---
title: "Jira / Atlassian Cloud JQL text-field queries with =, IN and NOT IN now match the phrase anywhere in the field: 2026-10-06 | Harbyn"
description: "Jira / Atlassian Cloud JQL text-field queries with =, IN and NOT IN now match the phrase anywhere in the field, announced Oct 6, 2026."
canonical: "https://harbyn.com/changes/atlassian-jira/2026-10-06-jira-text-queries-using-in-or-not-in-now-use-exact-phrase-search"
last-updated: 2026-10-06
---

# Jira / Atlassian Cloud JQL text-field queries with =, IN and NOT IN now match the phrase anywhere in the field

Markdown version of <https://harbyn.com/changes/atlassian-jira/2026-10-06-jira-text-queries-using-in-or-not-in-now-use-exact-phrase-search>.

Behavior change - Jira / Atlassian Cloud. medium severity. In effect.

JQL queries on text fields using =, IN or NOT IN now perform an exact phrase search: they match when the phrase appears anywhere in the field, in order, instead of requiring the whole field value to match. Matching stays case-insensitive with stemming, so searches may return more results than before.

## Facts

| Fact | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Vendor | [Jira / Atlassian Cloud](https://harbyn.com/vendors/atlassian-jira.md) |
| Kind | Behavior change |
| Severity | medium |
| Status | In effect |
| Announced | Oct 6, 2026 |
| Added to Harbyn | Oct 6, 2026 |
| Lead time | No dated deadline |
| Review | Reviewed by a person, extracted by a model |

## Find it in your code

```sh
npx harbyn scan
```

This change names no identifier the scanner can match line by line, so the scan tells you whether your repository uses Jira / Atlassian Cloud, from its packages and API hosts. Nothing leaves your machine.

## Sources

Where this event comes from: the page we read, when we read it, and the hash of that snapshot.

- <https://developer.atlassian.com/changelog/> (changelog, fetched 2026-10-06 20:03 UTC, sha256 `4a5b969309613cc23b711e3bcf636efe85ee844011cac97e42546488bc1706e1`)

## Related changes

### More from Jira / Atlassian Cloud

- [JQL user entity property searches on voter, watcher and creator are deprecated](https://harbyn.com/changes/atlassian-jira/2026-10-07-deprecating-user-entity-property-searches-for-voters-watchers-and-creators.md) (Deprecation, effective Nov 16, 2026)
- [Atlaskit and Forge UI Kit tag, lozenge and badge use the refreshed look by default](https://harbyn.com/changes/atlassian-jira/2026-10-07-refreshed-labelling-system-available-by-default.md) (Behavior change, announced Oct 7, 2026)
- [Forge client fetch permissions allow regional remote URLs](https://harbyn.com/changes/atlassian-jira/2026-10-07-regional-remote-urls-supported-in-client-fetch-permissions.md) (Behavior change, announced Oct 7, 2026)
- [Search REST API returns 400 for invalid custom JQL function queries](https://harbyn.com/changes/atlassian-jira/2026-10-08-direct-validation-of-custom-jql-functions-in-search-rest-api.md) (Behavior change, announced Oct 8, 2026)

### Changes at other vendors

- [Amazon Selling Partner API: ORDER\_CHANGE notifications add PreFulfillmentStatusChange for Amazon Autos](https://harbyn.com/changes/amazon-sp-api/2026-10-14-sp-api-updates-new-listings-items-api-ivp-values-in-eu5-jp-and-ca-stores-oct-3.md) (effective Oct 28, 2026)
- [BigCommerce: 301 redirects will apply only to storefront channels](https://harbyn.com/changes/bigcommerce/2026-10-07-301-redirects-now-apply-to-storefront-channels-only.md) (effective Nov 10, 2026)
- [GitHub: Secret scanning audit log business field changes to enterprise slug](https://harbyn.com/changes/github/2026-10-20-updates-to-github-secret-scanning-7.md) (effective Nov 12, 2026)
- [Let's Encrypt: Default certificate lifetime changes to 64 days](https://harbyn.com/changes/letsencrypt/2026-10-07-64-day-certificate-lifetimes-coming-feb-2027.md) (effective Feb 10, 2027)

[All upcoming deadlines](https://harbyn.com/deadlines.md)