/number}",
"releases_url": "http://api.github.com/repos/octocat/Hello-World/releases{/id}",
"ssh_url": "[email protected]:octocat/Hello-World.git",
"stargazers_url": "http://api.github.com/repos/octocat/Hello-World/stargazers",
"statuses_url": "http://api.github.com/repos/octocat/Hello-World/statuses/{sha}",
"subscribers_url": "http://api.github.com/repos/octocat/Hello-World/subscribers",
"subscription_url": "http://api.github.com/repos/octocat/Hello-World/subscription",
"tags_url": "http://api.github.com/repos/octocat/Hello-World/tags",
"teams_url": "http://api.github.com/repos/octocat/Hello-World/teams",
"trees_url": "http://api.github.com/repos/octocat/Hello-World/git/trees{/sha}",
"clone_url": "https://github.com/octocat/Hello-World.git",
"mirror_url": "git:git.example.com/octocat/Hello-World",
"hooks_url": "http://api.github.com/repos/octocat/Hello-World/hooks",
"svn_url": "https://svn.github.com/octocat/Hello-World",
"homepage": "https://github.com",
"language": "string",
"forks_count": 9,
"stargazers_count": 80,
"watchers_count": 80,
"size": 108,
"default_branch": "master",
"open_issues_count": 0,
"is_template": true,
"topics": [
"string"
],
"has_issues": true,
"has_projects": true,
"has_wiki": true,
"has_pages": true,
"has_discussions": true,
"has_pull_requests": true,
"pull_request_creation_policy": "all",
"archived": false,
"disabled": true,
"visibility": "public",
"pushed_at": "2011-01-26T19:06:43Z",
"created_at": "2011-01-26T19:01:12Z",
"updated_at": "2011-01-26T19:14:43Z",
"allow_rebase_merge": true,
"temp_clone_token": "string",
"allow_squash_merge": true,
"allow_auto_merge": false,
"delete_branch_on_merge": false,
"allow_update_branch": false,
"squash_merge_commit_title": "PR_TITLE",
"squash_merge_commit_message": "PR_BODY",
"merge_commit_title": "PR_TITLE",
"merge_commit_message": "PR_BODY",
"allow_merge_commit": true,
"allow_forking": true,
"web_commit_signoff_required": false,
"open_issues": 0,
"watchers": 0,
"starred_at": "\"2020-07-09T00:17:42Z\"",
"anonymous_access_enabled": true,
"code_search_index_status": {
"lexical_search_ok": true,
"lexical_commit_sha": "string"
}
},
"body_html": "string",
"body_text": "string",
"timeline_url": "https://example.com",
"type": {
"id": 0,
"node_id": "string",
"name": "string",
"description": "string",
"color": "gray",
"created_at": "2026-09-03T00:00:00Z",
"updated_at": "2026-09-03T00:00:00Z",
"is_enabled": true
},
"performed_via_github_app": {
"id": 37,
"slug": "probot-owners",
"node_id": "MDExOkludGVncmF0aW9uMQ==",
"client_id": "\"Iv1.25b5d1e65ffc4022\"",
"owner": {
"name": "string",
"email": "string",
"login": "octocat",
"id": 1,
"node_id": "MDQ6VXNlcjE=",
"avatar_url": "https://github.com/images/error/octocat_happy.gif",
"gravatar_id": "41d064eb2195891e12d0413f63227ea7",
"url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat",
"html_url": "https://github.com/octocat",
"followers_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/followers",
"following_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/following{/other_user}",
"gists_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/gists{/gist_id}",
"starred_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/starred{/owner}{/repo}",
"subscriptions_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/subscriptions",
"organizations_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/orgs",
"repos_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/repos",
"events_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/events{/privacy}",
"received_events_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/received_events",
"type": "User",
"site_admin": true,
"starred_at": "\"2020-07-09T00:17:55Z\"",
"user_view_type": "public"
},
"name": "Probot Owners",
"description": "The description of the app.",
"external_url": "https://example.com",
"html_url": "https://github.com/apps/super-ci",
"created_at": "2017-07-08T16:18:44-04:00",
"updated_at": "2017-07-08T16:18:44-04:00",
"permissions": {
"issues": "read",
"deployments": "write"
},
"events": [
"label",
"deployment"
],
"installations_count": 5
},
"pinned_comment": {
"id": 42,
"node_id": "string",
"url": "https://api.github.com/repositories/42/issues/comments/1",
"body": "What version of Safari were you using when you observed this bug?",
"body_text": "string",
"body_html": "string",
"html_url": "https://example.com",
"user": {
"name": "string",
"email": "string",
"login": "octocat",
"id": 1,
"node_id": "MDQ6VXNlcjE=",
"avatar_url": "https://github.com/images/error/octocat_happy.gif",
"gravatar_id": "41d064eb2195891e12d0413f63227ea7",
"url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat",
"html_url": "https://github.com/octocat",
"followers_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/followers",
"following_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/following{/other_user}",
"gists_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/gists{/gist_id}",
"starred_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/starred{/owner}{/repo}",
"subscriptions_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/subscriptions",
"organizations_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/orgs",
"repos_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/repos",
"events_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/events{/privacy}",
"received_events_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/received_events",
"type": "User",
"site_admin": true,
"starred_at": "\"2020-07-09T00:17:55Z\"",
"user_view_type": "public"
},
"created_at": "2011-04-14T16:00:49Z",
"updated_at": "2011-04-14T16:00:49Z",
"issue_url": "https://example.com",
"author_association": "OWNER",
"performed_via_github_app": {
"id": 37,
"slug": "probot-owners",
"node_id": "MDExOkludGVncmF0aW9uMQ==",
"client_id": "\"Iv1.25b5d1e65ffc4022\"",
"owner": {
"name": "[recursive or deeply nested schema]",
"email": "[recursive or deeply nested schema]",
"login": "[recursive or deeply nested schema]",
"id": "[recursive or deeply nested schema]",
"node_id": "[recursive or deeply nested schema]",
"avatar_url": "[recursive or deeply nested schema]",
"gravatar_id": "[recursive or deeply nested schema]",
"url": "[recursive or deeply nested schema]",
"html_url": "[recursive or deeply nested schema]",
"followers_url": "[recursive or deeply nested schema]",
"following_url": "[recursive or deeply nested schema]",
"gists_url": "[recursive or deeply nested schema]",
"starred_url": "[recursive or deeply nested schema]",
"subscriptions_url": "[recursive or deeply nested schema]",
"organizations_url": "[recursive or deeply nested schema]",
"repos_url": "[recursive or deeply nested schema]",
"events_url": "[recursive or deeply nested schema]",
"received_events_url": "[recursive or deeply nested schema]",
"type": "[recursive or deeply nested schema]",
"site_admin": "[recursive or deeply nested schema]",
"starred_at": "[recursive or deeply nested schema]",
"user_view_type": "[recursive or deeply nested schema]"
},
"name": "Probot Owners",
"description": "The description of the app.",
"external_url": "https://example.com",
"html_url": "https://github.com/apps/super-ci",
"created_at": "2017-07-08T16:18:44-04:00",
"updated_at": "2017-07-08T16:18:44-04:00",
"permissions": {
"issues": "read",
"deployments": "write"
},
"events": [
"label",
"deployment"
],
"installations_count": 5
},
"reactions": {
"url": "https://example.com",
"total_count": 0,
"+1": 0,
"-1": 0,
"laugh": 0,
"confused": 0,
"heart": 0,
"hooray": 0,
"eyes": 0,
"rocket": 0
},
"pin": {
"pinned_at": "2011-04-14T16:00:49Z",
"pinned_by": {
"name": "[recursive or deeply nested schema]",
"email": "[recursive or deeply nested schema]",
"login": "[recursive or deeply nested schema]",
"id": "[recursive or deeply nested schema]",
"node_id": "[recursive or deeply nested schema]",
"avatar_url": "[recursive or deeply nested schema]",
"gravatar_id": "[recursive or deeply nested schema]",
"url": "[recursive or deeply nested schema]",
"html_url": "[recursive or deeply nested schema]",
"followers_url": "[recursive or deeply nested schema]",
"following_url": "[recursive or deeply nested schema]",
"gists_url": "[recursive or deeply nested schema]",
"starred_url": "[recursive or deeply nested schema]",
"subscriptions_url": "[recursive or deeply nested schema]",
"organizations_url": "[recursive or deeply nested schema]",
"repos_url": "[recursive or deeply nested schema]",
"events_url": "[recursive or deeply nested schema]",
"received_events_url": "[recursive or deeply nested schema]",
"type": "[recursive or deeply nested schema]",
"site_admin": "[recursive or deeply nested schema]",
"starred_at": "[recursive or deeply nested schema]",
"user_view_type": "[recursive or deeply nested schema]"
}
},
"minimized": {
"reason": "low-quality"
}
},
"reactions": {
"url": "https://example.com",
"total_count": 0,
"+1": 0,
"-1": 0,
"laugh": 0,
"confused": 0,
"heart": 0,
"hooray": 0,
"eyes": 0,
"rocket": 0
}
}
],
"search_type": "lexical",
"lexical_fallback_reason": [
"no_text_terms"
]
} Get a free GitHub API key → sponsored Affiliate link - we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you.