gitlab-org--gitlab-foss/doc/user/search/advanced_search_syntax.md

---
stage: Enablement
group: Global Search
info: "To determine the technical writer assigned to the Stage/Group associated with this page, see https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/engineering/ux/technical-writing/#assignments"
type: reference
---

# Advanced Search Syntax **(STARTER)**

> - Introduced in [GitLab Enterprise Starter](https://about.gitlab.com/pricing/) 9.2

NOTE:
Advanced Search (powered by Elasticsearch) is enabled for Bronze and above on GitLab.com since 2020-07-10.

Use advanced queries for more targeted search results.

This is the user documentation. To install and configure Elasticsearch,
visit the [administrator documentation](../../integration/elasticsearch.md).

## Overview

The Advanced Search Syntax is a subset of the
[Advanced Search](advanced_global_search.md), which you can use if you
want to have more specific search results.

Advanced Search only supports searching the [default branch](../project/repository/branches/index.md#default-branch).

## Using the Advanced Search Syntax

The Advanced Search Syntax supports fuzzy or exact search queries with prefixes,
boolean operators, and much more.

Full details can be found in the [Elasticsearch documentation](https://www.elastic.co/guide/en/elasticsearch/reference/5.3/query-dsl-simple-query-string-query.html#_simple_query_string_syntax), but
here's a quick guide:

- Searches look for all the words in a query, in any order - e.g.: searching
  issues for [`display bug`](https://gitlab.com/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93&snippets=&scope=issues&repository_ref=&search=display+bug&group_id=9970&project_id=278964) and [`bug display`](https://gitlab.com/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93&snippets=&scope=issues&repository_ref=&search=bug+Display&group_id=9970&project_id=278964) will return the same results.
- To find the exact phrase (stemming still applies), use double quotes: [`"display bug"`](https://gitlab.com/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93&snippets=&scope=issues&repository_ref=&search=%22display+bug%22&group_id=9970&project_id=278964)
- To find bugs not mentioning display, use `-`: [`bug -display`](https://gitlab.com/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93&snippets=&scope=issues&repository_ref=&search=bug+-display&group_id=9970&project_id=278964)
- To find a bug in display or banner, use `|`: [`bug display | banner`](https://gitlab.com/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93&snippets=&scope=issues&repository_ref=&search=bug+display+%7C+banner&group_id=9970&project_id=278964)
- To group terms together, use parentheses: [`bug | (display +banner)`](https://gitlab.com/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93&snippets=&scope=issues&repository_ref=&search=bug+%7C+%28display+%2Bbanner%29&group_id=9970&project_id=278964)
- To match a partial word, use `*`. In this example, I want to find bugs with any 500 errors. : [`bug error 50*`](https://gitlab.com/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93&snippets=&scope=issues&repository_ref=&search=bug+error+50*&group_id=9970&project_id=278964)
- To use one of symbols above literally, escape the symbol with a preceding `\`: [`argument \-last`](https://gitlab.com/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93&snippets=&scope=blobs&repository_ref=&search=argument+%5C-last&group_id=9970&project_id=278964)

### Syntax search filters

The Advanced Search Syntax also supports the use of filters. The available filters are:

- filename: Filters by filename. You can use the glob (`*`) operator for fuzzy matching.
- path: Filters by path. You can use the glob (`*`) operator for fuzzy matching.
- extension: Filters by extension in the filename. Please write the extension without a leading dot. Exact match only.
- blob: Filters by Git `object ID`. Exact match only.

To use them, add them to your keyword in the format `<filter_name>:<value>` without
any spaces between the colon (`:`) and the value. When no keyword is provided, an asterisk (`*`) will be used as the keyword.

Examples:

- Finding a file with any content named `search_results.rb`: [`* filename:search_results.rb`](https://gitlab.com/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93&snippets=&scope=blobs&repository_ref=&search=*+filename%3Asearch_results.rb&group_id=9970&project_id=278964)
- The leading asterisk (`*`) can be ignored in the case above: [`filename:search_results.rb`](https://gitlab.com/search?group_id=9970&project_id=278964&scope=blobs&search=filename%3Asearch_results.rb)
- Finding a file named `found_blob_spec.rb` with the text `CHANGELOG` inside of it: [`CHANGELOG filename:found_blob_spec.rb`](https://gitlab.com/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93&snippets=&scope=blobs&repository_ref=&search=CHANGELOG+filename%3Afound_blob_spec.rb&group_id=9970&project_id=278964)
- Finding the text `EpicLinks` inside files with the `.rb` extension: [`EpicLinks extension:rb`](https://gitlab.com/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93&snippets=&scope=blobs&repository_ref=&search=EpicLinks+extension%3Arb&group_id=9970&project_id=278964)
- Finding any file with the `.yaml` extension: [`extension:yaml`](https://gitlab.com/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93&snippets=&scope=blobs&repository_ref=&search=extension%3Ayaml&group_id=9970&project_id=278964)
- Finding the text `Sidekiq` in a file, when that file is in a path that includes `elastic`: [`Sidekiq path:elastic`](https://gitlab.com/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93&snippets=&scope=blobs&repository_ref=&search=Sidekiq+path%3Aelastic&group_id=9970&project_id=278964)
- Finding any file in a path that includes `elasticsearch`: [`path:elasticsearch`](https://gitlab.com/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93&snippets=&scope=blobs&repository_ref=&search=path%3Aelasticsearch&group_id=9970&project_id=278964)
- Finding the files represented by the Git object ID `998707b421c89bd9a3063333f9f728ef3e43d101`: [`* blob:998707b421c89bd9a3063333f9f728ef3e43d101`](https://gitlab.com/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93&snippets=false&scope=blobs&repository_ref=&search=*+blob%3A998707b421c89bd9a3063333f9f728ef3e43d101&group_id=9970)
- Syntax filters can be combined for complex filtering. Finding any file starting with `search` containing `eventHub` and with the `.js` extension: [`eventHub filename:search* extension:js`](https://gitlab.com/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93&snippets=&scope=blobs&repository_ref=&search=eventHub+filename%3Asearch*+extension%3Ajs&group_id=9970&project_id=278964)

#### Excluding filters

[Introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/31684) in GitLab Starter 13.3.

Filters can be inverted to **filter out** results from the result set, by prefixing the filter name with a `-` (hyphen) character, such as:

- `-filename`
- `-path`
- `-extension`
- `-blob`

Examples:

- Finding `rails` in all files but `Gemfile.lock`: [`rails -filename:Gemfile.lock`](https://gitlab.com/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93&snippets=&scope=blobs&repository_ref=&search=rails+-filename%3AGemfile.lock&group_id=9970&project_id=278964)
- Finding `success` in all files excluding `.po|pot` files: [`success -filename:*.po*`](https://gitlab.com/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93&snippets=&scope=blobs&repository_ref=&search=success+-filename%3A*.po*&group_id=9970&project_id=278964)
- Finding `import` excluding minified JavaScript (`.min.js`) files: [`import -extension:min.js`](https://gitlab.com/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93&snippets=&scope=blobs&repository_ref=&search=import+-extension%3Amin.js&group_id=9970&project_id=278964)
- Finding `docs` for all files outside the `docs/` folder: [`docs -path:docs/`](https://gitlab.com/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93&snippets=&scope=blobs&repository_ref=&search=docs+-path%3Adocs%2F&group_id=9970&project_id=278964)

### Search by issue or merge request ID

You can search a specific issue or merge request by its ID with a special prefix.

- To search by issue ID, use prefix `#` followed by issue ID. For example, [#23456](https://gitlab.com/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93&snippets=&scope=issues&repository_ref=&search=%2323456&group_id=9970&project_id=278964)
- To search by merge request ID, use prefix `!` followed by merge request ID. For example [!23456](https://gitlab.com/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93&snippets=&scope=merge_requests&repository_ref=&search=%2123456&group_id=9970&project_id=278964)