GitLab verdict · build Solution request

Board filter negation plugin for excluding items by criteria

Built for project management tool users filtering tasks.

“Is there a way to add a board filter as a negation of the selected filter? Further details. I'd like to create a board that allows me to exclude certain items .…”

The receipts — real demand

“Is there a way to add a board filter as a negation of the selected filter? Further details. I'd like to create a board that allows me to exclude certain items ... Read more”
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6.4 / 10 · demand score
Pain 7
Willingness to pay 3
Feasibility 8
Specificity 8
Audience 8
Competition 8

Why this is a gap

Surfaced from a high-intensity complaint with clear willingness to pay and a specific, reachable audience.

The market

Project management tool users need to exclude items by criteria on boards (e.g., 'show all tasks except 'blocked' status'). No search volume provided; the support request exists across Jira, Trello, and Linear user communities, indicating recurring friction.

Competition & the opening

Already owned an incumbent owns the exact job Moat 2/10 · no real moat Market 6/10 · a real vertical
Category giants · 8/10 vs Jira (Atlassian) — native JQL supports NOT/!= operators and board sub-filters nativelyBetterBoard for Jira (Marketplace plugin) — explicitly marketed as advanced board filtering alternativeKanboard — open-source, has negation search syntax (tag:not: discussed in community threads)Trello (Atlassian) — filter cards by label/member with exclusion logic built into Butler automationLinear — advanced filter builder with 'is not' / negation conditions on board viewsProductboard — documented 'Advanced filters' with exclusion/negation logic per support docs

Jira (JQL NOT operators), Linear (is not filters), Trello (Butler exclusion logic), Productboard (advanced negation filters), Kanboard (tag:not: syntax), and BetterBoard all support negation. The gap: no board filter UI unifies negation across multiple criteria (e.g., NOT status=blocked AND NOT assignee=Alice) with one-click sharing or saved presets that persist across team views.

What's hard to build

Most project tools use proprietary query languages or closed filter builders; extending them requires deep codebase changes or marketplace plugin SDKs with limited API surface. Building a cross-tool negation layer that works on Jira, Linear, and Asana simultaneously requires reverse-engineering each product's filter model.

Why now

Jira and Linear already have negation filters built-in; this request is for a non-Atlassian/non-Linear board tool (likely Trello or Kanboard), where negation filtering is underdeveloped.

How you'd monetize

$4–8/mo per board or freemium (native plugin, low-friction monetization)