gh-search-issues-exclude-prs

name	gh-search-issues-exclude-prs
description	How to accurately search for issues (excluding pull requests) in a GitHub repository using the gh CLI, since GitHub's search API treats PRs as a type of issue.

Searching Issues (Excluding PRs) with gh CLI

Critical Pitfall

GitHub's search API treats pull requests as issues. When you use gh search issues, the results will include BOTH actual issues AND pull requests unless you explicitly filter them out.

This means counts from gh search issues will be inflated (often ~2x) if you don't exclude PRs.

Correct Approach: Add type:issue Qualifier

Method 1: Using -- with search qualifiers

gh search issues --repo cli/cli --created "2024-12-01..2024-12-31" --limit 300 \
  -- "type:issue"

Method 2: Using gh issue list with --search

This is often more reliable since gh issue list is inherently scoped to issues only:

gh issue list --repo cli/cli --search "created:2024-12-01..2024-12-31" --state all --limit 300 \
  --json number,labels,state,createdAt,closedAt

gh issue list should NOT return PRs, making it the safer choice.

Counting Total Issues Created in a Date Range

gh issue list --repo cli/cli --search "created:2024-12-01..2024-12-31" --state all --limit 300 \
  --json number | jq length

Counting Bug Reports

A bug report is any issue where at least one label contains the substring bug (case-insensitive check recommended):

gh issue list --repo cli/cli --search "created:2024-12-01..2024-12-31" --state all --limit 300 \
  --json number,labels | jq '
  [.[] | select(.labels | map(.name) | any(test("bug"; "i")))] | length'

This uses test("bug"; "i") for case-insensitive substring matching.

Counting Resolved (Closed) Bug Reports

Bug reports that were closed (during the month or as of today — check task requirements):

gh issue list --repo cli/cli --search "created:2024-12-01..2024-12-31" --state closed --limit 300 \
  --json number,labels | jq '
  [.[] | select(.labels | map(.name) | any(test("bug"; "i")))] | length'

This counts issues that:

• Were created in the date range
• Are currently closed
• Have at least one label containing "bug"

Verifying Results Exclude PRs

To double-check that no PRs snuck in:

gh issue list --repo cli/cli --search "created:2024-12-01..2024-12-31" --state all --limit 300 \
  --json number,url | jq '[.[] | select(.url | test("/pull/"))] | length'

If this returns 0, your results are clean. If non-zero, PRs are contaminating results and you need additional filtering.

Alternative Verification with gh search issues

If you must use gh search issues, always add type:issue:

gh search issues --repo cli/cli --created "2024-12-01..2024-12-31" --limit 300 \
  --json number -- "type:issue" | jq length

Compare this count with the gh issue list approach to cross-validate.