GitHub · Pull requests · REST API and search · Checked October 25, 2026

GitHub: why the pull request list is incomplete

A repository's pull requests are listed with GET /repos/OWNER/REPO/pulls (state=open by default), 30 a page unless per_page asks for up to 100; the next page is in the Link header. Pull requests across repositories come from GET /search/issues with is:pr, which GitHub's documentation says gives up to 1,000 results for each search (checked October 25, 2026).

HTTP/1.1 422 Unprocessable Entity

{"message": "Only the first 1000 search results are available."}

Why some are missing

One page only: a list stops at 30, or at per_page, until the next pages are read.
The 1,000 limit of search: a public report from 2026 says asking for a page past the first 1,000 results answers 422 Only the first 1000 search results are available.; a narrower query (one repository, an author, a review request) keeps under it.
Archived repositories: the documentation says archived:false matches issues and pull requests in unarchived repositories you have access to, and archived:true those in archived ones.
Archived pull requests: the documentation says archiving a pull request closes it automatically, makes its conversation read-only and leaves it visible only to people with triage access or higher; others get 404. People with that access find them with is:archived; an unarchived pull request stays closed until it is reopened.
Only what the token can see: search leaves out repositories the token cannot read; see GitHub search 422 "Validation Failed" for what it drops without saying.

What to do

Read every page: follow the Link header with per_page=100 until there is no next page.
Narrow the search: add repo:, user:, author: or review-requested: so that the results stay under 1,000.
Look for archived ones: archived:true for archived repositories, is:archived for archived pull requests (triage access or higher).

In IntelliJ IDEA: the list is a GitHub search in one repository, and it can start on Assigned to you

How the GitHub support built into IntelliJ IDEA fills its pull request list, in its source (checked October 31, 2026; IntelliJ IDEA: GHPRDataContext.kt, issueSearch.graphql, GHPRSearchPanelViewModel.kt, ReviewListSearchPanelViewModelBase.kt, GHPRListPersistentSearchHistory.kt, GHPRListSearchValue.kt, GHPRSearchQuery.kt, GithubApiSearchQueryBuilder.kt, GHPRListPanelController.kt, GithubBundle.properties):

It is a search, not the repository's list: every list is GitHub's GraphQL search for type:pr repo:OWNER/REPO with the filters added, so only the one repository the list belongs to is in it. It reads 50 pull requests a page and asks for the next page with GitHub's cursor while GitHub says there is one.
Where it starts: with the filter last used in the project, kept in the project's workspace file, or, when there is none, Assigned to you: is:open assignee:your login. So the pull requests not assigned to you are missing until you pick another filter. The quick filters are Open, Your pull requests, Assigned to you and Review requests, all of them open ones only. State, Author, Label, Assignee, Review and Sort add is:, author:, label:, assignee:, review:, review-requested:@me or reviewed-by:@me, and sort:; text typed in the search box is added as it is.
What it says: "No pull requests in repository" when nothing comes back with no filter at all, and "No pull requests matching filters" with a Clear filters link when a filter is on, as it is with Assigned to you. Clear filters searches with no filter at all, closed and merged pull requests included. When the search fails, the list reads "Can't load pull requests" with the reason.

GitHub pull requests in IntelliJ IDEA

Pull Request Inbox for GitHub, a plugin by Lesstep for JetBrains IDEs 2024.1 or later, lists "All open" in the repositories open in the IDE from each repository's own list, and the other filters and wider scopes through GitHub's search with archived:false, so pull requests in archived repositories are left out. It reads 100 a page and shows up to 200 pull requests per list, most recently updated first, as the scope's tooltip says; when a list had more, it says so under the list. The review inbox, diffs and conversations are free; approving, commenting and merging are Pro (US$1.50 a month, with a 30-day trial).

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