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Syntax

Description

The issue list command displays all issues in your project. You can filter by status, assignee, priority, search content, control archive visibility, and limit results. By default, the command:
  • Shows up to 50 issues
  • Excludes archived issues
  • Displays issues with their ID, status, title, priority, and assignee
  • Color-codes status for easy scanning
Use --status to filter by workflow state, --grep for full-text search, or --assignee to see work assigned to specific agents or users.

Options

string
Filter by issue statusExample: --status in_progressValid statuses:
  • open - Ready to be worked on
  • in_progress - Currently being worked on
  • blocked - Waiting on dependencies
  • needs_review - Implementation complete, awaiting review
  • closed - Work completed
string
Filter by assignee name or agent IDExample: --assignee "alice" or --assignee "agent-backend-dev"Shows only issues assigned to the specified user or agent.
number
Filter by priority level (0-4)Example: --priority 0Only shows issues with the specified priority:
  • 0 - Critical
  • 1 - High
  • 2 - Medium
  • 3 - Low
  • 4 - Lowest
string
Search issues by title or contentExample: --grep "authentication"Performs a full-text search across issue titles and content. Case-insensitive by default.
boolean
Filter by archive statusExample: --archived true or --archived false
  • false (default) - Exclude archived issues
  • true - Show only archived issues
  • Omit to see all issues regardless of archive status
number
default:"50"
Maximum number of results to returnExample: --limit 100Useful for large projects with many issues. Increase to see more results.

Examples

List All Issues (Default)

Show all non-archived issues (up to 50):
Status is color-coded:
  • 🟢 Green: closed
  • 🟡 Yellow: in_progress
  • 🔴 Red: blocked
  • ⚪ Gray: open, needs_review

Filter by Status

Show only issues currently in progress:

Filter by Assignee

Show all issues assigned to a specific user:

Filter by Priority

Show only critical (priority 0) issues:

Search with Grep

Search for issues containing “auth”:

Show Open Issues Only

View all open issues ready to be claimed:

Show Blocked Issues

Identify issues waiting on dependencies:
Use sudocode issue show ISSUE-003 to see what’s blocking it.

Combine Filters

Show high-priority open issues:

Search for Unassigned Work

Find open issues without an assignee:
Then look for issues without @assignee in the output.

Show Closed Issues

Review completed work:

Increase Result Limit

Show up to 200 issues:
Useful for large projects with many issues.

JSON Output

Use the global --json flag for machine-readable output:

Common Workflows

Finding Ready Work

Identify issues ready to be worked on:
1

List open issues

2

Or use ready command

This shows open issues without blockers, sorted by priority.
3

Claim an issue

Tracking Your Work

See all issues assigned to you:
1

View your issues

2

Filter by status

3

Review details

Daily Standup

Quick overview of project status:
1

What's in progress?

2

What's blocked?

3

What's completed today?

Sprint Planning

Organize work by priority:
1

Critical work

2

High priority work

3

Assign to team

Filtering Logic

Important: When multiple filters are specified, they work as AND conditions. All filters must match for an issue to appear in results.
Examples:

Understanding Output

The default output format shows:

Issue ID

Unique identifier (e.g., ISSUE-001)

Status

Current workflow state (color-coded)

Title

Descriptive issue name

Assignee

Who’s working on it (if assigned)

Priority

0-4 priority level

Common Questions

By default, issue list:
  • Limits to 50 results (use --limit to increase)
  • Excludes archived issues (use --archived false to explicitly exclude, or omit to see all)
Try:
List issues and look for entries without @assignee:
For programmatic filtering, use JSON output:
  • --grep searches in the title and content (full-text search)
  • --status filters by exact workflow state
Example:
Not directly with issue list. However, you can use grep to search for tags in content, or use JSON output with jq:
Use issue show to see hierarchical relationships:
This will display parent and child issues in the relationship section.
  • open: Status of the issue - it’s not yet started
  • ready: Issue is open AND has no blocking dependencies
Use sudocode ready to find truly ready work (open + unblocked).

Performance Tips

For large projects with hundreds of issues, consider these optimizations:
1

Use specific filters

Narrow results with --status, --priority, or --assignee instead of listing everything
2

Use grep for targeted searches

Search for specific keywords rather than retrieving all issues:
3

Use JSON for scripting

JSON output is efficient for programmatic processing:

Troubleshooting

Cause: No .sudocode/ directory foundSolution:
Possible causes:
  1. Issues are archived: sudocode issue list --archived false (default excludes archived)
  2. Issues don’t match filters: Remove filters to see all
  3. Database not synced: Run sudocode sync
Solution:
Cause: Ensure status value is validSolution: Valid statuses: open, in_progress, blocked, needs_review, closed
Cause: Search term might not match title or contentSolution:
  • Try broader search terms
  • Check issue content with sudocode issue show ISSUE-ID
  • Verify spelling

issue create

Create a new issue

issue show

View issue details

issue update

Update existing issue

issue close

Close completed issues

ready

Find ready work (unblocked)

blocked

View blocked issues

Next Steps

1

List your issues

2

Filter to find work

3

View issue details

4

Start working

Issues Concept Guide

Learn more about issues and how they fit into sudocode’s workflow