GitHub, the backbone of modern software development, recently introduced a subtle yet significant change to its search filters that has impacted how many teams monitor their repositories. For developers, product managers, and CTOs who rely on a unified view of repository activity, this shift has disrupted established engineering workflow routines and raised questions about efficiency.
The Problem: A Split View for Issues and Pull Requests
Historically, a highly efficient practice for many development teams was to use the sort:updated-desc filter on a repository's /issues page. This powerful query allowed users to quickly catch up on all new activity – encompassing both issues and pull requests – presented in a single, chronologically sorted list. Further refinement with is:issue or is:pr could then filter this combined view as needed, providing a comprehensive snapshot of ongoing git activity.
However, as of late March 2026, users began reporting an unexpected change. The /issues page now exclusively returns issues. Even attempting to apply an is:pr filter on this page fails to display pull requests, effectively separating these crucial development items. This forces users to navigate between distinct 'Issues' and 'Pull requests' tabs, breaking a previously seamless method of tracking repository updates and potentially affecting the accuracy of an agile kpi dashboard if not adjusted for.
As andrei-lazarov, the original poster in the GitHub Community discussion, succinctly put it: "Do I have to go back and forth between the issues and PR pages now? Why.." This sentiment was echoed by others, highlighting a clear degradation in user experience for those accustomed to the unified view.
Initial Workarounds and Their Limitations
Upon discovering the change, the community quickly began exploring alternatives. One common suggestion was to leverage GitHub's global search functionality. By using a query like repo:owner/repo sort:updated-desc, users could still retrieve a combined list of issues and PRs across a specific repository.
repo:Koenkk/zigbee2mqtt sort:updated-desc
While technically functional, many users, including straight-shoota, found this alternative lacking. The global search interface, designed for broader discovery, doesn't offer the same streamlined user experience or quick filtering capabilities as the dedicated issues page. It's a different tool for a different purpose, making it an unsuitable replacement for a focused engineering workflow.
The Key to Restoring Your Unified View
Fortunately, the GitHub community quickly rallied, and a simple, effective solution emerged thanks to user asaddevx. The unified view isn't gone; it's just hidden behind a slightly different filter invocation.
Reactivating Your Combined Issues and PRs View
The trick is to explicitly include an is:open or is:closed filter in your search query on the /issues page. This tells GitHub to revert to the older, combined behavior. Here’s how to adapt your bookmarks and saved searches:
For Open Issues and PRs (most common use case):
Instead of: https://github.com/Koenkk/zigbee2mqtt/issues?q=sort%3Aupdated-desc
Use: https://github.com/Koenkk/zigbee2mqtt/issues?q=is%3Aopen+sort%3Aupdated-desc
For All (Open and Closed) Issues and PRs:
Use: https://github.com/Koenkk/zigbee2mqtt/issues?q=is%3Aopen%2Cclosed+sort%3Aupdated-desc
By adding is:open or is:open%2Cclosed, you explicitly tell GitHub to consider both issues and pull requests that match the specified state, effectively restoring your preferred engineering workflow for monitoring repository git activity.
This simple adjustment means you can continue to use your existing bookmarks or create new ones, maintaining your productivity without having to constantly switch between tabs.
Why This Happened: A Gradual Rollout
According to hellojanehere from the GitHub Issues product team, the team is actively investigating the reported change. However, community insights suggest this is part of a gradual rollout of new issues/PRs navigation. GitHub has likely started defaulting the /issues page to issues only, even with a general sort, with the mixed view now being triggered only when an explicit state filter (like is:open) is included.
While such changes are often aimed at improving clarity or preparing for new features, they can inadvertently disrupt established user habits. The lack of prior documentation for this specific change highlights the challenge of communicating nuanced platform updates effectively.
Impact on Agile KPI Dashboards and Delivery
For product/project managers, delivery managers, and CTOs, the ability to quickly grasp the pulse of a repository is critical. A unified view of issues and PRs is not just a convenience; it's a vital component for assessing team velocity, identifying bottlenecks, and maintaining an accurate agile kpi dashboard. Disruptions to this visibility can lead to:
Delayed Awareness: Slower recognition of new PRs requiring review or critical issues needing attention.
Inefficient Prioritization: Difficulty in seeing the full scope of work, potentially leading to misprioritized tasks.
Reduced Productivity: Time spent navigating between pages instead of focusing on core development or management tasks.
Restoring the unified view ensures that teams can continue to monitor their git activity efficiently, contributing to smoother delivery cycles and more reliable performance metrics.
What's Next?
While the community has found a robust workaround, the GitHub Issues product team is aware of the feedback and investigating. We encourage all users who rely on this functionality to continue providing their insights and use cases in the original discussion. Your feedback is instrumental in guiding platform improvements.
Conclusion
The recent shift in GitHub's search filter behavior serves as a reminder that even subtle platform changes can significantly impact established development workflows. While the initial disruption was frustrating, the power of community collaboration quickly provided a solution. By simply adding is:open or is:closed to your queries, you can reclaim your unified view of issues and pull requests, ensuring your team's engineering workflow remains efficient and your git activity tracking stays seamless. Adaptability, combined with active community engagement, remains key to navigating the evolving landscape of developer tooling.
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